Eritrean Natnael Berhane heading for WorldTour debut

Natnael Berhane celebrates his victory in stage 3 at the Tour of Turkey

Natnael Berhane  is set to make his debut in the International Cycling Union (UCI) WorldTour this weekend as he lines up at the start of the Critérium du Dauphiné, in Champéry on Sunday. 
The 22-year-old Eritrean is racing his first season at the top level, and has already impressed with a stage victory in the Tour of Turkey, where became the first black African to win in an 'HC' ranked race and finished second overall.
On the steep, final climb to the top of the Göğübeli Pass, above the town of Elmali, Berhane tore himself away from the rest of the field 200 metres from the line and sprinted to victory. He lost the race lead to eventual winner Mustafa Sayar (Torku Seker Spor) on the second big mountain stage to Selçuk, but feels that the experience has prepared him for his biggest race yet.

“Since that win, I haven’t raced but I’m ready for the Dauphiné,” he explained at the GP Plumelec on Saturday, where he was working for Europcar sprinter Bryan Coquard.

“For me, the Dauphiné is going to be a brand new experience,” he continued. “I haven’t taken in part in a race as prestigious as this yet, but I can’t wait because there will be climbs and leading riders such as Alberto Contador and Chris Froome.”

Although Europcar remains at Professional Continental level, the Vendée team is one of the biggest in France, and so is all but assured of invitations to the country’s biggest races. This means that it is also home to some of France’s biggest riders, whom Berhane is now riding alongside.

“I’m also lucky to be able to race with stars like Thomas Voeckler and Pierre Rolland,” he added. “I’m doing all I can to become a rider like them. Europcar is a major team. Beforehand, I watched them on television and it’s very moving to think that now people in Africa can also watch me live on TV.

“They saw me win in Turkey and I received lots of messages of congratulations afterwards”

Much of the inspiration for Berhane’s Turkey performance came from seeing fellow African Tsgabu Grmay (MTN-Qhubeka) of Ethiopia, win a mountain stage on the Tour of Taiwan.

“We spent two years together at the World Cycling Centre, first at Potchefstroem in South Africa then in Aigle, in Switzerland,” Berhane explained.

After realising his climbing talent in Turkey, the Dauphine’s white jersey has become a target for Berhane, but he will come up against some stiff competition from several other emerging riders, including Andrew Talansky (Garmin-Sharp) - who was second in Paris-Nice - Michal Kwiatkowski (Omega Pharma-Quick Step) - who was fourth in Tirreno-Adriatico and fifth in la Flèche Wallonne - and Kenny Elissonde (FDJ) - who was eighth in the Tour of Oman.


The route for the race was announced on 15 April 2013.

Stage	Route	Distance	Type		Date
1	Champéry (Switzerland) to Champéry (Switzerland)	121 km (75.2 mi)		Medium-mountain stage	2 June
2	Châtel to Oyonnax	191 km (118.7 mi)		Flat stage	3 June
3	Ambérieu-en-Bugey to Tarare	167 km (103.8 mi)		Flat stage	4 June
4	Villars-les-Dombes to Parc des Oiseaux	32.5 km (20.2 mi)		Individual time trial	5 June
5	Grésy-sur-Aix to Valmorel	139 km (86.4 mi)		Medium-mountain stage	6 June
6	La Léchère to Grenoble	143 km (88.9 mi)		Flat stage	7 June
7	Le Pont-de-Claix to SuperDévoluy	187.5 km (116.5 mi)		Medium-mountain stage	8 June
8	Sisteron to Risoul	155.5 km (96.6 mi)		Medium-mountain stage	9 June

Eritrea calls Canada ‘bully’ after envoy’s expulsion

Eritrea accused Canada of bullying after Ottawa expelled its envoy for demanding money from expatriates to fund its army, said a statement seen on Thursday.

Canada  ordered Eritrea’s consul general in Toronto to leave the country by June 5, after he reportedly ignored a warning to stop collecting funds from Eritreans in Canada, a breach of UN sanctions against the African nation and illegal under Canadian law.

Semere Ghebremariam O. Micael head of the Eritrean Consulate in Toronto

Eritrea condemned the expulsion and rejected the accusations, saying the services given at the consulate were “fully consistent” with diplomatic agreements and “do not violate international or Canadian laws”.
“It is the act of a bully against a small and proud nation and its people, aimed at denying the Eritrean community the services they need from their government,” said the foreign ministry statement.
“The Eritrean government is confident that the community, which has faced increasing harassment including intimidation and severe restriction on their peaceful activities, will not be bullied,” it added.
Canada asked the consul to stop the alleged fundraising in September after it was first revealed. The consul said it would comply.
But Canadian media reported last week that consul Semere Ghebremariam O. Micael had resumed demanding money from expatriates to fund Eritrean national defence against neighbouring Ethiopia, from which Eritrea separated in 1993.
 Public broadcaster CBC quoted an Eritrean immigrant, who asked not to be named, as saying his family in Eritrea “would get in trouble if I don’t pay”.
Eritrea, which won its independence from Ethiopia after a three-decade guerrilla war, remains in a tense border stalemate with its rival after they returned to a bloody 1998-2000 border war.
Eritrea’s economy is struggling, and the government demands its expatriates pay a two-percent income tax via its embassies.
Rights groups accuse the authoritarian government of the Horn of Africa nation of a slew of abuses, including the jailing of opposition, journalists and minority religious groups.

Eritrean Afar refugees demonstrated

Thousands of Eritrean Afar refugees demonstrated at Berahle refugee camp located in Ethiopia's Afar region only few kilometers away from the Eritrean border.

An estimated 3,000 refugees held the demonstration to protest against what they allege is an alleged genocide being committed by the totalitarian Asmara government against the Afar minority group.

"We call up on the United Nations and the international community to protect Eritrean Afars from an ethnic cleansing by the brutal regime" the refugees said in a declaration. The refugees chanted; "yes to self determination, Nno to tyranny and injustice"; "save Eritrea from civil war"; "bring down Isaias Afeworki"; and "we are victims of brutal regime".

Rashid Saleh, the chairman of the Afar refugees youth association at Berahle camp was one of the

demonstrations organisers. He fled to Ethiopia late in 2011. The 27-year-old said he decided flee to Ethiopia after he received repeated threats on his life from government agents.
In an interview with Sudan Tribune, Rashid said he served a year and eight months behind bars at a secret detention center near Massawa port after being suspected that he is a member Red Sea Afar Democratic Organization (RSADO), a rebel group based in Ethiopia.

