"I Don't Know if They are Alive": Hanna Petros Solomon Recalls 25-Year Disappearance of Parents in Eritrea

Hanna Petros Solomon has shared a harrowing account of the 25-year disappearance of her parents, highlighting the enduring human rights crisis in Eritrea. Speaking on the anniversary of her father’s arrest, Hanna detailed the emotional trauma of effectively becoming an orphan at the age of 10. Her father, a prominent figure and war hero, was taken into custody without trial, followed shortly by her mother’s detention. For a quarter of a century, the family has received no word on their whereabouts or whether they are even still alive.

The last memory Hanna has of her father is a poignant image of him preparing for a mundane morning activity. She recalled seeing him leave for a jog, carrying a towel on his shoulders "like a sportsman." This ordinary moment was the final time she would see him before he was swept into Eritrea’s secretive and often brutal prison system. The lack of legal recourse or even a formal trial has left the family in a state of perpetual grief, unable to mourn or move forward without definitive information regarding their parents’ fate.

The tragedy was compounded when Hanna’s mother was also detained, leaving Hanna and her siblings to navigate life alone. This double disappearance transformed the children into "orphans of the living," a term that captures the unique pain of those whose parents are held in incommunicado detention. The case remains a stark reminder of the thousands of Eritreans who have vanished into the state's labyrinthine detention centers, where political dissidents and former heroes alike are held indefinitely without charge or contact with the outside world.

As the years pass, the search for answers continues, though hope is often tempered by the harsh reality of the Eritrean regime's silence. Hanna’s story is not just a personal tragedy but a representative account of the systematic silencing of voices within the country. Her plea for information underscores the urgent need for international attention on Eritrea's human rights record and the rights of families to know the truth about their loved ones who have been disappeared by the state.