NEWS RELEASE

Thursday, March 25th, 1999

ERITREA DUMPS OVER 2,500 ETHIOPIANS AT BORDER

In violation of international law, the Eritrean government recently deported over 2,500 Ethiopians without first notifying the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), which in turn was unable to inform Ethiopia of the pending deportations.

Eritrea's failure to notify the ICRC was a deliberate attempt to cause increased suffering to the deported Ethiopians, who arrived in their homeland yesterday and today.

To date, 40,521 Ethiopians have been expelled from Eritrea, while those continuing to reside there do so in great danger. Since the humiliating defeat the Eritrean military sustained at the end of February, Ethiopian citizens residing in Eritrea have increasingly become victims of arbitrary arrest, detention and torture by the Eritrean authorities. In addition to the abuse inflicted by the Isaias government, many Ethiopians have also been victims of violence by some of the Eritrean people. Hundreds of Ethiopians fleeing persecution in Eritrea who recently arrived in the Sudan reported that some of their compatriots had even been beaten to death.

The Eritrean leadership is also holding Ethiopian civilian citizens in prison, as well as POWs, without allowing ICRC access to them or providing information about them. The defiant attitude of the Eritrean government is in direct contrast to the transparency and openness of the Ethiopian government which has allowed the ICRC full access to Bilaten camp where former EPLF combatants are being detained.

The following document was released by the ICRC on 22 March 1999:

INTERNATIONAL COMMITTEE OF THE RED CROS

Communication to the Press No. 99/12

Monday, 22nd March, 1999

ERITREA/ETHIOPIA: ICRC DEPLORES PUBLIC USE OF ITS INFORMATION

Geneva (ICRC) – According to a communiqué issued on 18 March by the Eritrean Ministry of Foreign Affairs, an Eritrean citizen interned in a camp at Bilaten, Ethiopia, was subjected to "physical and mental torture," which contributed to his death. In its capacity as a neutral and impartial intermediary, the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) had notified the Eritrean authorities of the man’s death, as provided by the Fourth Geneva Convention relative to the protection of civilians in time of war.

This is not the first time in the context of the border conflict between Eritrea and Ethiopia that the ICRC has been used publicly to denounce violations of international humanitarian law allegedly committed. The ICRC has stressed on several occasions that such a practice can only jeopardise a purely humanitarian operation in aid of the victims of the conflict.

The ICRC strongly deplores the public use of such information for propaganda purposes. It regularly visits prisoners of war and civilian internees in the Bilaten camp and is therefore in a position to state that the allegations as to the death causes are unfounded.

Although Eritrea has not adhered to the Fourth Geneva Convention and their Additional Protocols, it is bound to comply with the rules of customary law.