Eritrean Afar refugees kid playing in Berahle refugee camp

He said there were 180 political prisoners at the prison facility, where he alleged prisoners were denied food, access to toilets and tortured on daily basis in a bid to extract information.
He said the international community has ignored repeated calls from Eritreans while they are being slaughtered by the dictatorial regime. "We held the demos in connection with the celebrations the 22nd anniversary of Eritrean independence day and thereby to call on the international community to give attention over Eritrean refugees" Rashid told Sudan Tribune.
The one party state, also referred as the "North Korea of Africa," has been ruled by President Isaias Afwerki and his Popular Front for Democracy and Justice (PFDJ) party since the country proclaimed independence from Ethiopia in 1993 after 31 years of revolutionary movement. "Although Eritrea gained independence over 20 years ago, the people of Eritrea however aren't yet liberated", he added.
Afwerki's regime has a zero-tolerance policy to dissidents and targets any citizen in suspected of being against the regime.
Currently there are an estimated 5,000 political prisoners in Eritrea who are being locked in harsh prison centers including in shipping containers where they are tortured and abused both mentally and physically. Others are summarily executed by prison guards, according to refugees who have escaped the country.
Thousands of young Eritreans risk their life trying to escape to neighbouring Ethiopia and Sudan in protest against the government's repressive policies and to avoid compulsory military services that can last decades.
Many others become prime targets for human traffickers operating in East Africa. Over 200,000 Eritreans have fled Eritrea to neighbouring countries. In Ethiopia alone there are nearly 70,000 Eritrean refugees.
Amina Abdul-Semed, 28, was a eight months pregnant when she crossed into Ethiopia, one month after her husband, who was suspected of ties with the rebels, also crossed the border. Amina arrived at Ethiopia's Berahle camp in 2010 with four of her children. She decided to flee after government agents repeatedly came to her home and beat her to confess the whereabouts of her husbands.
"It was extremely difficult to flee along with my four children however I had no choice", she told Sudan Tribune. Amina gave birth to her child at Berahle camp and her daughter is now nearly three years old.

CALL FOR JUSTICE:

Meanwhile an exiled Eritrean opposition group has called on the international community to intervene on the ongoing atrocities against innocent Eritreans.
"The international community has failed to protect Eritreans from mass murder by the brutal regime" said Nessredin Mohamed, an official of the Red Sea Afar Democratic Organization (RSADO).
"We renew our calls on the international community to take actions in bringing the president and his inner circles to the International Criminal Court".

Canada orders Eritrea's consulate leave the country

Semere is under investigation over its alleged role in financing the repressive regime.

Canada has ordered an Eritrean envoy to leave the country following claims he demanded contributions from expatriates to pay for Eritrea's military.

Semere Ghebremariam O Micael, head of the Eritrean Consulate General in Toronto, has been under investigation

The head of the Eritrean Consulate in Toronto has been ordered to leave Canada in the wake of reports that said Semere Ghebremariam O. Micael has been involved in soliciting a "diaspora tax" from Eritreans in Canada.
Foreign Affairs Minister John Baird issued a news release Wednesday that said he has taken steps to expel Micael and he must leave by noon ET on June 5.
"Today’s actions speak for themselves," Baird said. "Canada has repeatedly made clear to Eritrea to respect international sanctions and Canadian law."
Baird's office wouldn't give the specific reason why Micael is being expelled but the move comes days after CBC News and other media have been reporting on the activities of his office.
Deepak Obhrai, parliamentary secretary to Baird, gave more of an explanation when he spoke to reporters Wednesday morning.
"We have been very much concerned with the actions of the Eritrean consul general here in Canada. We had asked him at the early stages not to do this, it is contrary to our laws, but our information is that they continued doing it," said Obhrai. "And so we finally had to take action. We cannot allow our territory to be used for fundraising for other countries."
The dictatorship in Eritrea imposes what the UN has condemned as a worldwide "diaspora tax" on its nationals, valued at two per cent of their income.
It often adds a second tax of up to $500, described on the Eritrean government clearance form as a "donation to national defence against Ethiopian invasion."

Eritreans say tax collection ongoing

The CBC's Rick MacInnes-Rae reported last week that Baird's department advised the Eritrean consul in Toronto in September that soliciting and collecting these taxes was incompatible with consular duties, and his accreditation would not be renewed if he and his consulate didn't stop.
The consulate later indicated in writing that it would comply.
But an Eritrean in Toronto who did not want to be identified told CBC that the practice hasn't stopped and that if he doesn't pay, his family in Eritrea "would get in trouble."
Another Eritrean, Teklezghi Yohannes Gabir, provided audio to CBC from a meeting he attended in Winnipeg on April 21, with a voice he identifies as that of Micael sounding as if he is again soliciting money.
Gabir, 36, an Eritrean living in Winnipeg, has paid the tax in the past but refuses to pay any more, and offered the audio hoping it might help stop the collections.

Eritrean rep must 'play by the rules'

The Eritrean regime relies on diaspora cash for hard currency. But according to the UN, it also uses its money to support armed rebels opposing Ethiopia, and others with ties to the notorious al-Shabaab movement in Somalia.
Because of Eritrea's destabilizing role in the troubled Horn of Africa, the UN imposed sanctions on the country in 2009, hoping to choke off its access to arms and money.
Canada later adopted them, meaning those who pay are violating UN sanctions and may also be breaking Canadian law according to past reports.
"Canada has repeatedly made clear to Eritrea to respect international sanctions and Canadian law," Baird said in his statement. "The Eritrean government is welcome to propose another candidate to represent it in Canada, but that person must be prepared to play by the rules.
"Our resolve on this matter should not be further tested," he said.
A source told CBC that Canada's spy agency, the Canadian Security Intelligence Service, has contacted members of the Eritrean community for information about the tax scheme. Representatives from Baird's department and Obhrai, have also had meetings with the community.

African Civil Society Calls for AU Action On Eritrea

African Civil Society organizations say the ongoing widespread and systematic nature of human rights violations in Eritrea underlines the need for continued and urgent action by the African Union

