Stockholm : Fires hit Pro-Eritrea (PFDJ) community compounds

Three Eritrean compounds In Tapiola in Solna, north of Stockholm exposed during Monday morning.
 Arson investigations have been launched into three fires that broke out near Stockholm. in the early hours of Monday morning in three separate locations, all of which house organizations that sympathize with the regime in Eritrea.
All the fires broke out within hours of one another, with emergency services first getting a call shortly after 1am about a fire in Hogdalen south of Stockholm.

A second fire was reported in Solna, just north of the city, around 2.30am, followed thirty minutes later by reports of a third fire in Husby, also north of central Stockholm.

More than 50 people were evacuated from their homes as a result of the fires, which were eventually brought under control thanks to the efforts of dozens of firefighters.

The fires all erupted in offices housing organizations that support the regime in Eritrea, the TT news agency reported, although no representatives from the organizations were willing to be quoted by name about the incidents.

However, one person active in the Husby-based organization who wished to remain anonymous due to fears of reprisals said he was "100 percent certain" the fires were "political".

"It's those damn traitors who are behind this," he told TT, referring to Eritrean-Swedes who "hate their country" and often demonstrate against events organized in support of the current Eritrean regime.

Tensions have been running high between groups loyal to the Eritrean government and those critical of the regime of Eritrean president Isaias Afewerki.
When pro-regime actions are held in Sweden, opposition groups often stage counter-demonstrations, according to TT.

Regime critics in turn often blame the Eritrean authorities for engaging in threats and blackmail in order to squeeze tax money from Eritreans in exile.

Preliminary investigations into arson have been opened for all three fires, with police confirming that the Husby and Högdalen blazes were intentionally set, while forensic teams continue to investigate the scene of the fire in Solna.

However, police have refrained from confirming that the fires are connected.

"In Högdalen, the fire broke out in a building that houses an Eritrean organization, as well as several other companies. As far as I know, there is no connection to the fire in a laundry room in Husby. We're obviously looking into any connection, but for the moment we don't see one," police spokesman Mats Eriksson told the Dagens Nyheter (DN) newspaper.

Swedish-Eritrean MP Arhe Hamednaca, who is critical of the authoritarian regime in Eritrea, told TT he doesn't think the Eritrean democratic opposition is responsible.

"It could be a group siding with the government that wants to drag the opposition through the mud; they're known for doing that," he told TT.

He explained that supporters of the regime are desperate following an uprising among troops in Eritrea that took place about a month ago as well as recent reports in the Swedish media about how the regime has been threatening Eritreans in Sweden.

Last week, three people were arrested in Stockholm on suspicion of blackmail and conspiring to commit murder in a case believed to be connected to the Eritrean regime's systematic oppression of Eritreans living in exile.
 

3 Eritreans arrested in Stockholm

Two men and one woman have been arrested in Stockholm on suspicion of blackmail and conspiring to commit murder in a case believed to be connected to the Eritrean regime's systematic oppression of Eritreans living in exile.

 The three suspects allegedly presented extortion demands from kidnappers in Egypt and told their victims that their relatives would be killed unless they paid huge sums for their release.

The threats persisted for weeks until the three were arrested earlier this week.

According to Krister Peterson, chief prosecutor at the International Public Prosecution Office, several similar crimes have been reported in Sweden in the past.

Eritreans in Sweden have claimed that hundreds of families in Sweden have been targeted by kidnappers operating in the Sinai desert in Egypt, reported news agency TT.

Many similar cases have also been reported in other countries, including Norway.

"There is a suspicion that Eritrean refugees have been kidnapped while fleeing the country and that people in Sweden have then been forced to pay for their release," said Peterson.

TT reported that at least seven Swedish Eritrean families were targeted last year by a high-ranking Eritrean military officer.

He reportedly kidnapped relatives of the families in Eritrea,brought them to the Sudanese border and then demanded that the families pay $7,000 within 24 hours or the relatives would be handed over to kidnappers in Egypt.

One woman told TT that her 16-year-old brother was abducted in Sudan a few months ago and brought to another group of kidnappers in Sinai.

"They called once every half hour while they were beating him and demanded $38,000...We had to pay to save his life", the woman said.

