Three Eritreans in Israel Charged With Murder of Regime Supporter
If allegations against suspects are true, this is the first fatality in a series of confrontations with pro- and anti-regime asylum seekers
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Dec 31, 2019 9:18 PM
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Suspects in the murder of an asylum seeker in Tel Aviv on December 31, 2019.
Suspects in the murder of an asylum seeker in Tel Aviv on December 31, 2019.Daniel Bar-On
Three Eritrean asylum seekers accused of killing a supporter of that country’s regime were charged with murder on Tuesday. The three allegedly stabbed Kiros Tsfamichael Brigber, another asylum seeker from Eritrea, to death in early December, after identifying him as a regime supporter.
A fourth asylum seeker was charged with assault in connection with the case.
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If the allegations are true, this was the first time a violent confrontation in Israel between supporters and opponents of Eritrea’s government ended in a fatality.
The incident, which took place in the Tel Aviv’s Hatikva neighborhood, was one of several confrontations between pro- and anti-regime Eritreans in the city in recent weeks, which saw the use of stones, knives, and other weapons. According to the indictment, Brigber was beaten with metal rods and stabbed repeatedly. He died a few days later in hospital. The indictment also said that in an earlier attack, one of the accused had said: “You are talking with people against the regime and this is just the beginning,” before stabbing and kicking the victim.
Last month, prominent members of the asylum seeker community appealed to Tzachi Sharabi, the head of the Yiftah police sub-district in Tel Aviv, in the wake of several violent incidents. They wrote that “the violent actions of regime supporters are premeditated and are meant to target specific people. They are causing great anxiety among people considered to be opponents of the regime and among residents of southern Tel Aviv.” After meeting Sharabi, one community leader told Haaretz he had warned police that there would end up being a murder and urged them to take action. “People think the police are doing nothing, so they act on their own”, he said.
The UN Refugee Convention determines that a refugee is someone facing a credible threat of persecution based on race, religion, nationality or political views. While supporters of the Eritrean regime would perhaps not be politically persecuted there, Israel has not differentiated between asylum seekers based on their political affiliation.
Last year, Galia Tzabar, the president of the Ruppin Academic Center and a researcher of issues related to migrants and refugees, told Haaretz that in her opinion “the hard core of regime supporters should be returned to Eritrea, after closely examining their requests for asylum. But this is not being done, because then the complex truth would emerge, showing that some [asylum seekers] are refugees while some aren’t, and the state doesn’t want to acknowledge that.”