Olympian and Other Eritreans Freed After Nearly Two Decades Without Trial, Family Members Report

Thirteen individuals held for more than 18 years without being formally charged in Eritrea have been freed from a infamous military detention facility, according to family members of the detainees.

Those released were several well-known individuals, including elderly Olympic athlete and entrepreneur Zeragaber Gebrehiwot.

They had been incarcerated at Mai Serwa detention center, known for its severe environment and where many inmates are believed to be political prisoners.

Circumstances Surrounding the Detention

A source who was once detained in Mai Serwa indicated the prisoners were taken into custody in October 2007 after an assassination attempt on a senior internal security officer in the government.

Around 30 people were initially detained, per the source. Some have been released over the years, but about 20 stayed imprisoned.

The Story of an Olympian

Zeragaber raced in the Moscow Olympics in 1980 when Eritrea was a region within Ethiopia.

The nation in the Horn of Africa, which gained its independence from Ethiopia in 1993, possesses a deep-rooted cycling culture and its cyclists have steadily gained global acclaim in recent years.

List of Released

The individuals freed alongside Zeragaber include notable entrepreneurs Tesfalem Mengsteab and Bekure Mebrahtu as well as the Habtemariam brothers - David, an engineer, and Matthews, a geometrist.

A half-dozen high-level police officials and an internal security agent were also freed.

The Eritrean government has not issued any statement regarding the releases.

A significant number of the former detainees are sick and this may be the reason why they have been released at this time.

Families were prohibited to visit the prisoners during their detention, the relatives reported.

International Condemnation and Detention Environment

United Nations bodies and human rights groups have consistently criticized the Eritrean government of gross human rights violations, encompassing torture, forced disappearance and the detention of many thousands of people in deplorable circumstances.

Mai Serwa facility, located about 9km north-west of the capital, Asmara, has grown over the years to include 20 metal shipping containers in which prisoners are held without contact, according to reports.

Background on Government Control

For the past thirty years, Eritrea has remained a one-party state with no active constitutional framework. It is one of the most militarized countries, with indefinite military conscription.

There has been no free press since the closure of private publications and arrest of most of their editors and journalists in 2001.

This was when the government detained 15 politicians referred to as the G-15, along with 16 journalists, after they called for that the president put into effect the draft constitution and conduct democratic polls.

According to rights groups, the fate and whereabouts of 11 of the politicians, as well as the journalists allegedly having links to the G-15, are still unconfirmed.

Now 79 years old, the president recently passed 32 years in office and has yet to participate in an election.