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