URGENT ACTION

Libya: Further information on: Forcible return/fear for safety/fear of torture

PUBLIC
AI Index: MDE 19/014/2004

06 September 2004

Further Information on UA 232/04 (MDE 19/012/2004, 28 July 2004) - Forcible
return/fear for safety/fear of torture

LIBYA/ERITREA Over 130 Eritrean nationals detained in Libya
Over 110 Eritrean nationals forcibly returned on 21 July
New cases: 76 Eritrean nationals forcibly returned on 27 August

The Libyan authorities attempted to forcibly return a further 76 Eritrean
asylum-seekers, including 22 women and six children, on 27 August. Some of the
Eritreans hijacked the plane that was carrying them, and forced it to land in
the Sudanese capital, Khartoum, where they have all applied for refugee
protection.

The 76 Eritreans, who had reportedly deserted from the army or evaded
conscription, were put on a military cargo plane together with 145 Nigerian
illegal immigrants. The plane stopped first in Nigeria, and was hijacked after
it took off. Once it had been forced to land in Khartoum, the hijackers
surrendered to the Sudanese authorities. They and the other Eritrean deportees
on the plane were taken into police custody. They were given access to
officials of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), and
applied for refugee protection. They have reported being ill-treated and denied
medical attention in custody in Libya.

On 31 August, 15 of them were taken to court in Khartoum and charged in
connection with the hijacking, during which one crew member reportedly suffered
minor injuries. They were sentenced to five years in prison followed by
deportation. They were given two weeks to appeal.

The Eritreans still detained in Libya reportedly now number at least 130, and
possibly many more. They are believed to have fled to Libya via Sudan, hoping
to reach Italy. Other Eritreans are said to be in hiding in Libya.

There is no new information about over 110 asylum-seekers forcibly returned by
Libya to Eritrea on 21 July. They are believed to be detained incommunicado in
a secret prison in Dahlak Kebir island on the Red Sea, where conditions are
harsh.

BACKGROUND INFORMATION
Libya has signed the Organization of African Unity (OAU – now the African
Union) Convention on the Specific Aspects of Refugee Problems in Africa, which
obliges them not to return anyone to a country where they would be at risk of
serious human rights violation. UNHCR has recommended that even rejected
asylum-seekers should not be forcibly returned to Eritrea.

Over 220 Eritreans, including asylum seekers, were forcibly deported to Eritrea
from Malta in 2002, and were detained and tortured. A judicial inquiry into
these deportations is now underway in Malta. Except for some women and children
and about 30 men who later fled to Sudan for a second time, the Malta deportees
are believed to be still detained incommunicado, without charge or trial, in
various secret prisons in Dahlak Kebir island or the Eritrean mainland.