 EXCELLENCIES,

We, the undersigned representatives of African civil society, present our compliments and congratulations on the occasion of the 50th anniversary of the African Union and the Organisation of African Unity. Reflecting the overall theme of 2013 as the year of Pan-Africanism and African Renaissance, we are writing to call on the African Union to take urgent action to respond to the appalling situation of widespread and systematic human rights violations in Eritrea, especially in light of the commemoration's sub-theme of promoting peace and security in Africa.
We note with appreciation the adoption by consensus of resolution A/HRC/RES/20/20 on the human rights situation in Eritrea at the 20th session of the UN Human Rights Council in July 2012, on the recommendation of Nigeria, Djibouti and Somalia. It is encouraging to see an important and positive step forward towards the protection and promotion of human rights for the Eritrean people emanating from members of the African Group. The UN Special Rapporteur on Eritrea, whose mandate was established by the July 2012 resolution, will present a report highlighting the human rights situation in Eritrea in June 2013.
As the report of the Special Rapporteur will no doubt demonstrate, the ongoing widespread and systematic nature of human rights violations in Eritrea underlines the need for continued and urgent action by the African Union. The government officials and independent journalists arbitrarily arrested in September 2001 remain either in incommunicado detention or have since died. Thousands of Eritreans have been arrested and imprisoned without charge or trial for years upon end merely for being critical of the government, belonging to what the government defines as a 'wrong' religious group, or refusing to comply with the indefinite national service imposed on all Eritreans over the age of 18 years. Torture, arrests, killings and forced labour are common. No independent civil society organizations have permission to operate inside Eritrea, and since 2001 there has been no independent domestic media.
At the regional level, the case of Eritrea has been raised repeatedly at the African Commission on Human and Peoples' Rights, which adopted a resolution in 2005 condemning human rights violations in Eritrea. In two separate decisions in 2003 and 2007, the Commission also found the government to be in violation of fundamental rights contained in the African Charter on Human and Peoples' Rights and requested the release of the government officials held incommunicado since September 2001 (250/02 Liesbeth Zegveld and Mussie Ephrem vs. Eritrea) and for at least 18 journalists also held incommunicado to be given access to their lawyers (275/03 Article 19 vs. Eritrea). Although these decisions have been adopted by the African Union, to date Eritrea has not provided any concrete response or acted to implement them.
In this year of golden jubilee commemorations, Eritrean people are not free to celebrate along with the rest of Africa. If the message "One Africa for Prosperity and Peace" is to have real meaning, we believe that now is the time for the African Union and all its member states to kick start sustained engagement on the human rights situation in Eritrea so that its people may benefit from the rights and fundamental freedoms enshrined in the African Charter on Human and Peoples' Rights.
During the AU Summit to be held in Addis Ababa on 19-27th May 2013, we therefore recommend that the African Union and its member states:
* Encourage the Government of Eritrea to ensure the effective implementation of the ACHPR decisions on Eritrea, and to allow access to the country for the special mechanisms of the ACHPR and UN Human Rights Council;
* Support the renewal of the mandate of the UN Special Rapporteur on the human rights situation in Eritrea at the Human Rights Council in June 2013;
* Ensure the protection of Eritrean refugees in their states in accordance with the 1969 OAU Convention Governing the Specific Aspects of Refugee Problems in Africa.
Excellencies, we thank you for your attention to these concerns. We remain available to provide further information as may be useful.
                 signed by Organizations &  Individuals

Eritreans in Canada : consul still demands cash from them

The entrance to the Consulate General of Eritrea, located in Toronto

There are calls to expel Eritrea's top diplomat in Canada because he presides over a system that's milking money from the Eritrean community in this country.
Evidence obtained by CBC News suggests Consul Semere Ghebremariam O. Micael is again soliciting taxes despite a threat by Canada eight months ago not to renew his credentials if he kept at it.
But one Eritrean in Toronto, who has asked not to be identified, tells the CBC it was business as usual just a few weeks later when he had to pay.
"You have to go to the consulate and they arrange how you have to pay the money. They want two per cent … they don't give you a reason. You have to pay the money."
What would happen if he didn't?
"My family [in Eritrea] would get in trouble if I don't pay," he said.

Threats and intimidation

A United Nations report last year indicated that state threats and intimidation were commonly used against families in Eritrea to get their relatives living in Canada and other countries to pay up, though now the government sometimes uses a financial middleman.
"As far as I'm concerned it's a ruse, doing indirectly what the government told them not to do directly," said David Matas, a Winnipeg human rights lawyer who represents some in the Eritrean community who resent it.
The dictatorship in Eritrea imposes what the UN has condemned as a worldwide "diaspora tax" on its nationals, valued at two per cent of their income.
It often adds a second tax up to $500, described on the Eritrean government clearance form as a "donation to national defence against Ethiopian invasion."
On Sept. 10, 2012, Canada's Department of Foreign Affairs advised the Eritrean consul in Toronto that soliciting and collecting these taxes was incompatible with consular duties, and his accreditation would not be renewed if he and his consulate didn't stop.
The consulate later indicated in writing that it would comply.
But audio provided to CBC News by Eritrean-born Teklezghi Yohannes Gabir from a meeting he attended in Winnipeg on April 21, 2013, reveals a voice he identifies as that of the consul sounding as if he is again soliciting money.
"What we are saying is that you have to fulfil the law of the country to be an investor because you are a citizen of the country" it says in a translation done for the CBC to English from Tigrinya, the language of business in Eritrea.
"Therefore, since what it comes down to is national honour and law, any service that requires a permit will have to remit two per cent."

Refusing to pay

Gabir, 36, an Eritrean living in Winnipeg, has paid the tax in the past but refuses to pay any more, and offered the audio hoping it might help stop the collections.
"I was there personally, and it was all aimed at collecting money and sending it to Eritrea," he said. "I think the Canadian government didn't follow up and they don't know what is going on."
But a source tells CBC News that Canada's spy agency, the Canadian Security Intelligence Service (CSIS), is familiar with the story and has been in contact with the Eritrean community seeking information about the tax scam.
And the issue was also laid out to federal officials as recently as three months ago, according to Ghazae Hagos, who was present at the meeting.
Hagos, a former journalist in the Eritrean capital of Asmara, speaks for HIDMONA, the Eritrean-Canadian Human Rights Group of Manitoba.
He says he and a colleague met last February with Conservative MP Deepak Obhrai, the parliamentary secretary to the minister of foreign affairs, and a deputy director from the Africa division of the Department of Foreign Affairs and International Trade.
"They said they were very concerned about it. They said they would seriously study the matter and take the appropriate action," Hagos said.
In the past, Eritrean Consul Semere Ghebremariam Micael denied there's opposition to the tax and said as much on the radio network Voice of America (VOA) on Sept. 27, 2012, just days after Canada told him to get out of the business or lose his accreditation.
"I don't have much doubt that this is going to be an obstacle to the people … the public is still doing it, saying about this matter.… 'It is our right to pay.' We don't have any problems with our community," he said.

Reliance on diaspora for cash

Eritrea is one of the youngest and poorest countries in Africa. And with 10,000 political prisoners filling its jails, according to an Amnesty International report this month, one of its most repressive. Independence came only after decades of conflict with Ethiopia, with which it maintains an uneasy peace today.
Consequently, the regime relies on diaspora cash for hard currency. But according to the UN, it also uses its money to support armed rebels opposing Ethiopia, and others with ties to the notorious al-Shabaab movement in Somalia.
Because of Eritrea's destabilizing role in the troubled Horn of Africa, the UN imposed sanctions on the country in 2009, hoping to choke off its access to arms and money.
Canada later adopted them, meaning those who pay are violating UN sanctions and may also be breaking Canadian law according to past reports.
Through it all, the consul has not been shy about his country's intention to keep collecting cash no matter how Canada views it.
In the VOA interview on September 2012, he interpreted Canada's warning just a few days earlier, as a green light for Eritrea to keep collecting.
"What the government of Canada is saying is that the task of a consulate office is not to collect a tax of two per cent, and it is not your mandate to do that, so you cannot collect payment here.
"But the law of Eritrea is still there as it is, and they have not said anything about that. Therefore, it is not that Eritrea should not ask payment, but you cannot charge here."
To that end, Ghazae Hagos of HIDMONA says Eritrea has adopted some opaque banking methods.

