THE FIVE PRISONERS TO BE DEAD IN THE LAST TWO YEARS
Dawit Isaak has been imprisoned without trial in Eritrea for over ten years.
Prison Guard: Isaak is still alive
THE FIVE PRISONERS TO BE DEAD IN THE LAST TWO YEARS
• Prisoner # 1, Alazar Mesfin, suffered from problems with the spine and died from lack of care.
• Prisoner number 12, a journalist Dawit Habtemichael, he had mental problems, he would talk to himself, got no care and died.
• Prisoner number 16, Tesfay Gomera, was very sick and did not care, died because of it.
• Prisoner number 21, Kiros Awer, suffered from constipation and raged in weight, received no treatment and died as a result of it.
• Prisoner number 26, Dr. Siraj, suffered from diabetes and died from lack of care.
THE PRISONERS SET FORTH TO BE ALIVE IN LATE March 2012
• Prisoner Number 2, Petros Solomon.
• prisoner number 4, Haile Weldetnsae.
• prisoner number 7, General Berhane.
• prisoner number 10, Seyoum Tsehaye.
• Prisoner number 13, Forion Weldu.
• Prisoner number 14, a former employee of the U.S. Embassy.
• prisoner number 22, Temesgen Gebreyesus.
• Prisoner number 23, Estifanos Syoum.
• prisoner number 25, Amanuel Asrat.
• Prisoner number 28, Miriam Hagos.
• Prisoner number 29, Idris Aba-Are.
• prisoner number 33, Eseyas.
• Prisoner number 34, Beraki Gebreslase.
• Prisoner number 35, Kiflom.
• Prisoner number 36, Dawit Isaak.
ERITREA
When the Ethiopian dictator Mengistu was overthrown in 1991, Eritrea an independent status. The country became formally independent after a referendum 1993rd
The governing party, Peoples Front for Democracy and Justice, is the only legal political party. The Constitution provides that Eritrea should be a pluralist democracy with free elections, but the presidential and parliamentary elections has not yet been held and the Parliament has ceased to act.
Many international organizations and the international community, including Sweden, are critical of the situation of human rights in Eritrea.
Dawit Isaak
Isaak, 47, fled from Eritrea to Sweden in 1987. He became a Swedish citizen in 1992 and settled in Gothenburg, where his wife and three children still live.
Dawit chose to return to Eritrea where he worked as a journalist and author of the independent newspaper Setit. In September 2001 he was arrested along with some 20 other journalists and ministers after publishing an open letter to the president.
He has been imprisoned for over ten years without trial.
Isaak said to be alive.
New data from a guard in the infamous Eira EIRO says that 15 of the prisoners are still living - including the Swedish-Eritrean journalist.
- It is clear that there is positive news, but I want to be careful when it is so difficult to verify the data, says Dawits brother Esayas Isaac.
Dawit Isaak has been imprisoned without proper thread for over ten years in Eritrea.
The African dictatorship has long refused to say anything about his condition - and the little information that has leaked from former prison guards and government critics.
Now, new information came in a letter from a friend of a former prison guard. The letter was sent to the radio station Wegahta.
The jailer says that the 15 prisoners who are still alive are in poor condition and the guards wondering each day which of them will die.
Five have died since 2010
Many of the prisoners are chained day and night.
Then the jailer Eyob Bahta Habtemariam told about conditions in prison two years ago, another five prisoners have died.
But the letter also contains hopeful information. On a list of names of prisoners who were alive in sllutet in March 2012 it says:
"Prisoner number 36, a journalist Dawit Isaak, he has Swedish citizenship."
"Slow Process"
Isaak's brother Esayas Isaac says that the news is positive but would emphasize that it is not possible to verify the information.
- I have known for ten years for it to happen anything, it's a slow process that sometimes brings hope and sometimes do not. It is important that everyone is in favor of Dawit Isaak and his colleagues, his situation is not unique in Eritrea.
While Leif Öbrink, chairman of the Support Committee of the Free Dawit Isaak, welcomes the new information.
- It is in line with what we have believed. Now we ask the Foreign Ministry if they can get out any more information, he says.
In the letter to Radio Wegahta writes letter writer to his best friend has worked as a jailer at Eira EIRO and asked him to send the letter to radio station after he had been able to leave the country.
He should also have said that the guards feel like prisoners themselves and that they are afraid that they will all be killed when the last prisoner has died.
Eyob Bahta Habtemariam interviews in international media, including newspaper Expressen, two years ago did not change much. According to the letter ignored the regime what he said and only increased surveillance.
"Workers across all channels"
Swedish Foreign Ministry declined to comment on the new data.
- I can not comment on these details, but we assume in our work that he is alive, says Linn Duvhammar the MFA's press service.
What to do now to secure his release?
- The goal is that he should be released, but unfortunately I can not describe what we do. But we work through all channels that we believe will pay off.
When Foreign Minister Carl Bildt was a guest in Expressen TV's' Bar and Politics "on Tuesday as he said so here Isaak:
- I know a bit more than I can say. I know as much as I would like to know? No, I do not. It is a very closed society.
Can bread and water
When the jailer Eyob Bahta Habtemariam interviewed by Expressen, two years ago, he told me about conditions in prison. The prisoners are locked up in a three by three meter cell and has no contact with each other.
They may not listen to the radio or read newspapers. An hour a day, they go out on a minimal exercise yard and every day served the same food - water, bread and lentil soup.
In an interview with freelance journalist Donald Bostrom did with Eritrean President Isaias Afewerki, and published in Expressen, wanted the dictator does not answer questions about Dawit Isaak and said it is up to Swedish politicians to improve the relationship between the countries.
Fängelsevakt: Dawit Isaak är ännu vid liv
www.expressen.se
Dawit Isaak uppges vara vid liv. Nya uppgifter från en vakt i det ökända Eira Eiro säger att 15 av fångarna fortfarande lever - däribland den svensk-eritreanska journalisten. - Det är klart att det är positiva nyheter, men jag vill vara försiktig när det är så svårt att verifiera uppgifterna, säge...
