Agenzia Habeshia - Italy וו Release Eritrea – United Kingdom
International
Commission on Eritrean Refugees (ICER) – United States
Eritrean Movement
for Democracy and Human Rights
(EMDHR) - Sweden
The America Team for
Displaced Eritreans – United
States
Physicians for Human Rights - Israel וו
Hotline for Migrant Wor kers - Israel
Hundreds of Refugees
Held Hostage in Sinai Tor ture Camps
Need Rescuing
Claims that a
large number of refugees have been released from Sinai camps following media repor ts
represents only a partial picture of the current situation on the ground. Human
rights or ganizations wor ldwide have come together to publish up-to-date
infor mation in their possession
which shows that the smuggling networ ks
are still up and running and that hundreds of refugee hostages are being tor tured by human traffickers in the Sinai.
For
mor e than 18 months, the chilling
evidence of hor ror s inflicted by human traffickers on refugees as
they are on their way to Israel
through the Sinai desert has been published and broadcast in Israel or ld. During the past year, the or ganizations signed on this document have provided
detailed infor mation, systematically
collected, regarding smuggling networ ks
operating in the Sinai and beyond (Israel, Ethiopia, and Sudan) to influential bodies
in the international
arena including diplomats,
the UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR),
Amnesty
International and the Israeli
authorities. Despite these numerous appeals, and the concrete nature of the
infor mation that was transferred,
the detention camps, the extor tion,
and the tor ture continue.
Throughout the past year, Israeli,
American, and European human rights or ganizations
have been in continuous contact with Eritrean and Sudanese refugees held in the
tor ture camps in Sinai. Refugee
hostages use cellular telephones provided by their captor s
to extor t large sums of ransom money
from their relatives and friends. Despite recent
reports in the media regarding the release of hundreds of refugees held
captive in the Sinai, and their arrival in Israel, it is apparent – from the
infor mation gathered by Physicians for Human Rights-Israel
and the Hotline for Migrant
Workers in Israel, Agenzia Habeshia
in Italy, Release Eritrea in the
UK, the International Commission on Eritrean Refugees
(ICER), the America Team for Displaced
Eritreans and the Swedish Eritrean Movement
for Democracy and Human Rights (EMDHR) – that hundreds of refugees are
still being held captive in the Sinai, some of which are experiencing physical
abuse, tor ture, systematic rape, and even death, all with the objective to
obtain tens of thousands of dollars in ransom money in exchange for their release. Heinous methods of tor ture and extor tion,
as previously
reported, including in a recent repor t
by Amnesty
International include prolonged group bondage, electroshock, suspension by the
limbs, burns from white-hot irons, starvation, severe sexual abuse, etc.
Infor mation
presented in this document shows that despite recent repor ts,
the people smuggling, trafficking, and tor ture
in the Sinai desert continue to operate as usual.
Updated Infor mation on Groups Currently Held in Egypt
Group of Approximately 165 Hostages
On the 16th and 17th
of November, 2011, rights or ganization
The Hotline for Migrant Wor kers was contacted several times by 3 hostages
that are part of a larger group of 165 Eritrean refugees currently being held hostage.
Accor ding to their repor ts, they are under the control of a trafficker
named Samieh, nicknamed Abu Musa, who leads a group of 8 smugglers in this
compound. Accor ding to the
prisoners, the group includes 13 women and 15 unaccompanied minor s, ages 14 to 16. The group repor ts that they are not being held in Sinai but
rather in a bunker in a secluded area nor th
of the city of Mansoura , 120 kilometer nor th of Cairo and a 4
hour drive from Ismaila , Egypt
Accor ding
to the refugee held in the bunker, some of whom have been held hostage for several months, the smugglers beat and electroshock
them as a way to pressure them into raising the ransom money. The male hostages
have not left the bunker since they arrived, but every night the smugglers for cibly take the women outside and rape them. Accor ding to their repor ts,
in the last week alone, 5 people have died by electrocution, among them one
woman. On November 17th, they repor ted
that an additional 2 refugees were electrocuted. They infor med
the Hotline for Migrant Wor kers that some of the hostages arrived at the
compound after being sold to Samieh's group after paying large ransoms to other
traffickers in separate locations. They are currently being ransomed for 30,000 dollars. The contact infor mation for
the refugee hostages in this camp can be provided by the or ganizations
signed on this document.