Money wired to Germany

In a sworn affidavit seen by CBC News, an Eritrean who has asked not to be identified describes being schooled in the tax payment process by officials at the Eritrean Consulate in Toronto, three months after Canada warned the office to end its involvement.
Several hundred dollars of his money were subsequently wired from a Canadian bank, to a second financial institution in Germany called the Deutsche Zentral-Genossenschaftsbank (DZ Bank) of Frankfurt.
From there, the documents show the funds were wired to a third institution, the Housing and Commerce Bank of Eritrea in the capital city of Asmara, of which the majority owner is the ruling regime, the People's Front for Democracy and Justice.
"They should stop," said Winnipeg human right lawyer David Matas. "But they were already asked to stop and they didn't, so I think they should be evicted. I mean, they're thumbing their noses at the Canadian authorities."
If Canada doesn't do something, Matas worries it's setting up people from Eritrea and potentially other expatriate communities to become walking ATMs for other regimes.
"If Eritrea gets away with it, we're going to start seeing China doing it. And Iran doing it. And North Korea doing it. And I think we have to make every effort to stop this right now, or else we're going to see it mushroom."
Ghazae Hagos of the Eritrean-Canadians Human Rights Group of Manitoba said he would like to see the Eritrean Consulate closed.
"Canada has to go beyond threat of pressure, of threat of expulsion of the consul. I think the closure of the consulate office is long overdue if Canada is really serious about it."
CBC News contacted the Eritrean Consulate three times in the past week to request comment, but telephone calls were not returned.

Seven months in Sinai : Torture for ransom

After seven months of beatings, burns, electric shocks and constant threats to kill him, an Eritrean refugee has finally been freed by his kidnappers in Egypt's Sinai desert. Covered in deep scars and suffering from breathing problems and bone injuries, Philemon Semere, now in Cairo, told how it feels to be free at last. 

 victim Philemon Semere

"Words are not enough to say how good I'm doing right now. I'm so relieved after everything I went through. Death was very near to me and at one point all hope was gone."
It was hard to believe that this was the same man whose terrible plight had been broadcast across Britain and much of the world a few months before.

In a rare and chilling phone interview last November, an evidently distraught and petrified Philemon Semere had told the BBC in broken English:
"I have no enough food. Have no enough water. Always hit by sticks and burnt by fire and electricity. My body is burning. Please help me, Mike, please help me!"
His Bedouin kidnappers forced him to make frequent calls to his family, warning them that he would be killed if they failed to pay a $33,000 (£22,000) ransom.
With the consent of Philemon's family, I phoned the number he had called from.
'Cold, sneering voice' Numerous attempts brought no response.
Then, finally, the phone was answered.

An unidentified voice wanted to know who was calling and why. A long pause followed my answer.

Then Philemon came on the line. Sobbing, he said that his family could not pay the huge ransom and feared he would soon be killed.
Suddenly, a cold, sneering voice confirmed his fears.
"If he hasn't any money, I will kill Philemon here."
I asked the man, who later told me that he was the leader of the kidnap gang, if he had killed other hostages who failed to pay their ransoms. Appearing to relish the question he replied:

 Eritrean victims of Sinai

"A lot of people I have killed here."
Facts on the ground seem to bear this out.
Pleading for money The UN estimates that on average 3,000 Eritreans fled into eastern Sudan each month last year. During that journey many of them were kidnapped, tortured and killed by Bedouin people-trafficking gangs. Their bodies were often dumped in the Sinai desert.
Philemon explained how he and a large group of fellow Eritreans had been seized by kidnappers soon after crossing into Sudan but had managed to escape into the desert.
Driven by raging thirst to drink their own urine after four sweltering days, they staggered to the nearest town for help.
But soon after they arrived there, locals tipped off their kidnappers.
Within hours they were thrown, hooded and chained, into the back of a truck and driven to North Sinai.
"When we got there we were surprised because the house they took us to in Sinai looked quite nice. But minutes after we arrived we were made to lie on the floor and told we'd die unless each of our families paid $33,000," he said.
In the days and months that followed, Philemon and 19 other Eritrean hostages were repeatedly made to phone their families and plead with them to get the ransom money.
'She heard my scream' The kidnappers know that many Eritreans have relatives working in Western countries and can appeal to them for help.
Soon after the hostages were given a phone, the beatings, burning and electric shocks would start.

"They wanted our relatives to hear us screaming and crying in pain. That way they were more likely to pay the ransom money," Philemon explains.

He described what happened the first time he called his mother:
"She heard my screams and couldn't stop crying. I was crying too. We both just cried and cried until we had no tears left."
He says that for the first few days after my phone call, he was treated better.
But the beatings and torture resumed not long after that. Only 11 of Philemon's group of 20 hostages survived their seven months of captivity.
"There was death every day, right in front of my eyes. The kidnapper who spoke to you wasn't lying. He's killed many people, and he's still killing many people."
The kidnappers finally agreed to release Philemon after accepting that the $13,200 his now impoverished family had paid was all they had.
But then they changed their minds and demanded that he and two other men being held with him paid a further $10,000 between them.
Several weeks later the money was paid and the men finally freed.
Philemon has now made his way to Cairo, home to hundreds of former kidnap victims like him.
But his search for a better life has brought only horrors and left his family back home poorer than ever.
With no guarantee that he'll be allowed to work to help pay them back, or be granted asylum, Philemon's future, like that of so many others, hangs in the balance.
"God brought me out of the deepest darkness and only he knows what lies ahead for me now."
   
        By Mike Thomson BBC News

Gold for World record holder Eritrean Zersenay Tadese

World record holder Eritrea Zersenay Tadese took down defending champion Martin Mathathi (Kenya/Suzuki Hamamatsu AC) at Sunday's Gifu Seiryu Half-Marathon , getting away early to set a new course record of 1:00:31.  Leading a pack of six through a 14:14 opening 5 km split, Tadese dropped a 14:04 over the next 5 km to take the race out of the competition's comfort zones and go ahead alone.  With a 37-second lead over the chase group of Mathathi, Jacob Wanjuki (Kenya/Team Aichi Seiko) and Cyrus Njui (Kenya/ Team Hitachi Butsuryu) at 15 km Tadese backed off to a 14:34 split from 15 to 20 km, but despite Mathathi and Wanjuki picking it up and closing the gap they were too far away and had to settle for a duel for 2nd, Mathathi proving the stronger as he crossed the line in 1:00:54, two seconds ahead of Wanjuki.  Moscow World Championships marathoner Yuki Kawauchi (Saitama Pref. Gov't), running just a week after going sub-64 at the Sendai International Half Marathon, struggled in to a 14th-place finish in 1:05:05.

The women's race was much closer, with Mestawet Tufa (Ethiopia) and Eunice Kirwa (Kenya) locked together through 20 km and pushing each other on to break the course record.  Tufa's last surge was too much for Kirwa to handle, the Ethiopia getting course record honors in 1:10:03.  Kirwa, 6 seconds back, also cleared the old record in 1:10:09, with Australian Lara Tamsett rounding out the top three in 1:13:33 after running the entire race alone.  Yuko Mizuguchi (Team Denso) was the top Japanese finisher, 4th overall in 1:14:44.

