Major General Berhane Gebregziabher was a veteran of the Eritrean independence struggle, who also served as head of the National Reserve Force.
Major General Berhane Gebregziabher was a veteran of the Eritrean independence struggle, serving as a politburo member for the Eritrean People’s Liberation Front since 1977. Post-independence, he served as the Eritrean Army Major- General and head of the National Reserve Force. He was arrested in 2001 for signing the G15 letter – an open letter from prominent Eritrean politicians, known as the G-15 or Group of 15, within the ruling party- to President Isaias Afwerki demanding government reforms. The government has refused to acknowledge his detention and the status of his health and whereabouts remain unknown. This amounts to an enforced disappearance.
The African Commission on Human and People’s Rights ruled in November 2003 that G-15 dissenters arrested in September 2001 in Eritrea, which includes Major General Berhane Gebregziabher, were being held in arbitrary and unlawful detention. It called upon the Eritrean government to release and compensate them. The Government of Eritrea has ignored the ruling and the G-15 members arrested in September 2001 remain in detention.