Saturday
August 18, 11:22 PM
ASMARA,
Aug 18 (AFP) -
About 250 parents of students arrested a week ago for defying
government orders to sign up for a summer work program gathered outside the
University of Asmara on Saturday to demand their release.
Some 2,000 students are being detained in the desert, at a place called
Wia, with inadequate food, water, and shelter provisions, according to students
who were released earlier this week for upcoming exams.
One student, Yirga Yosef, died of heat stroke last Tuesday, while
another, Yemane Tekee, is undergoing treatment in the intensive care unit of
Halibet Hospital in Asmara, hospital staff confirmed on Friday.
On Saturday, parents waited outside the university gates for news from
a parents' committee, which was due to meet university and government
officials.
University president Woldeab Isaak briefly addressed the crowd, telling
them that he would meet with the parents' committee to address their concerns
and that they should return on Sunday morning for more information.
"I need to know now," one distraught father shouted.
Police moved in and dispersed the crowd, but groups of women, many of
them crying, began chanting prayers.
"They have taken them to a very hot place, with no food, no water.
It's 49 degrees there. More will die. They must take them out of that place.
That's what we're begging," said one woman whose son and daughter were
arrested.
"My son is there. I have nephews and nieces there. They're being
punished just because they asked for their rights. The government just wants to
show their strength," another woman said.
Two journalists present at the scene were arrested.
The students had refused to report to a summer work program until their
student union president Semere Kesete, arrested on July 31, was released or
brought before a court of law.
Kesete was arrested three days after he had given a speech at a
graduation ceremony criticizing the obligatory nature of the university summer
work program, the inadequate academic facilities at the university and the interference
of government in university affairs.
Last Friday, hundreds of students were arrested in their dormitories
and at the High Court, where they had gathered for what they believed would be
a court hearing for their union president, which still has not taken place.
The students were taken to the stadium here and transported to Wia on
Saturday last week.
On Sunday an additional 1,200 students were taken in 35 buses to Wia,
according to one of the students who was released Tuesday night.
University and government officials have refused to comment on the
condition or whereabouts of the detained students.
In an interview published in the government newspaper on Friday,
Woldeab said that the summer work program was obligatory and that "the
decision taken by the students is illegal."
Responding to questions on the whereabouts of the students, Woldeab
would only say that "the students have gone to do another big national
program."