3rd Naoko Takahashi Cup Gifu Seiryu Half Marathon
Gifu, 5/19/13
complete results coming shortly

Men
1. Zersenay Tadese (Eritrea) - 1:00:31 - CR
2. Martin Mathathi (Kenya/Suzuki Hamamatsu AC) - 1:00:54
3. Jacob Wanjuki (Kenya/Team Aichi Seiko) - 1:00:55
4. Cyrus Njui (Kenya/Team Hitachi Butsuryu) - 1:01:08
5. Abayneh Ayele (Ethiopia/Team Mazda) - 1:01:43
6. Patrick Muwaka (Kenya/Team Aisan Kogyo) - 1:01:57
7. Micah Njeru (Kenya/Team Toyota Boshoku) - 1:02:38
8. Taiga Ito (Suzuki Hamamatsu AC) - 1:03:45
9. Yoshiki Otsuka (Team Aichi Seiko) - 1:04:37
10. Ryan Vail (U.S.A.) - 1:04:52

WHO Representatives Laud Eritrea's Accomplishments in Combating Malaria

Reports indicated that Eritrea's accomplishments in combating malaria have been applauded by WHO representatives at a joint meeting with the Ministry of Health that was conducted yesterday here in Asmara.
Speaking at the meeting during which various reports were presented by both institutions, Dr. Andebirhan Tesfatsion, Acting head of public health at the head office, explained that effective programs were implemented over the past 15 years targeting malaria prevention. He also indicated that assessment of previous programs is a stepping stone towards attaining further achievement.
In a report he presented at the meeting, Dr. Kalu Akapaka from the WHO pointed out that the morbidity rate of malaria in Eritrea stood at 60,000 in the year 1998, which figure has now dropped to hundreds, enabling the nation to hold exemplary image in this regard at continental level. He also called on pertinent bodies and the citizenry to enhance integrated endeavors as regards eradication of the disease.
Moreover, the participants of the meeting conducted in-depth discussion on the basis of an assessment report.
In closing remarks, Mr. Berhane Gebretinsae, Director General of medical service at the Ministry, noted the vitality of precise assessment pertaining to malaria control, and lauded the meeting's outcome to this end.

Eritrean athletes abandoned by scottish athletics

Tewoldeberhan Mengisteab, Chichi Guly, Tsegai Tewelde and Kokob Mehari

The seven Eritrean athletes granted political asylum after the 2008 world cross country championships in Edinburgh have been left in limbo by apparent negligence by the Scottish athletics body.

They could have been competing for Scotland, and collecting prize money for the past two years while living on the breadline.
Since they were not eligible for Scotland, they were often ruled out of winning prizes. One angry senior official described it last night as "shocking" and will raise the matter at a board meeting on Monday.
The Eritrean athletes changed the face of Scottish athletics. They were adopted and nurtured by Shettleston Harriers for whom they won a succession of national and district titles, and smashed numerous race records. This led to them being touted as the nucleus of the Glasgow 2014 Commonwealth team.
Yet more than five years on, despite having been granted indefinite leave to stay in Britain, the runners seem no nearer making their Scotland debut. Once among the best in the world, they have become so disillusioned that some have given up the sport altogether. Others have lost heart and no longer train with the same intensity. The delay has slowed applications for a UK passport which they need to compete in the Commonwealth Games.
For the first time in five years, having monopolised the Stewarts cross country and road running grands prix, they failed to win last year. Glasgow council have been supportive, and even the Red Road flats must have seemed like paradise compared to a land where they were brutalised and threatened with a life of conscription and curtailed education – taken from teachers at the point of a gun.
When we exclusively reported their attempt to stay in Britain, they confirmed that teachers were sometimes conscripted as well. They told how punishment and torture in the army was routine – defaulters suspended from trees with arms tied behind their backs, a technique known as "almaz" or diamond, or locked in freight containers with ferocious temperatures by day, and near zero at night.
As we walked on the grass outside the Red Road YMCA, one of them, Tsegai Tewelde, said the goats he used to herd "would eat all this in a day". Was he an economic migrant? The notion seemed to appal him. "I want to stay here for my life," he replied. "If we go home they'll send us to the army." He confided that while looking after the animals he had been blown up by a landmine, aged eight, and that his body was riddled with shrapnel. Yet he had finished fifth in the 1500m at the World Junior championship, breaking the equivalent of four minutes for the metric mile when just 17.
The Glasgow club which adopted them is angry and disappointed that scottishathletics has been so unsupportive. Numerous emails have passed between the governing body's committees, its chief executive Nigel Holl, and club representatives, but despite repeated assurances that they would be contacting the world governing body in Monaco, they have still heard nothing.
"They are disillusioned and have lost heart," said a Shettleston spokesman last night. "They are not running well because they have lost all hope. They came here, trained and worked hard, winning everything. They thought they'd get a chance to represent their new country. We kept being told 'next month – we're writing to the International Association of Athletics Federations'. Five years on nothing's happened."
Herald Sport contacted Nick Davies, the IAAF deputy general secretary who is currently in China for the Diamond League in Shanghai. He confirmed yesterday that he had checked with colleagues at their Monte Carlo headquarters: "We have received nothing from either Britain or Eritrea on this matter in the past couple of years . . . for the IAAF to act, we require a request from one of our members."
Since scottishathletics is not a member of IAAF, but affiliates through UK Athletics, he said any approach would have to have been through UKA, yet Shettleston say they have communications indicating that scottishathletics were contacting the world body.
The IAAF said that the athletes could have been competing for Scotland as soon as three years residence was completed, and that no clearance from either them or Eritrea was needed under those circumstances. So for the past two years they have been in unnecessary limbo.
"Scottish athletics has lost several world class athletes due to this," argue Shettleston, "it is annoying now to discover they could have been wearing a Scottish vest for two years."
Tewelde said: "We have been de-motivated by all the delay, and haven't been running much."
Scottishathletics ceo Holl, who had told Shettleston he was writing to the IAAF, could not be contacted yesterday. However, national endurance coach Mike Johnston who recruited leading English athletes such as Stef Twell to Scotland's colours, said the Eritrean cases had been referred to the sport's management board.
Professor Ron Morrison, the cross country and road official on the scottishathletics board said: "The athletes' treatment has been shocking and I will be raising this at our management board meeting on Monday. This is something that annoys me."

UN chief appoints Haile Menkerios as the new UN envoy to the African Union

Haile Menkerios

Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon has appointed veteran diplomat Haile Menkerios as the new U.N. representative to the African Union.

U.N. deputy spokesman Eduardo del Buey said Friday that Menkerios will also continue his current assignment as the secretary-general's special envoy for Sudan and South Sudan. He will have the rank of undersecretary-general.
Menkerios, a longtime Eritrean diplomat who is now a South African citizen, will replace Zachary Muburi-Muita of Kenya who completes his assignment on June 30.
Del Buey said Menkerios brings to his new position extensive experience in African issues and with the United Nations, where he was an assistant secretary-general for political affairs from 2007-2010.






