Mereja.Forum

[Roha]

An African gulag so ghastly that inmates risk death to escape

Forty-two former prisoners in Eritrea’s sprawling detention system described horrific conditions and frequent torture.

Washngton Post By Katharine Houreld, January 6, 2024

NAIROBI — The tiny African nation of Eritrea is a sliver of fear wedged between Ethiopia and the Red Sea, a land that has known only a single strongman leader and the shadow of repression since independence three decades ago. Nothing exemplifies the reach and cruelty of the state today as much as its prison system.

Eritrea is riddled with an appalling variety of prisons: Underground cells of crumbling concrete, and sweltering jails fashioned from converted metal cargo containers. Cages crammed with hundreds of men who must sleep on their sides like sardines, as their cellmates wearily stand to make room, and shallow holes scraped from the earth with log and dirt ceilings so low that inmates cannot stand up.

The conditions, former prisoners recounted, are often so ghastly and the prison terms so open-ended that desperate inmates frequently attempt to escape, but those who try are often gunned down. ....

https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/20 ... s-torture/
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[Roha]

Some of the reader's comment on Eritreans suffering and sad human rights violations under the Eritrea regime:
1.
What a sad commentary on the human condition in Eritrea. Or rather the lack of anything representing humane conditions. I’m glad those that could got out and away, but I fear that many will not live long enough to do so.
2.
I had brilliant, charming Eritrean students in my classes at T C Williams High School in Alexandria, Va. some 30 years ago. Thank God their parents got them out when they did. Aside from the cruelty, the loss of human potential is staggering.
3.
After 70 years, I am sadly convinced that man is the planet's 'virus,' and we're destined to kill everything in our path: Other humans, any and all animal or plant species. If we don't kill them outright, we poison them slowly.

4.
If there is a God, humans were his great mistake.

5.
Sadly, we continue to provide everything to Israel to kill more helpless children…..victims of two enemies, Hamas and Israel. Should we help Eritreans to get rid of these inhuman conditions. I’m fully aware that they are not “white” but these people are not asking for much.

[Justice Seeker]

Atv Asena Live - እሱራት ዋላ ንሙት ኢሎም ናይ ህድማ ስጉምቲ ዝወስዱሉ ኣዝዩ ዘሰምብድ ማሕዩር (ጉላግ) ኣፍሪቃ - ዋሺንግተን ፖስት

[Roha]

On the sad miserable suffering in Eritrean prisons, some readers of the Washington Post wrote:

After 70 years, I am sadly convinced that man is the planet's 'virus,' and we're destined to kill everything in our path: Other humans, any and all animal or plant species. If we don't kill them outright, we poison them slowly.

If there is a God, humans were his great mistake.

[Roha]

More readers comments on the repressive regime in Eritrea:

I talked with a student at our local college, whose escape from Eritrea was miraculous. He and his wife, both journalists, were put into those underground containers. I hope his wife was able to also leave that hell-hole.

What a surprise: a African country that has never had "a national election, a constitution or a transfer of power" Color me shocked. Granted, many other countries that won their independence far before have had national elections (cough cough), but their constitutions are often a joke ("Hey! We're amending the constitution so our dear ruler can serve another ten year term!!") and transfers of power....ummm. That can make Jan 6 look like child's play.

(Edited)

Unlike in many other authoritarian countries, where people can frequently avoid prison by keeping their heads down and steering clear of politics, most Eritreans face the inevitability of detention if they refuse mandatory national service that can stretch for decades, mostly in a military infamous for leaving conscripts impoverished and brutalized.

Eritrea, a country of 3.7 million people by the World Bank’s count, has never had a national election, a constitution or a transfer of power. President Isaias Afwerki has ruled the country for three decades, and his party, backed by Russia and enriched by Chinese mining revenue, has been tightening its stranglehold.

Backed by Russia and China!!!!
(Edited)

We should send Trumpers to this place, they will love it.
Thanks for covering this, possibly the worst country in the world. Eritrea tells us that winning national "sovereignty" is very different than winning the freedom of a people. Sovereignty is actually a government's freedom to do what it likes to the people.

Eritrea is one of four governments in the world that routinely votes to support Russia's invasion of Ukraine. So maybe the US Republicans could befriend it. Republicans may not like black people, but they sure like dictators, torture, and fellow Putin bootlickers.
'Afwerki' sounds South African (England/proRussia).
(Edited)

That this country of terror and its diabolical dictator are supported by China and Russia is reason enough to continue the Western nations' and other republics around the world's efforts to keep Ukraine free and democratic.
Please, normal Republican politicians, stand up for the country acting as our proxy against Russia. The money we "give" Ukraine is 90% spent in U.S. factories. Another reason: if the U.S. abandons Ukraine , then all the equipmemt, tanks, airplanes and munitions will end up in Russia's arsenal. Ukraine's minerals and other natural resources will become Russia's. Ukraine's educated and clever population will be forced to help Putin as he assuages his pathetic ego by taking over Moldova, Georgia, Poland, etc.
. . . if the U.S. abandons Ukraine , then all the equipmemt, tanks, airplanes and munitions will end up in Russia's arsenal.

[Roha]

After reading the sad and cruel treatment of Eritrean prisoners under the Eritrean regime,
an American reader of the Washington Post wrote -

If there is a God, humans were his great mistake.

[Roha]

More comments from readers of the Washington Post:

Man’s inhumanity to man knows no bounds.

This is harrowing. I had no idea of this country. This is the kind of reporting that keeps me subscribing. I wish there was something us "regular people" could do to help these desperate victims.

Thank you WP for this. While Eritrea's repression is well known its important to continue to call attention to it and make sure it's not just written off as another African basketcase.

Russian client states are even worse than American client states.
I hope the USA does not recognize this God-forsaken government.

If Trump read this story, he might get some new ideas for his next insurrection. Oh wait, he doesn’t read so he probably won’t get any new ideas. Phew!
Good call.

The brutality of human head honchos has no bounds when it comes to maintaining their control. Using fear and intimidation is a powerful force to get people to be compliant. The fate of these poor suffering people is truly heartbreaking. Makes one realize how lucky we are to not have to face such cruelty.


Imagine that Russia and China being involved in torture.
Imagine that in America half of our Congress sides with Russia over Ukraine,
our ignorant greedy Republicans.
In case no one else has commented, I think it’

[Somaliman]

If you want to see a gulag, look no further than your shi.thole Tigray, as it's an open-air gulag.

Have you ever imagined what would happen the day when those convoys carrying food aid stop coming in Ethiopia, as nothing is eternal except famine in Tigray!

Imagine all these fuc.kers flocking into Somalia! It would be a doomsday in Somalia. That's why we don't want any Ethiopian fuc.ker in our country.


You don't fuc.king see these in Eritrea. Do you? Hell, no way.