The government of Eritrea has held Ciham Ali Abdu, daughter of the former information minister Ali Abdu Ahmed, in incommunicado detention for over six years, Human Rights Watch said today. Ciham, who turns 22 today, will spend another birthday behind bars as her family remains in the dark about her whereabouts or wellbeing.
Born in the United States, Ciham relocated to Eritrea’s capital, Asmara, with her family so her father could take up a position as a government official under President Isaias Afwerki. Ali eventually became the country’s information minister, but fled to Australia to seek asylum in 2012 after a rift with the president.
Ciham was arrested on December 8, 2012, shortly after her father left the country, while trying to cross the border into Sudan. Her father was attempting to arrange for smugglers to get his daughter out of the country because he feared that the regime would take action against her as retribution for his defection or that she would face indefinite conscription.
Did she disappear in Sudanese side or Eritrean side?