Group of 59 Hostages
On the 17th of November, Father
Mussie Zerai of the or ganization
Ageniza Habeshia was contacted by several hostages that are part of a larger
group of 59 Eritrean refugees, which include 8 women, 2 in late-term pregnancy. The
refugees told Father Mussie Zerai and Swedish journalist Meron Estefanos, representative
of the EMDHR or ganization, that the smugglers
are demanding 23,000 dollars for the
release of each one of the hostages. People from this group have repeatedly
contacted Ms. Estefanos and have told her about one woman hostage who is 7
months pregnant and is in this Sinai compound after being kidnapped in Sudan by
smugglers who then raped her many times. The smugglers in Sudan or her release, and when she could not pay this
money, she was sold to other smugglers. The current smugglers are demanding
23,000 dollars and have made it clear that if she does not come up with the
money by the time of her delivery, she will be for ced
to pay an additional 23,000 dollars for
the infant. On the 18th of November, Ms. Estefanos was infor med that a 22 year-old male hostage from this
group died by electrocution. Accor ding
to infor mation gathered by Father
Mussie Zerai, two weeks ago 22 refugee hostages have joined this group.
The 59 hostages are being guarded and tor tured by 4 smugglers. Accor ding
to repor ts from the hostages, the
smugglers are also led by a man named Samieh, nicknamed Abu Musa, meaning he is
probably the same smuggler leading the group of 165 hostages described above. The
group is supposedly being held hostage in a compound in the nor th of Sinai, not far from the city Rafah. Refugees
repor ted that while they were outdoor s, they heard aircraft engine sounds and saw
lights from what appeared to be control towers, leading them to conclude that
they are in proximity to an airfield. They repor t
that alongside where they are being held are 3 luxurious houses, a large yard,
and a tall tree. Two of the homes are striking in their appearance as they are
painted red and constructed like a Chinese pagoda.
Group of 111 Hostages
On the 16th of November,
additional hostages made contact with Meron Estefanos, from the EMDHR in Sweden or t that on the 8th
of November, they were transferred from Sudan or ding to the infor mation
gathered, this is a group held separately from the previous 2 groups and as of
the time of publication their approximate whereabouts and infor mation about their captor s
remain unknown.
Group of 17 Hostages
A Sudanese refugee from Darfur,
currently residing in Israel, told a Physicians for
Human Rights-Israel activist that he is in contact with a group of 17 Sudanese
refugees, mostly from Darfur, that are currently being held in the Sinai. The
smugglers, led by a man known as Mohammed (nicknamed Abdallah) from the Sawarka
tribe, are tor turing the refugees
and demanding from each of them 5,200 dollars. The hostages repor t that they are being held near Al Jor ra village, which is located 60 kilometers south
of Sheikh Zewaid and 30
kilometers from Bagdad ,
Sinai. The 17 Sudanese refugees are the remaining hostages of a larger group
that was released after they paid the ransom money. Some of the refugees
released from this group are currently in Israel or mation of the smuggler can be obtained from the or ganizations.
370 Additional Refugees
A representative of the EMDHR received
infor mation that on the 12th
of November 170 Eritreans and on the 15th of November another 200
Eritreans were transferred from Sudan
Current
Infor mation about Smugglers and
Collabor ator s
In testimonies collected by human rights
or ganizations over the past year,
the names of several prominent smugglers have been continuously repeated, among
them, Abu Abdullah, Abu Musa, Abu Ali, Ibrahim, Khaled and Ahmed.
In the group of the 165 refugees that
are currently being held in the area of Mansoura ,
Egypt or ted that
seven additional smugglers are guarding them, including Abu Musa’s bothers – Ali
Hamed and Salim. The place is frequented by a smuggler named Abu
Hamed; it is unclear whether this is an additional smuggler or Abu Musa’s brother, Ali Hamed. Refugees who were sold
by Abu Hamed to Abu Musa infor med us
that Abu Hamed runs several additional chambers each holding dozens of refugees
and they are located a few kilometers away from where they are currently being
held. Repor ts collected by human
rights groups indicate that Abu Musa wor ks
with the assistance of an Eritrean living in Israel or med about this
suspected cooperation.
Abu Abdullah is another
smuggler that is continuously mentioned in refugee testimonies and is described
as a large man in his mid-thirties that wor ks
with his brother out of Sinai. Abu Abdullah wor ks
closely with an Eritrean man nick-named Cor nell
who is responsible for collecting
ransom money sent to Egypt
by hostages' relatives and for
managing a networ k of collabor ator s
in Israel or ding to victim's testimonies,
these smugglers use Israeli cell phone numbers to be in contact with relatives
of the hostages.
Additional testimonies collected by the or ganizations indicate that an Eritrean man named Angosom,
based in Khartoum, Sudan, is responsible for
kidnapping hundreds of Eritrean refugees from Shagarab and Kassala refugee
camps in Sudan and from May Aini and Shimelba refugee camps in Ethiopia and
then selling them to human traffickers in Egypt.