 ዋና ጸሓፊ ሕቡራት መንግስታት ባን ኪ-ሙን ንኤርትራዊ ኣቶ ሃይለ መንቀሪዮስ ኣብ ሕብረት ኣፍሪካ ሓድሽ ሓላፊ ቤት ጽሕፈት ሕቡራት መንግስታት፣ኣብ ናይ ሕብረት ኣፍሪካ ድማ ብማዕረግ ሓጋዚ ዋና ጸሓፊ ፍሉይ ወኪሎም ገይሮም ሸይመምዎም።

 ኣቶ ሃይለ ሒዞምዎ ዝርከቡ ሓልፍነት ፍሉይ ልኡኽ ዋና ጸሓፊ ኣብ ሱዳንን ደቡብ ሱዳንን  ከምዝቕጽልሉን ኣገልግሎት ዘመኖም 30 ሰነ 2013  ይዛዝሙ ንዘለው ዛካሪ ሙቡሪ-ሙይታ ከምዝትክኡዎምን ተፍሊጡ’ሎ።

 ኣቶ ሃይል መንቆሪየስ ኣብ ጉዳያት ኣፍሪካን ሕቡራት መንግስታትን ዘዋህለልዎ ሰፊሕ ተመኩሮ እዮም ሒዞም ዝምደቡ ዘለው።ኣብ ሱዳንን ደቡብ ሱዳንን ፍሉይ ልኡኽ ሕቡራት መንግስታት ኮይኖም ኣብ 2011 ቅድሚ ምምዛዞም ካብ 2010  ጀሚሮም ወኪልን ሓላፍን ልኡኽ ሕቡራት መንግስታት ኣብ ሱዳን፣ካብ 2007 ክሳብ 2010 ድማ ምኽትል ዋና ጸሓፊ ፖለቲካዊ ጉዳያት ብምዃን ሰሪሖም።

  ኣብ ሕቡራት መንግስታት ኣብ ዝተፈላለዩ እዋናት ንነዊሕ እዋን ቅድሚ ምግልጋሎም ካብ 1991 ክሳብ 2000  ኣምባሳደር ኤርትራ ኣብ ኢትዮጵያን ውድብ ሓድነት ኣፍሪካን፣ፍሉይ ልኡኽ ሱማሊያን ዓበይቲ ቓላይን ከምኡ’ውን ኣብ ሕቡራት መንግስታት ቀዋሚ ልኡኽ መንግስቲ ኤርትራ ብምዃን ኣብ ዝተፈላለዩ ብርክታት ሓላፍንት ኣገልጊሎም እዮም።

US updated Travel warning for Eritrea

The U.S. Department of State continues to warn U.S. citizens of the risks of travel to Eritrea and strongly recommends U.S. citizens defer all travel to the country. This replaces the Travel Warning for Eritrea of November 29, 2012, to update information on additional travel restrictions, and to remind U.S. citizens of ongoing security concerns in Eritrea. 

The Eritrean government continues to restrict the travel of all foreign nationals. These restrictions require all visitors and residents, including U.S. diplomats, to apply 10 days in advance for permission to travel outside Asmara's city limits. Permission is rarely granted. As a result, the U.S. Embassy is extremely limited in its ability to provide emergency consular assistance outside of Asmara.
Travelers should also be aware that travel permits are valid for the approved final destination only, and do not allow for additional stops along the way to or in the proximity of the approved destination. In addition, travel to religious institutions, for example, monasteries, requires separate travel permission even when such facilities are located in or near approved destination cities. Foreign travelers not adhering strictly to the terms of travel permits have reported being detained by law enforcement authorities, and their drivers have been jailed.
A number of U.S.-Eritrean dual citizens have been arrested and some are currently being held without apparent cause. Once arrested, detainees may be held for extended periods without being told the reason for their incarceration. Conditions are harsh - those incarcerated may be held in very small quarters without access to restrooms, bedding, food, or clean water. The Eritrean government does not inform the U.S. Embassy when U.S. citizens, including those who are not dual nationals, have been arrested or detained. Should the U.S. Embassy learn of the arrest of a U.S. citizen, the Eritrean government rarely allows consular access, regardless of the reason the U.S. citizen is being held.
Starting in 2012, the Government of Eritrea began arming its citizens with automatic rifles, forming citizen militias. These armed civilian militias patrol at night and are ordered to check individuals for documentation. You should carry appropriate documentation with you at all times. Those not carrying documentation of their identity and military status may be subject to round-ups, sometimes by armed persons. U.S. citizens should use extreme caution when encountering armed persons.
In observance of the Independence Day holiday of May 24, travelers will notice an increase in the presence of military and police personnel throughout Asmara during the months of April and May. It is during these two months that military and police personnel most frequently check documentation.
The Eritrean government-controlled media frequently broadcasts anti-U.S. rhetoric, and has done so repeatedly since December 2009, when the United Nations Security Council (UNSC) first imposed sanctions on Eritrea. Anti-U.S. messages scripted by the current regime, which often appear as cover stories in the sole English-language state-run newspaper in Eritrea, have grown even stronger since UNSC sanctions were strengthened in December 2011.
Although there have been no specific incidents of violence targeting U.S. citizens, U.S. citizens are urged to exercise caution, stay current with media coverage of local events, and be aware of their surroundings at all times.
U.S. citizens are strongly advised to avoid travel near the Eritrean-Ethiopian border and the Southern Red Sea region. U.S. citizens should be aware of the presence of large numbers of Eritrean and Ethiopian troops along the Eritrean-Ethiopian border and of political and military tensions between the two countries. In March 2012, Ethiopian troops attacked three locations approximately 10 miles inside Eritrean territory. In January 2012, a group of tourists was attacked in Ethiopia not far from the Eritrean-Ethiopian border. Five tourists were killed and four others kidnapped. In May 2010, 13 people were injured when a bomb exploded on a bus just over the border in Ethiopia. In April 2010, a bomb near the border in Ethiopia killed five people and injured 20. In January and February 2010, skirmishes between Eritrean and Ethiopian troops resulted in military fatalities. Although Eritrean forces have withdrawn from disputed territory at the border with Djibouti, tensions in this area remain high.
U.S. citizens on ships and sailing vessels are strongly advised not to sail off the Eritrean coast or to attempt to dock in Eritrean ports, refuel in Eritrea, or travel through Eritrean waters. U.S. citizens are also urged to avoid remote Eritrean islands, some of which may be used for Eritrean military training and could therefore be unsafe. The Eritrean government does not issue visas to persons arriving by marine vessel.
Piracy on the Red Sea continues to occur. Recreational vessels are strongly encouraged to avoid the region entirely, and commercial vessels without explicit agreements with Eritrean authorities are urged to avoid Eritrean territorial waters. There have been incidents involving the seizure of ships attempting to refuel at the Port of Massawa by the Eritrean government as late as the spring of 2012. These seizures have resulted in lengthy detentions of international crew members, including U.S. nationals. Though the incidents were ultimately resolved and both ships and crew released, the concern for future seizures is ongoing. U.S. citizens are cautioned that commercial/tourist ships are not allowed to dock at Eritrean ports, even to refuel.
If transit around the Horn of Africa is necessary, vessels should travel in convoys, maintain good communications contact at all times, and follow the guidance provided by the Maritime Security Center - Horn of Africa (MSC-HOA). U.S. citizens should consult the Maritime Administration's Horn of Africa Piracy page for information on maritime advisories, self-protection measures, and naval forces in the region.
Landmines and unexploded ordnance remain a serious problem throughout the country. There are reports of accidents and incidents in which vehicles or people occasionally detonate mines. Many detonations occurred on relatively well-traveled roads in and near the Gash Barka region of western Eritrea; subsequent investigations indicated that several mines were recently laid. In September 2011, press reported that a vehicle in Senafe, 60 miles south of Asmara, ran over a landmine; five people were killed and another 34 injured in the incident. Vast areas of the country still have not been certified free of mines and unexploded ordnance following the 30-year war for independence and the subsequent 1998-2000 conflict with Ethiopia. You should avoid walking alone and hiking in riverbeds or areas that local government officials have not certified as safe.
U.S. citizens choosing to travel to Eritrea despite this Travel Warning must obtain an Eritrean visa before their arrival. Persons arriving in Eritrea without a visa are generally refused admission and returned on the next flight back to their point of origin. However, the Embassy is aware of persons being jailed for several months after arriving without a visa. The Embassy urges U.S.-Eritrean dual citizens to obtain an Eritrean visa in their U.S. passport before traveling to Eritrea and to enter the country as U.S. citizens. U.S.-Eritrean dual citizens who enter Eritrea with an Eritrean ID card may find it difficult to obtain the required visa to legally exit the country. The Embassy is aware of numerous cases in which U.S.-Eritrean dual citizens have not been permitted to leave the country. The Embassy cautions travelers not to stay beyond the period of time granted at the time of admission by Eritrean Immigration.
Crime in Asmara has increased as a result of deteriorating economic conditions accompanied by persistent food, water, and fuel shortages, and rapid price inflation. The combination of forced, open-ended, low-paying, national service for many Eritreans and severe unemployment leads some Eritreans to commit crime to support their families. Eritrean authorities have limited capacity to deter or investigate crime or prosecute perpetrators.

