AMERICAN BABY DETAINED FOR FOUR NIGHTS IN ERITREAN

C O N F I D E N T I A L ASMARA 000708 SIPDIS SIPDIS LONDON, PARIS FOR AFRICA WATCHERS E.O. 12958: DECL: 09/01/2016 TAGS: PGOV PHUM PINR CASC ER SUBJECT: AMERICAN BABY DETAINED FOR FOUR NIGHTS IN ERITREAN PRISON REF: ASMARA 0619 Classified By: CDA Jennifer McIntyre, for reasons 1.4 (b) and (d) ¶1. (C) On August 31, Poloff received an inquiry from an American citizen father informing post that his two-month old son and the child,s mother, Senait Solomon, an Eritrean citizen were being detained in Dekemhare, about 40km from Asmara. Upon learning of the detention, Poloff contacted the mother,s employer, UNMEE, and the mother,s family. The family related that on August 29 at about 1400, two Eritrean officials in civilian clothing came to the mother,s home and asked to speak with her. Without informing her why, the officials told her she needed to come to the Asmara Police Central Headquarters for questioning. She told them she had an infant child whom she was breastfeeding, and they agreed that she could bring the child with her. She departed her home with one of the men in the Eritrean authorities, vehicle, and the second man drove her personal vehicle. Senait,s mother followed them to the police station and saw Senait,s vehicle there. When she inquired about Senait and the child, the police told her there was no record of Senait being at the headquarters. 2) (C) Around 1900, Senait called her mother and told her she was being held in Dekemhare for an unknown reason. She asked her mother to come the following day with clothes for herself and the child. The mother visited Senait and the child on August 30 providing clothes and food. The mother reported that she met with Senait in a room with prison officials constantly present and there was no privacy. On August 31, the mother returned to Dekemhare to deliver food, however, she was unable to speak with Senait directly. 3) (C) On August 31, post submitted a diplomatic note to the GSE Ministry of Foreign Affairs requesting permission for Conoff to visit the child and his mother. GSE regulations require that the Embassy officers have approval to enter detention facilities and permission to travel outside of Asmara. Soon after receiving the diplomatic note the Director of Protocol called the embassy and said that Senait had been released from detention and "should be home right now." When contacted, family members were unaware of any release. Post tried to contact the MFA duty officer on the morning of September 1 however no one answered the duty line. 4) (C) In following up with the family, Consular staff learned that Senait and the child were not released on August 31, as claimed by the Director of Protocol, but that she and the child returned home in the early afternoon on September ¶1. Poloff spoke with Senait over the telephone shortly after her return and she agreed to come into the Consular Section on September 5 to meet with Poloff. 5) (C) Coincidentally, Charge had a previously planned lunch on September 1 with the MFA Director General for the Americas, Girma Asmerom. When she asked for his assistance and noted the lack of response from the MFA duty number, he expressed his doubts that the "national security people" would grant approval, shrugged off the non-availability of the MFA duty officer as an expected state of affairs and noted that he could probably get an answer on Monday(September 4). 6) (U) Comment: The incident reinforces post's concerns about the consular section's ability to provide full services to American citizens, particularly outside of Asmara. Should the situation have continued, post believes the GSE would not have provided the necessary permissions to visit the child and mother, and that the GSE would cite the child's Eritrean citizenship and refuse to recognize his American citizenship. (REFTEL reports other cases where dual nationals have experienced problems.) Furthermore, no American Embassy direct hire staff has been permitted to enter an Eritrean prison or detention facility in a number of years. With regards to the mother,s detention, the arrest of Eritreans without cause and the detention without an explanation is quite common. There are reports of cases where individuals have been held indefinitely, in some cases for years, without ever being charged or convicted of a crime. End Comment. MCINTYRE