Over the past year, the Open Clinic of
Physicians for Human Rights-Israel
interviewed about 800 patients that arrived to Israel or ture by smugglers
that threatened them at gunpoint while locking them up in chains.
In addition to the hor rid testimonies of tor ture
and captivity, 39 people repor ted to
Physicians for Human Rights-Israel that
they were kidnapped by the smugglers and arrived at Israel 2011, a
Hotline for Migrant Wor ker's volunteer interviewed an Eritrean refugee
who was held for six months until he
managed to raise and pay the smugglers 10,000 dollars. He repor ted that he had no desire to go to Israel but that he was kidnapped in February 2011 in Kassala , Sudan or ganization EMDHR, spoke to members of the
kidnapped group and confirmed this repor t.
In February 2011, Father Mussie Zerai from Agenzia Habeshia spoke to one of the
hostages that repor ted being chained
to an 11-year-old that recently had his arm broken by the smugglers. The child
cried in pain but the smugglers refused to let him go. In the past two months,
a few refugees from this group have arrived in Israel or tured and held hostage for
months and after gathering the ransom which ranged from a few thousand dollars
to $35,000 per person from their families around the wor ld.
The fate of the 11 year old child, as well as the fate of many others, is
unknown.
One week ago, Egyptian media repor ted about violent confrontations between tribes in
central Sinai after accusations of being involved in trafficking of refugee or gans. The media claims that one of the main smugglers was
killed during the fighting.
Infor mation
transferred to the Israeli author ities
regarding collabor ator s with smuggling networ ks
that are based in Israel
While the Israeli police do not have the
mandate to directly investigate individuals that are suspected of committing
crimes in Egyptian territor y, the Israeli
police are obligated to act regarding operatives that are based in Israel or ganizations who wrote
this repor t have transferred a great
deal of infor mation about suspected criminals
that collabor ate with the human
traffickers, by extor ting and
collecting ransom money inside of Israel or ganizations have even met several times with
representatives in the relevant police unit. Eritrean refugees living in Israel joined these meetings, following requests
by the or ganizations, and they
provided valuable infor mation about
human trafficking operatives in Israel
On December 12, 2010, activists from the Hotline for Migrant Wor kers
managed to or chestrate the arrest of
2 Eritreans while they collected ransom money from a relative of a refugee held
hostage. Even though the two were caught while conducting the transfer, they
were soon released from prison and not put on trial. Inquiries from an Israeli
human rights group as to whether charges will be pressed have yet to be answered.
On July 31, 2011, Physicians for
Human Rights-Israel and the Hotline for
Migrant Wor kers sent a joint letter
to the police with the phone numbers of 12 suspected collabor ator s living
in Israel that are under suspicion of assisting the human traffickers in Sinai,
as well as the license plate number of a car driven by of one of them. No reply
has been received to this appeal.
On August 17, 2011, a Hotline for
Migrant Wor kers staff member sent an
e-mail to the Israeli police asking them to follow a suspect who was about to
collect ransom money in Tel Aviv. Despite attempts to reach the relevant police
unit via telephone, the ransom money was given to the suspect without the Israeli
police being present during the transaction.
On September 5, 2011, two mor e
complaints were filed with the Israeli police. The first complaint involved
three refugees who were kidnapped from Israel and taken to Egypt (last week it
was reported
in Israel that one of the refugees had been killed and the other two are being
kept in an Egyptian prison where they face depor tation
or ders back to Eritrea). A relative
of one of the kidnapped refugees who lives in Israel Israel or ture and
rape of refugees in Sinai. On the same day, an activist from Physicians for Human Rights-Israel provided the police with infor mation about additional suspected collabor ator s that
operate within Israel to
help the human traffickers in the Sinai Peninsula .
On September 18, 2011 another complaint was
filed by an Eritrean refugee regarding an Israeli citizen to whom he paid money
in or der to free his relative that was
being held hostage in Sinai.
The or ganizations
Physicians for Human Rights-Israel, Hotline
for Migrant Wor kers,
Agenzia Habeshia, International Commission on Eritrean
Refugees, The America Team for
Displaced Eritreans, Eritrean
Movement for Democracy and Human
Rights, and Release
Eritrea call again on the Egyptian and Israeli author ities
and the international community to act quickly in or der
to free the refugees held hostage in the Sinai, to prosecute the smugglers and
those that assist them, to bring an immedia te
end to the tor ture camps and the
networ k of human trafficking, and to
provide care for the tor ture survivor s.
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