Eritrea: Detainees in overcrowded and unsanitary conditions defenceless against COVID-19

[Isabella]

“Detainees in Eritrea are at great risk of contracting infectious diseases because of the overcrowded and unsanitary conditions they are being held in,” said Deprose Muchena.

At the Mai Serwa Asmera Flowers facility, in reality a forced labour camp where Jehovah’s Witnesses and other detainees are forced to work on flower farms, there are no toilets for detainees. All 700 of them, both men and women, relieve themselves out in the open. At Mai Serwa Maximum Security prison, there are only 20 toilets for 500 detainees.

In Adi Abeyito, detainees can relieve themselves only twice daily in toilets located outside the compound. The prison has toilets within its grounds reserved for use in the rainy season or extraordinary circumstances such as suspected strikes or prison breaks. In 2015, detainees raised money and built a toilet in each detention hall to cater for the needs of the sick, elderly or those with disabilities.

No social distance

The four prisons are extremely congested; Adi Abeyito holds more than four times its capacity of 800 people, Ala prison holding about triple its capacity of 1,200 people while Mai Serwa has more than double its 230-person capacity.

The vast majority have never been formally charged or brought to court and do not know when, or if, their detention will end.

They are held in spaces ranging from 2x2m cells for solitary confinement at the Mai Serwa Maximum prison, to shipping containers holding more than 20 detainees, and halls measuring up to 10x20m. Detainees generally take turns to sleep on bare floors because beds or mattresses are not allowed.

Read more: https://www.amnesty.org/en/latest/news/2020/05/eritrea-detainees-in-overcrowded-and-unsanitary-conditions-defenceless-against-covid19/

[Arauna]

Inhumane- I will think of them in my prayers.