Eritrea response Amnesty International"s new report

Eritrea Rejects Amnesty International's Wild Accusations

Eritrea rejects in the clearest of terms Amnesty International's wild accusations that it has "jailed at least 10,000 political prisoners."
Amnesty's transparently political assault on Eritrea is totally unsubstantiated, with the organization unable to back its claims with facts. It is hardly surprising that it admits that it does not "know the exact figure."
Amnesty claims that the prisoners are kept in "unimaginably atrocious conditions." Once again this merely reflects its own fanciful flights of imagination and is not based on credible evidence.
Amnesty's cynical manipulation of human rights does not only further erode its credibility but it is also a disservice to human rights and the thousands of concerned people who back its campaigns.
Amnesty International knows full well that Eritrea was born in a remarkable thirty year struggle for human rights. The consolidation of the human rights of the people of Eritrea in their diversity- ethnic and cultural groups, women, youth, children, the disabled- remains an overriding priority for the government and people of Eritrea.
Eritreans are the first to admit, and need no prompting to remind them, that they still have a long way to go to secure a life of dignity and prosperity for themselves in their young nation. By the same measure, they don't hesitate to strongly rebuff all those who abuse the vital cause of human rights in the pursuit of a political agenda aimed at undermining Eritrea's efforts at comprehensive nation-building.
Stepping boldly into the political, Amnesty International claims that "Twenty years on from the euphoric celebrations of independence, Eritrea is one of the most repressive, secretive and inaccessible countries in the world." Eritreans and the thousands of foreigners from all over the world who work and live in Eritrea cannot but wonder how far off the mark Amnesty chooses to be, as the sordid picture it paints resembles little to the reality.
Undeterred, Eritreans and their friends, not just in Eritrea, but all over the world will be participating this month "in euphoric celebrations of independence." Of course, Amnesty International will take no notice of these indicators of the Eritrean people's stance, smug in its self¬ righteous belief that it can, with impunity, attack and denigrate a young nation, which despite many odds, manages to progress and improve the lives of its citizens.
 Eritrean Foreign Ministry Press Statement, 09 May 2013

Amnesty International"s new report 'Eritrea jails 10,000 political prisoners'

Eritrea's hardline regime has jailed at least 10,000 political prisoners, many in "unimaginably atrocious
conditions", rights group Amnesty International said in a report.

With political opposition banned, independent media quashed and religious minorities targeted, the ex-rebel government uses a system of underground cells and shipping containers to house the prisoners, the report released on Thursday said.
"The government has systematically used arbitrary arrest and detention without charge to crush all opposition, to silence all dissent, and to punish anyone who refuses to comply with the repressive restrictions it places on people's lives," said Claire Beston, Amnesty's Eritrea researcher.
The report says "at least 10,000" prisoners have "disappeared into secret and incommunicado detention" in the Horn of Africa nation, but warns it is impossible to know the exact figure.
The report was released ahead of Eritrea's celebrations of 20 years of independence on May 24, which followed an overwhelmingly vote by the people to split from Ethiopia after years of bitter war.
Eritrean rebels battled far better equipped Ethiopian troops -- backed first by the United States, then the Soviet Union -- for three decades until victory in 1991, which was followed by a referendum two years later.
A subsequent border conflict with Ethiopia from 1998-2000 still simmers, which analysts say Asmara uses as an excuse for its continued iron-rule.
"Twenty years on from the euphoric celebrations of independence, Eritrea is one of the most repressive, secretive and inaccessible countries in the world," Beston added.
Opposition parties are banned and anyone who challenges President Issaias Afeworki is jailed without trial, often in the harshest of conditions.
Reporters Without Borders lists Eritrea below North Korea as the worst country in the world for press freedom.

Sweden halts deportations to Eritrea

Sweden have stopped deporting people to Eritrea as the Migration Board (Migrationsverket) reevaluates its policy regarding asylum applicants from the east African country.

The move comes following an email sent on Thursday to all police authorities in Sweden to not forcibly deport people to Eritrea.

"From what I understand the Migration Board is planning to stop these type of forced deportations. That's why we've made this decision," Sören Clerton, head of the border control unit with Sweden's National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) told the TT news agency.

Clerton added that police have had talks with both the Migration Board and human rights group Amnesty about the situation in Eritrea.

According to Amnesty, Sweden is the only country in Europe that has continued to deport people to Eritrea in recent years.

"It's a real problem that Sweden has made a faulty assessment of the risks in Eritrea," Madelaine Seidlitz, a lawyer with Amnesty in Sweden, told TT.

In an Amnesty report due to be published later in May, the human rights group argues that refugees are viewed as criminals in Eritrea.

"Countless numbers of people have been imprisoned arbitrarily after having been arrested when they try to cross the border," Amnesty writes, adding that people can be held for up to three years and that their family members can also be arrested.

