Gedab News has confirmed that Mr. Jimie Kimeil, a journalist who worked for Eritrea AlHadeetha, the state-owned Arabic newspaper, was one of many who were arrested in Asmara on November 24. A veteran of the Eritrean People’s Liberation Front (EPLF), the forerunner to the PFDJ (Eritrea’s only and ruling party), Jimie Kimiel had been working as the paper’s sports editor since 1992.
No explanation was given for the arrest.
Meanwhile, the 14-year old son of Major General Gerezghiher “Wuchu” Andemariam died after falling from the second floor of Keih Bahri School in Asmara. The school was immediately cordoned off and the school director, a class teacher and tens of students in the vicinity of the incident were arrested. Since then, the director and most of the students have been released; however, the class teacher and some students remain in jail.
Background
At least a dozen of journalists, most formerly employed by Eritrea's now-closed private press, have been in prison, without charges, since September 2001. Recently, one of them, the Swedish-Eritrean journalist Dawit Isaac was reportedly released and his freedom celebrated by his family. The celebration, however, was short-lived when the government announced that his release is for medical reasons and he would be returned back to jail.
In March 2005, another sports journalist, Solomon Abera, defected while on tour to Europe and he has been provided political asylum since then. (Read his interview with Awate.com here.)
General Gerezghier Andemariam, better known by his nickname "Wuchu", enjoys a close relationship with President Isaias Afwerki, and is one of the four commanders of Eritrea which has been segmented into four military operations zones. The authority of the commanders exceeds that of the police force and the regional governors. The commanders and their deputies stand accused by many Eritreans, including the thousands who have left to seek asylum elsewhere, of excesses in the name of "order." (Read testimony provided to Eritrean human rights activist Elsa Chyrum.)
