CONTAINERS ARE A LUXURY: ERITREA RESPONDS TO CPC

C O N F I D E N T I A L ASMARA 000967

SIPDIS

SIPDIS

LONDON FOR AFRICA WATCHERS, PARIS FOR AFRICA WATCHERS

E.O. 12958: DECL: 11/21/2016
TAGS: PHUM PGOV PREL KIRF KPAO OPRC ER
SUBJECT: CONTAINERS ARE A LUXURY: ERITREA RESPONDS TO CPC
DESIGNATION

REF: SECSTATE 185925

Classified By: AMB. Scott H. DeLisi for reasons 1.4 (b) and (d).


1. (C) Ambassador delivered reftel demarche to MFA Director
General for the Americas Girma Asmerom on November 16, 2006.
In an expected reponse, Girma decried the designation of
Eritrea as a Country of Particular Concern for severe
religious freedom violations. Declaring that the USG,s
decision was purely political, he complained that prior to
the initial designation in 2004 there were no discussions
held with the GSE and that Eritrea was &convicted before
being proven guilty.8 Girma pled ignorance to the reasoning
as to why Eritrea received this designation, stating, &for
us it is a puzzle, a mystery.8 He repeated the oft-heard
Eritrean claim of religious harmony in Eritrea declaring that
&Eritrea should be commended not convicted.8


2. (C) The Ambassador outlined several of the egregious
violations of religious freedom committed by the GSE,
including the long-term detention of its citizens in metal
shipping containers. Girma did not deny that the events had
occurred. He took issue with the Ambassador's contention
that being imprisoned in a metal shipping container is a
human rights violation, saying &in a country like Eritrea
where people live in mud huts, a container is a luxury.8
Girma then attempted to dismiss the alleged detentions,
noting in a country as small as Eritrea, &do you think that
if this many people were detained, no one would know?8 The
Ambassador pushed back, noting that the GSE,s restrictions
on travel make it difficult for us to ever know the full
truth of what is happening here but he equally made it clear
we are confident that our reporting on religious violations
here is balanced and objective. The fact that the Office of
Religious Affairs has refused repeatedly to meet with our
human rights officer gives us no chance to hear the GSE,s
position on any of the issues. He repeated again that the
U.S. is interested and willing to discuss the issues in more
detail with the GSE. Girma offered no response to this
request.


3. (C) The Ambassador went on to emphasize to Girma that our
decision was not political and reflected a strongly-held USG
concern for religious freedom issues. The Ambassador told
Girma that he questioned whether he would find a container a
&luxury8 if he was sharing it as a prison cell with forty
or fifty of his friends. The Ambassador went on to note that
Eritrea,s refusal to register even those religious groups
that had complied with the registration process, its abusive
treatment of detainees like Helen Berhane, its arbitrary
arrest of its citizens for their religious beliefs, and other
reports of inhumane treatment all were part of the record we
examined when assessing Eritrea,s re-designation as a CPC.
Absent improvement on that record or dialogue with concerned
international partners, nothing was going to change, he said.


4. (C) Comment: The GSE response to the CPC designation was
expected and typically Eritrean. The GSE did not deny the
violations nor offer any explanation, instead they continued
the diatribe on how Eritrea is repeatedly demonized by the
United States. Over the past year, post has attempted
repeatedly to engage the GSE in discussions about religious
freedom. The GSE continues to refuse Embassy requests to
meet with government officials on this issue and has
expressed no interest in discussion or dialogue. Post
anticipates that the GSE,s position on the issue of
religious freedom will remain the same and has little hope
that the GSE will make any effort to work with the U.S. to
address issues of religious freedom. End Comment.
DELISI