Nearly all Eritreans who apply are granted asylum in Sweden, the TT news agency reports. The approval rate so far this year is 96 percent. But in some cases, applications are denied and people are deported back to Eritrea. In 2012, 19 people were deported and so far this year four people have been sent back, two of whom were forcibly deported.

Amnesty claims that Eritreans who seek asylum abroad are seen as traitors by the regime and risk being arrested and tortured upon their return.

"We're looking at that question: is the fact that someone sought asylum in and of itself enough for them to be harmed? Hopefully, I'll be able to have a ruling on the matter early next week," Fredrik Beijer, acting general counsel with the Migration Board, told TT.

In the meantime, no one will be deported to Eritrea

Eritrean mothers and children released from Israeli prison

The Israeli Ministry of Interior ordered the release of all Eritrean mothers and children detained under the Anti-Infiltration Law for long months Nine Eritrean female asylum seekers with their ten children were released last night after the Hotline for Migrant Workers petitioned for their release last week once more. The release was made possible by a precedent ruling of the Beer Sheva District Court in an appeal of the Hotline for Migrant Workers last week. In the ruling, Judge Alon declared that being a minor can be considered a "special humanitarian ground" for release from detention, even under the Anti-Infiltration Law. The Hotline for Migrant Workers commends this release after a long period during which the NGO called and petitioned for the release of children from detention. Adi Lerner, the Crisis Intervention Center Coordinator at the Hotline for Migrant Workers said: "We commend the decision of the Ministry of Interior, yet we are puzzled why there was a need to detain such young children (from the age of 18 months to seven) for such a long period of time before noticing what is crystal clear: children should not be behind bars regardless of their origin. We need to remember that even now, six families with 14 children are still detained in the Saharonim internment camp. We call the Ministry of Interior to release them as well." According to the Israeli law, a person is considered

Eritrean father meets his son after years

a minor until the age of 18, but in its responses to court, the State refers to detained children only under the age of 10 as minors. The Hotline for Migrant Workers is aware of a 14-year-old South Sudanese minor who was separated from his mother and younger siblings and is detained separately from them in the men's section, in violation of regulations that prohibit the jailing of minors alongside detainees over the age of 18. We have no knowledge about how many more children between the ages of 10-18 are still detained. Until now, the State claimed that since the Anti-Infiltration Law states that unaccompanied minors can be released from detention, it necessarily means that minors accompanied by their parents should remain in detention. In his verdict last week, Judge Alon stated that releasing minors on humanitarian grounds should be a matter of discretion regardless of whether the minor is accompanied or not. He added that "remaining in indefinite detention will undoubtedly cause significant harm the minors' social and mental development." As a result of this verdict and a new request submitted by the Hotline for Migrant Workers, the Ministry of Interior released the nine mothers and their children last night. The women and children were released at 6:30 pm without giving any notice to the Hotline or their families in Israel.

Toronto police offer $50,000 reward in brutal murder of Nighisti Semret

Toronto police putting up signs of  victim Nighisti Semret in cabbagetown

Armed with new information, Toronto Police are once again seeking the public’s assistance in tracking down the man who killed Nighisti Semret and are now offering up to $50,000 for information leading to his arrest. 

The 55-year-old Semret was stabbed to death in an alleyway off Ontario Street near Carlton and Parliament streets at roughly 7 a.m. on Oct. 23, 2012. She was returning home from her job at the Delta Chelsea Hotel when the attack took place.

A suspect in the case was captured on video but his face was obscured and none of the leads police were given resulted in an arrest.

Now, police are looking to use DNA evidence to track down the killer.

“Investigators believe the attacker injured himself or was injured during the attack,” said Toronto Police constable Wendy Drummond.

According to police, the DNA of a male was found under Semret’s fingernails, on Semret’s black canvas bag and blood found at the scene. Police believe the attacker may have cut himself with his own knife during the attack.

The DNA samples all belong to the same individual.

Police are now looking for a male who sustained unexplained injuries to his hand or arm around the time of the attack.

“He potentially did not seek medical attention, but if he did, that would be valuable information,” Drummond said. “The way the blood came off the suspect’s hand suggests the injury was more than minor.”

Police have posted a $50,000 reward for information leading to the identification, arrest and conviction of the suspect.

Anyone with information is asked to contact police at 416-808-7400, Crime Stoppers anonymously at 416-222-8477 or online at www.torontopolice.on.ca/rewards

UN Special Rapporteur On Human Rights in Eritrea Begins Official Tour

Ms. Beedwantee Keetharuth, UN Special Rapporteur on the human rights situation in Eritrea

The United Nations special rapporteur on the human rights situation in Eritrea, Sheila B. Keetharuth, is due to begin on Tuesday (April 30th) a 10-day fact-finding mission to Ethiopia and Djibouti to collect first-hand information on the human rights situation inside their country, Eritrea. During her mission, Keetharuth will interview Eritrean refugees residing in various locations in Ethiopia and Eritrea to assess allegations of widespread and systematic violations of human rights in Eritrea contained in a number of disturbing reports received from different sources.
The visit comes as the regime in Asmara has rejected her appointment, describing it as politically motivated and blocked her from entering the country. Following this, Keetharuth, in a statement issued by The Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR), said she "will engage with all others concerned by human rights in Eritrea, including those who consider themselves to be victims of alleged human rights violations, human rights defenders and other civil society actors" due to "a lack of access to Eritrea".
The10-day fact-finding mission to Ethiopia and Djibouti would be her first field mission since her appointment in November 2012 with a one-year mandate. In her one-year mandate, she is tasked with carrying out investigations on the human rights situation inside Eritrea and reporting her findings to the UN Human Rights Council (UNHRC). Her findings will be published in her first report to the UNHRC in June.

Ethiopia accused Eritrea refusing to engage in peace talks

Ethiopian Minister Tedros Adhanom with  the UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon

The Ethiopian government on Monday has reiterated its readiness to hold peace talks with Eritrea to resolve their decades-long border dispute
During his meeting with the United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon in New York, the Ethiopian Minister of foreign Affairs Tedros Adhanom accused the Eritrean government of refusing to engage in peace talks.
Adhanom said his country is ready to sit down for direct negotiations with Eritrea without any preconditions regarding to level, time or venue.
But the Ethiopian top diplomat stressed "the belligerent party opposed to these talks has always been the Eritrean side".
According to the ministry of foreign Affairs, Tedros expressed solidarity with the people of Eritrea whom he said are continuously suffering due the regime's "brutality and obstinacy to peace".
Ethiopia and Eritrea fought a border war in 1998-2000 that has killed an estimated 70,000 people.
The two East African adversaries remain at loggerheads since the disputed key town of Badme had been awarded to Eritrea by an international border commission.
Ethiopia's current leader Hailemariam Desalegn, who assumed power shortly after longtime ruler Meles Zenawi died in August said last year that he was willing to hold face-to-face talks with Eritrean president Isaias Afwerki, even if he had to travel to the Asmara.
However, the Eritrean government has yet to respond to the offer.
Asmara has in the past said that Ethiopia should first withdraw its troops from the flashpoint border town of Badme before resuming to peace talks.