Eritrean Lawyer Tells Swiss People: 'Don't Be Misled, Eritrea is a Prison' For its People
2016-02-25 22:12:26 Written by EPDP Information Office Published in EPDP News Read 8101 times-
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In an interview published in the February 24 issue of the French daily Tribune de Genève, Dr. Daniel R. Mekonnen, an Eritrean human rights activist cautioned the Swiss authorities and people not to be mislead by the reports of Swiss politicians who visited Eritrea recently and some came claiming that the "situation is not what the reports had it". He retorted that this was an insult to the victims by the Swiss politicians.
Dr. Daniel made it clear that the recent visitors to Eritrea were invited and companied by the Eritrean Council of Swiss origin, and that the four Swiss politicians, who were from right-wing parties, did not visit a single prison out of the over 300 dungeons in the country. He said this is because even family members or the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) cannot pay visit to prisoners in Eritrea.
The Eritrean lawyer added that the people live in a state of fear and thousands are languishing in prisons without knowing what wrong they have done, and without a day at court. The treatment of prisoners is inhuman, and that senior army commanders with and above a colonel's grade can even kill people at will, he explained.
Responding to a question as to why people leave Eritrea, Dr. Daniel Rezene listed the causes that include the absence of rule of law in the country, the prevailing violation of basic human rights and the ongoing forced labour under an oppressive military system that can be characterized as "a mafia".
Asked about why the people until now supported the regime and what the future could be in Eritrea, the lawyer/human rights activist said Eritreans are very patriotic and had in the past looked at the regime as liberator. "Even myself 15 years ago, I considered the president as our hero. But the winds have changed now" and that the vast majority of Eritreans are for democratic change now. The massive 5,000 strong demonstration in Geneva last year was cited as one glaring evidence in the change of winds blowing against the regime in Asmara.
