Whereabouts of Mohammed Ali Ibrahim and Other 19 in This Report Not Yet Known

2016-02-14 11:21:04 Written by  By a Contributor Published in English Articles Read 6753 times
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Mohammed Ali Ibrahim, Central Council member of the Eritrean People's Democratic Party (EPDP), is marking this week his 4th year since he disappeared in Kassala, Sudan, on 14 February 2012. His comrades-in-struggle, Woldemariam Bahlbi and Teklebrahan Ghebre-Tsadiq (Wedi Bashay), who were Executive Committee members of the ELF-RC, will mark their 24th year of disappearance in April this year. The three of them were reportedly seen in some of the prisons of PFDJ's Eritrea, a country for whose sake they spent everything in life.

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The list of disappeared Eritreans is growing by the say. Hundreds 'disappeared' in the Sudan in the last 25 years of Eritrea's territorial 'independence'. Observers and most Eritreans believe that the unmistakable culprit is the criminal regime in Asmara.

 

During the 2015 submissions to the UN Commission of Inquiry, many Eritreans identified their own long list of 'disappeared' Eritrean freedom fighters and submitted them o the UN COI on Eritrea. The writing below is a submission of a single person who knew closely these 20 in this list.

Mohammed Ali Ibrahim

  • He left his house in the outskirts of Kassala on bicycle in the morning hours of 14 February 2012 towards downtown Kassala and he was never seen again. His bicycle was found in the city.
  • That morning a vehicle without a plate number and with darkened windows, which made people raise eyebrows in Kassala, was seen driving to the direction from where Mohammed Ali was coming to the city centre.
  • His telephone call responded after four days of his disappearance. The responder, talking in perfect Sudanese Arabic, said: “You will never get Mohammed Ali easily” and he bunged the phone.
  • Several months later, his wife, Fatima, and his two sons, Majid and Nassir, heard rumours that Mohammed Ali "is" in a prison not far from the town of Hagaz in western Eritrea.
  • Mohammed Ali Ibrahim joined the Eritrean Liberation Front at the age of 17 in 1967 and was in continued struggle until his arrest.
  • At the time of his arrest, he was member of the Central Council of the Eritrean People’s Democratic Party (EPDP)....

Woldemariam Bahlbi and Teklebrahan Ghebre-Tsadik (Wedi-Bashai)


  • Both were Executive Committee members in charge of military

and security affairs of the then Eritrean Liberation Front – Revolutionary Council (ELF-RC). They were kidnapped on 26 April 1992 by agents of the then new Eritrean government in collaboration with Sudanese security.

  • The day was an Eritrean Easter Holiday and they were invited for morning breakfast by a certain Tesfazion Gebre-Yesus, a government supporter whose wife was a relative of Woldemariam. He came from Saudi Arabia to visit his family in Kassala. When they wanted to leave after the food, he used many reasons to delay them (eg he asked his son to go on errand by using one of the bicycles of the two ELF-RC members.
  • When they left his house, persons in Sudanese security uniforms told them that they were needed at the Kassala Security Office, which they accepted as normal because they were used to such duty invitations related to Eritrean citizens in the city.
  • Eyewitnesses saw them being taken to the Kassala security office. Later in the day, they were seen riding in a fast moving Toyota car which was heading towards the border to Eritrea.
  • Tesfazion Gebre-Yesus, the collaborator who invited them to his house, was heard saying about them:       “Don’t worry, they have gone to their home country”.
  • Their colleagues in Kassala on 10.05.1992 notified to the Sudanese authorities accusing Tesfazion Gebre-Yesus as an accomplice. The Sudanese authorities reportedly decided that he should be searched - but the person was already out of the country.  
  • That was their end of their story although rumours persisted that they were being moved from prison to prison in Eritrea.

From Among Those Who Disappeared in the 1990s:

  1. Memher Ghirmai Gebrehawariat, a former ELF-RC member was arrested in Asmara in 1994 and disappeared without trace.
  2. In 1996, Mohammed Muftah and
  3. Mohammed Bani were arrested in the town of Adi Kayih, Akele-Guzai. They were former fighters of the ELF who returned home after liberation.
  4. Embaye Hidru (original of Liban Habela, Hamassien province) arrested in Barentu in 1996. He lived in Wad-Sherifey, Sudan before returning home after independence.
  1. 5.Woldeselassie Chanchu,
  2. Gherebrahan Zere, was kidnapped from the Eritrea-Ethiopia border town of Humera on 4 February 1997 and his whereabouts are not yet known.

Ten former freedom Strugglers Who Disappeared in a Single Day, 16.12. 2002

The three below were taken prisoners after an attack of the government army in February 1992 against ELF-RC units in the Gash. They were freed in 2000 and started civilian life as workers and students till a surprise action that took in the morning hours of 16 December 2002. No family member or friend saw them after the arrest.

  1. Ghebre-Luul Amdezion (original of the village of Adi Yacob, Hamassien province), a father of one child, arrested while going to work;
  2. Habtemichael Berhe (original of the village of Korbaria, Akele-Guzai province) arrested while walking towards the Asmara University to attend classes. He was freedom fighter in the ELF since 1975 until his return to Eritrea after independence;
  3. Andebrahan Kidane (from the village of Ahsia, Serae province).

Disappeared 1                        Ghebre-Luul Amdezion             Habtemichael Berhe                         Andebrahan Kidane

 

The first two of the followings three compatriots returned to Asmara to lead civilian life in independent Eritrea. They were law-abiding citizens until the surprise arrest of 16 Decembers:

  1. Memhir (teacher) Haile Selassie Ghebre-Kristos (originally from the village of Hadish Adi, Akele-Guzai) arrested while going to the school where he taught. His bicycle was found thrown down in a street in Asmara;
  2. Amanizgi Tekeste (original of Adi Naamin, Hamassien) was arrested and taken away in a taxi-like vehicle. His bicycle was left in the street.

Disappeared 2                                                  Haile S Ghebrekristos                                    Amanezghi Tekeste

  1. Ghebrehiwet Keleta was first kidnapped from the Sudan after independence and was released in December 2000 after 8 years in prison and started work in one of the private papers. H was arrested in 2001 and disappeared for good.

The list below shows five civilian members of the ELF till liberation who were giving information and succor to fighters against the Ethiopian occupation army. After independence, they were conducting normal life until the PFDJ agents arrested them on that fateful 16 December 2002. They disappeared without trace.   

  1. Memhir (teach) Hailemelekot Mehari, arrested in Asmara (his village of origin is Tera-Imni, Serae province and his family phone number in Asmara was.....
  2. Memhir (teacher) Debessai Mehari, arrested in Keren.Prisoners who were released later reported having seen him at one time in an Asmara prison called Track B. That was the last news about him.
  3. Memhir (teacher) Yohannes Naizgi, arrested in Asmara (originally from Akele Guzai province. His family phone number in 2002 was....
  4. Memhir (teacher) Hadgu Tekle, arrested in Agordat (originally from Hassien province. His family number was ........
  5. Woldeab Andemariam, a commercial bank manager, was arrested in    Asmara (originally from the village of Adi-Yacob, Hamassien province).
Last modified on Monday, 15 February 2016 15:32
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