One month later, the kidnappers released the 16-year-old near the Israeli border. He is now being held in Israel  and it is unclear what will happen to him next, according to the woman.

A 2012 United Nations report described how generals from the Eritrean army liaise with kidnappers in Sinai, earning millions from kidnappings, human trafficking, and arms trading.

"The criminal network smuggles Eritrean migrants and Eritrean weapons, often in the same vehicle," the UN report says.

"Once they arrive in Sudan or Sinai the Eritrean migrants are taken hostage and are tortured, raped or killed, while their kidnappers demand on average between $30,000 and $40,000 in ransom, which is often negotiated with the help of Eritrean middlemen."

Investigators from the UN arrived in Sweden this week to gather testimonies from Swedish Eritreans. They are also interested in how Eritrea continues to collect taxes from Eritreans living in exile, often through intimidation and blackmail.

The UN has enforced sanctions against Eritrea because of the country's support for armed groups in the Horn of Africa, including the terrorist-labelled al-Shabaab in Somalia .

Eritreans being forced out of Israel ; UN representative

UNHCR representative William Tall.

Israel is returning Eritrean asylum-seekers to Africa under false pretenses and breaking international law, a UN official said in comments published Monday

Israel’s claim that illegal Eritrean migrants have voluntarily agreed to repatriation to their homeland is false, and the government actions are in violation of international law, a UN official was quoted as saying.

William Tall, the representative of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees in Israel, told Haaretz that Israel’s claim that illegal Eritrean migrants have voluntarily agreed to repatriation does not match the reality on the ground.

He said he visited the prisons where Eritrean nationals are being held and heard what Israel has offered. “Agreement to return to Eritrea under an ultimatum of jail … can’t be considered voluntary by any criterion. It is explicitly not voluntary return,” Tall said.

Under the United Nations Convention Relating to the Status of Refugees, of which Israel is a signatory, countries cannot return refugees or asylum-seekers to their country of origin against their will if they feel threatened there.

Thousands of Eritreans and other Africans have entered Israel illegally over the past decade, claiming asylum-seeker status. Israel rarely grants refugee status and has made attempts to repatriate the Africans over the past year, including giving them payouts in exchange for leaving.

Last week, Haaretz reported that several Eritreans currently in Israeli jails testified that Interior Ministry immigration officials gave them the choice of “voluntarily” returning home or remaining in prison for three years.

eritrean asylum seekers in South Tel Aviv

In June, the Population and Immigration Authority, which is part of the Interior Ministry, decided in coordination with the Shin Bet that illegal migrants who cross into Israel from Egypt will be detained for periods of up to three years, rather than being permitted to move into Israeli cities.

The UN High Commissioner for Refugees has labeled the Eritrean government as totalitarian and in violation of human rights.

According to the UN High Commissioners annual report for 2011, 74% of Eritrean applicants for refugee status outside of Israel do receive the protection.

“The government needs to provide an Eritrean access to sanctuary. That’s not happening,” said Tall. “We are concerned that these returns will be made under pressure …under no circumstances can return under threat of imprisonment, without any access to the asylum apparatus, be considered voluntary.”

The entry of African migrants has been almost completely stanched by the construction of a barrier along Israel’s border with Egypt. The number of migrants from Africa illegally entering Israel dropped from over 2,000 in January 2012 to 36 in December. All 36 of the migrants were arrested and taken to a recently constructed detention facility in the Negev desert.

In mid-2012, several incidents of violence against migrants were reported, especially in the south Tel Aviv area, including two cases in which anti-migrant activists hurled Molotov cocktails at apartments occupied by migrants.

Eritrean dictator condemns Egyptian shoot-to-kill policy

Eritrea has sent a complaint to the UN Security Council complaining about Egyptian security's shoot-to-kill policy of Eritrean refugees attempting to cross illegally Egyptian borders into Israel, diplomatic sources in New York tell Ahram Online.

