RUMORS OF MUSLIM PERSECUTION AND DISAPPEARANCES

C O N F I D E N T I A L ASMARA 000452

SIPDIS

SIPDIS

LONDON FOR AFRICA WATCHERS, PARIS FOR AFRICA WATCHERS

E.O. 12958: DECL: 05/14/2017
TAGS: PGOV PHUM KIRF ER
SUBJECT: RUMORS OF MUSLIM PERSECUTION AND DISAPPEARANCES

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


1. (C/NF) Over the past several months, Poloff has heard
rumors of the arrest and disappearance of Muslims in the
lowlands of Eritrea. According to several individuals, GSE
security forces appear at the homes of Muslims in the lowland
areas of the Northern and Southern Red Sea zobas (regions)
and in the Gash Barka zoba. The security forces take into
custody the adult male members of the household, at times
rounding up as many as fifteen to twenty men in a
neighborhood. The arrests are justified to the community by
the security forces by claiming the individuals are engaged
in subversive activity or have ties to Al'Queda. Following
the arrests, the GSE allegedly detains the men in unknown
locations. Family members receive no information about the
detained individuals nor do the GSE offer any explanation
about the incident or the individual's status. One Eritrean
told Poloff that some Eritreans surmise that the GSE executes
the arrested individuals. (Comment: This would be a
considerable departure from the norm in the case of
detentions by the GSE but it is revealing of popular
attitudes that citizens are generally prepared to assume the
worst about government conduct in such cases. End comment)


2. (C/NF) Another Eritrean speculated to Poloff the
individuals were arrested because the GSE fears they may have
ties to the predominantly Muslim Eritrean Liberation Front
(ELF). The ELF is the insurgent organization that preceded
the Eritrean People's Liberation Front (EPLF) led by now
President Isaias Afwerki. Despite the merger of the two
groups in the 1970's with the EPLF emerging as the dominant
group, the current regime has always maintained suspicion
that the remnants of the ELF harbor anti-Isaias sentiments
and could organize the Muslim community to act against the
current government.


3. (C/NF) Egyptian Deputy Chief of Mission, Hussein ElShaar
(protect) offered Poloff additional insight into the tenuous
relationship between the GSE and Eritrea's Muslim community.
According to Hussein, the GSE national security force have
for many years spied on each mosque and employ a few mosque
members to report to national security the discussions and
activities of the mosque. When the national security
officers feel someone is saying something inappropriate or
subversive the individual is arrested. The GSE holds some,
without charges, for several months while others remain in
detention without due process for years.


4. (C/NF) Comment: While the reports of the detentions and
disappearance in the lowland remain unconfirmed, the GSE's
efforts to control its citizenry and the longstanding
tensions between the Orthodox Christian leadership and the
significant Muslim population lend credibility to the
unconfirmed reports. Moreover, the Eritreans who recount the
incidents have in the past proved reliable and accurate in
their accounting of actions taken by the Government of
Eritrea (GSE). The GSE has, since independence, targeted
Muslims, especially wealthy businessmen, usually under the
guise of financial crimes, as a means of controlling both the
economy and the population. Given the GSE's continued
harassment and suppression of non-Orthodox Christians and its
blatant interference with the working of the Orthodox Church,
the targeting of Muslims by the government would require no
great leap of imagination. End Comment.
DeLisi