Scores of Eritreans died at Wia’s military and detention camps in the months of July and August.  The dead are among thousands of national service members who had been recalled in June by the Eritrean Ministry of Defense for further training. (See Gedab News, June 6, 2007).

According to our sources, a conservative estimate of those who died numbers around 16 with most of the deaths occurring in the teachers’ camp.  In addition to the dead, hundreds fell sick, with dozens requiring hospitalization.

The causes of sickness and subsequent death included extreme heat, dehydration, inadequate medical care and malnutrition. July and August are the hottest months and daytime temperatures are in the upper 40s Celsius.

Some of the victims were older people who had already been suffering from diseases and chronic conditions. This latter fact was particularly evident in the teachers’ camp.

Wia is not a single camp. It represents a cluster of several camps, including one used exclusively as a detention center. Among the commanders in Wia are: Lt. Col. Jemal, Lt. Col. Weddi Haile and Capt. Ramadan.

The Wia detention center, one of dozens spread throughout the country, is notorious for its harsh conditions.  (Read a testimony here.) It holds two large groups of Eritreans protesting unjust laws: military conscription escapees/evaders and members of banned churches.

Military Conscription Escapees/Evaders

The government’s requirement of compulsory military service on all nationals between the ages of 18 and 50 officially entered into force (it had been operational since 1994) on October 23, 1995 (Proclamation No. 82/1995.)   Under this proclamation, which was explicitly adopted by the Constitution which was ratified in May 1997, citizens are supposed to serve a total of 18 months: 6 months of military training followed by 12 months of “productive and security work.”   The 18 months may be extended “during mobilization or war period.”

The government has used ambiguous arguments to justify its indefinite extension of the length of national service.  At times, it argues that Eritrea has been in a state of war since May 1998.  But according to Eritrean laws, whether the State is in a state of war, peace or national emergency is not supposed to be made by the Executive office but by a national assembly, which has been dissolved. It has also argued that the military service is for “productive” purposes of national development, the so-called Warsai-Yeka’alo Initiative.  But this contradicts the proclamation, which limits extension to periods of mobilization or war, and the constitution which designates such ruling to the legislative branch.

Consequently, there has been a great deal of conscription evasion and escape since 2002, since it became apparent that the government had no interest in demobilizing the large army and reserve.  The evasion is facilitated by bribes: corrupt colonels demand thousands of dollars to designate a national as “unfit”—which is the only legal means of avoiding military service.  Others demand even more money to turn a blind eye to smugglers who get paid thousands of dollars to facilitate the escape of the conscripts.

Each month, hundreds of Eritreans escape to Sudan or Ethiopia and, from there, to South Africa, Libya, Egypt, Israel or die crossing the Mediterranean.  Those who are caught attempt even extreme measures to avoid deportation because they know that if are forcibly returned to Eritrea, they will work in labor camps or end up in places like Wi’a.

Minority Churches

In mid-2002, the government of Eritrea issued a directive requiring of religious leaders to submit a “Religious Advisory Form.”  The form, which is named Proclamation 73/1995 (implying that it was issued in 1995), requires of religious leaders to provide a detailed report on the ecumenical origin of their faith; its distinguishing features; demographic data on its adherents; its source of income and, ironically, “problems it has been encountering from the public, the government and suggestions on how to solve these problems.” 

Although the proclamation claims to have originated in 1995, the Religious Advisory Form requires supporting documents from 2002.  The year 2002 does not appear in a fillable space; it is actually printed on the form with rest of the questionnaire.  This strongly suggests that there was no Proclamation 73/1995 published in 1995 [see correction below]; it is a 2002 law being announced retroactively. (See the form where the year appears here.)   

The government has a problem with all the religions, including the sanctioned ones, but it has focused its ire lately on the smaller denominations (Faith Mission, Full Gospel Church, Presbyterian Church, Kale Hiwet, LDS, Jehovah’s Witness.) It could not use the law of the land to ban them because the Constitution grants all Eritreans the “freedom to any religion and to manifest such practice.”  To circumvent this limit, the government has been using other pretexts:

For a while, the government stated that it hasn’t banned any church or faith; it is just waiting for them to fill out the required form. Then it stated that they could practice their faith so long as they observe the government’s directive which requires all citizens who are assembling in groups of larger than 3 to get a permit.

It has also been playing to the fear and prejudice of the more established religions by claiming, as Mr. Yemane Gebremeskel did recently, that these religions, which have been in Eritrea for 50-100 years, are seven, eight years old.  More recently, Eritrea’s President, Isaias Afwerki, used a different argument in response to the question of why he restricts religions other than the four major faiths: that since there are no new Bibles or new Korans, there is no need for new denominations.

As was the case with Jehovah’s Witnesses and Muslims in 1993, these Eritreans are now being tortured and dying in the hands of the government.

[Correction added on Oct 7, 2007: There is Proclamation 73/1995 "Proclamation Made To Legally Specify & Structure the Activities of Religions & Religious Organizations" which took effect on July 15, 2005.  Article 2.1 of this proclamation states: "Government as a political entity, Religions and Religious Organizations as a Spiritual entity are separate in Eritrea, so, Government should not interfere in religious affairs, and Religions and Religious Oranizations should not interfere in political affairs." emphasis added.] 

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