Eritrean tand near the border fence between Israel and Egypt (sep. 2012)

the Eritrean complaint, which was signed by President Isaias Afewerki, suggested that Egyptian authorities are opting for a bloody approach to border control that, in the words of the letter, "violates human rights."
This is the second complaint to be forwarded to the UN Security Council about Sinai in less than six months. Last summer Israel complained about a lack of security and border control in Sinai, claiming that the situation undermined Israeli security.
Israel is less upset now with Egypt on Sinai, and according to New York diplomats it is not objecting to the border control mechanism that Eritrea is complaining about. On the contrary, according to one Egyptian diplomat, Israel "is speaking rather positively about the efforts of Egypt to check Islamist militant operations in Sinai, even if it is underlining the need for more to be done."
During the past few weeks, Egyptian military and police forces upgraded their operations in Sinai. On the one hand, Islamist militant groups have been attacked, and on the other, illicit tunnels built between the long-besieged and impoverished Gaza Strip and Sinai for the smuggling of all sorts of commodities, including basic needs, have been flooded by Egyptian forces.

Egyptian forces arrest  militants after a firefight at the al-Goura settlement in Egypt's Sinai region ( Sep.2012)

"Sinai is not clean yet. It would take much more work to clean it completely, and it is not easy," said a security source who works in Sinai.
According to this source, there are two reasons why Sinai remains troubled. The first is what he qualifies as "a not so forthcoming willingness on the side of the presidency to apply a firm approach towards Islamists". The second reason, which the source says is more important, are "the strong links between Islamists and Sinai tribes" based on "financial interests and sympathy." "It is the tribes that provide them with refuge and ways of escape," he added.
Last August, some 17 Egyptian borders guards were attacked and killed by Islamists during a Ramadan breakfast. Following the attack, President Mohamed Morsi removed the head and his deputy in the Supreme Council of Armed Forces (SCAF).
 Today, the Egyptian mission in New York is trying to convince members of the UN Security Council that the killing of Eritrean refugees by security forces in Sinai "is not at all deliberate." Meanwhile, the army is still trying to contain the restive Islamist militant spots in the peninsula.
"Sinai is a tough challenge because we know that the only way to fix the situation there is to pump in massive investment. But there are no investment offers coming our way and our economy is far too frail to allow the state to start a Sinai development scheme that is already there," said a government source.
He added that for the near future Sinai would remain a security rather than "development" file, "even though we know this is not the right approach."

Dawit Isaac Case Presented to African Commissioner

Reporters Without Borders welcomes the referral of the case of imprisoned Swedish-Eritrean journalist and writer Mr. Dawit Isaak to the African Commission on Human and Peoples' Rights (ACHPR). Dawit Isaak's case will be discussed this week during the Commission's extra-ordinary session 18-25 February in Banjul, The Gambia.
"The fact that the Commission has taken up our request means that it has found our submission substantial. It is an important first step in what I hope will result in a ruling against Eritrea. In that case, the Commission, who is the African Union´s main human rights body, will demand the release of Dawit Isaak", says Swedish lawyer Jesús Alcalá.

Free dawit poster released by Swedish government

Mr. Jesús Alcalá will personally attend the session. Together with lawyers Mr. Percy Bratt and Ms. Prisca Orsonneau, Mr. Alcalá sent a writ for Habeas Corpus to the Eritrean High Court, in June 2011, on behalf of Mr. Dawit Isaak who has been imprisoned since 2001 without charge, trial or sentence.
The Eritrean Government has previously stated before the ACHPR that Habeas Corpus is a principle respected in Eritrea and that the Eritrean Courts are independent. The High Court, however, has refused to hear the case.
According to the principle of Habeas Corpus every prisoner has the right to meet a judge and have his say. The judge will then decide whether the imprisonment as such is legal or not.
The African Commission on Human and Peoples' Rights has been created by the African Union to protect and promote human rights and to interpret the African Charter. The eleven commissioners can try whether Eritrea respects Human Rights and the African Charter the country has ratified. They can also demand explanations to the Eritrean Government as the writ shows the imprisonment of Mr. Dawit Isaak runs counter to Eritrean law and is in breach of several African and international conventions.
He has neither been charged nor sentenced. He is kept in solitary confinement and denied the right to meet his family, his lawyer, Swedish diplomats or the International Red Cross. He has been in custody for more than eleven years. Had Eritrean law been respected he would have been charged within a month or otherwise set free.
Mr. Dawit Isaak's life is in grave danger. Several colleagues of his have died in prison. An investigation made by Reporters Without Borders last August reported the death of three journalists arrested around the same time as Mr. Dawit Isaak.