A testimony provided to Human Rights Concern – Eritrea (HRCE)

The following is a brief account of the murder of veteran fighter Ambassador Andemichael Kahsay in Asmara on 13 August 2003.

I was told this true sad story by a very close relative of mine with first-hand information.

The murder took place on 13 August 2003. After the murder he was brought by  a group of people (definitely security agents of the state)  to the 35th hospital (Selasa Amestegna) , located towards the south-eastern part of Asmara.

This hospital used to be a military hospital during the time of the Ethiopian administration. It was night time and by the time of his arrival he was already dead. The body of Andemichael was examined by the duty medical officer. The officer found the upper part of his body including his face covered with fresh blood from a serious injury.  After a careful examination, the duty officer concluded that the cause for his death was deep stabbing, most probably by a sharp dagger/knife on the side ofhis neck where the knife had cut his main artery.

While the medical officer was writing a report based on her findings, she was stopped and instructed to write that the cause of his death be stated as an accident from falling on a stone from an elevated position.  She did as instructed. The officer was then threatened instrong words not to mention anything outside of what was stated on the report of the cause of his death. It was a very serious warning that shocked the officer to the extent that she  felt  her life was in danger. Soon after, the officer fled the country to save her life.

The next morning the mass media of the country broadcasted the death of Ambassador Andemichael as follows:

Andemicheal Kahsay the Eritrean ambassador to Italy passed away
source Shabait.com 

Ex-fighter Andemicheal Kahsay the Eritrean ambassador to Italy passed away yesterday Wednesday August 13th at 5:00 p.m. in the afternoon after he encountered an accident earlier that afternoon.

Mr. Andemicheal Kahsay is survived by his wife and two children. The funeral procession will be held tomorrow Friday at 12:00 noon at the martyr’s cemetery in Asmara..

Source: http://fp.asmarino.com/Archive/August2003_2.asp

Background:

Ambassador Andemichael was a veteran war hero of the Eritrean struggle for independence. After the independence of Eritrea he held different senior

positions in the government that included Eritrea’s Ambassador to the

United States and Italy and was also Mayor of Asmara. During the time of his murder he was deposed from government positions, Frozen (Medescal) and was without a post.