Wednesday, 6 October, 2021, was the 30th anniversary of the detention in Eritrea of Bitweded Abraha, pronounced to be unlawful by the UN Working Group on Arbitrary Detention.
Bitweded was one of the outstanding figures of Eritrea’s Liberation Struggle in the years from 1973 onwards. In the war to liberate Eritrea from Ethiopia’s occupation, his role was vital and essential. He was a born leader. He believed in grass roots democracy and freedom for all that should not be silenced. His deepest belief has always been in the unique value of each individual. That was why everyone loved and respected him.
He was not just a powerful fighter: he lived by his beliefs, and showed his values in how he treated other people. And, in the struggle, his powerful personal qualities were recognised.
He encouraged understanding, human respect, self-reliance and taking personal responsibility.
Yet he has been unjustly and illegally detained since 6th October 1991!
- He has never been charged with any crime.
- He has never had his case heard in a court of law.
- He has never been convicted of any offence.
- He has been held in solitary confinement since 1994
His innocence cries out for justice…. But no one knows. For he is silenced, in solitary confinement in a remote prison cell. So why have most of us never heard of this hero?
Because, above all, Bitweded is the type of person who speaks his mind and does not easily bow his head before unethical authority, especially if he thinks it is a matter of justice or true loyalty to his country. It was this admirably strong character trait that put him in conflict with the tyrant Isaias Afwerki, Eritrea’s unelected president. When Bitweded spoke out about the leader’s dictatorial tendencies, his fate was sealed and he was falsely accused and detained.
Bitweded has been in prison since 6 October 1991, and, since 1994, has been held in solitary confinement. That is how Eritrea under President Afwerki treats its outstanding national hero.
Will no one speak out for him?
Will the world remain silent for another 30 years?
Who will protest on behalf of this innocent man?
Human Rights Concern-Eritrea (HRCE) has been speaking out for justice for Bitweded Abraha for many years. HRCE had raised his case with the UN Working Group on Arbitrary Detention. In November 2018, their findings confirmed that the total illegality of Mr. Abraha’s treatment, which HRCE had been pointing out. The UN Working Group decided that “the deprivation of liberty of Mr. Abraha was “ arbitrary”, notably because “There has been no trial,” and declared that Mr. Abraha had been “deprived of the right to challenge the lawfulness of his arrest and detention before a court of law, of the right not to be subjected to solitary confinement, of the right to be tried without undue delay, of the right to have a defence, and of the right to a fair trial.”
The Working Group instructed the Government of Eritrea “to take the steps necessary to remedy the situation of Mr. Abraha without delay and bring it into conformity with ….the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights.”
Human Rights Concern-Eritrea feels, on this grim anniversary, once more to speak out against the illegal detention of Bitweded Abraha: “It is high time that Eritrea takes immediate note of the clear and categorical condemnation of its illegal actions by a UN body, and frees Bitweded Abraha forthwith. Otherwise, the world can see clearly the contempt which the Eritrean government has for the very UN bodies it pretends to respect and uphold, as well as its contempt for the heroes of its own liberation movement.”
Human Rights Concern – Eritrea (HRCE)
