'I don't even know if my parents are alive' – the war heroes jailed 25 years ago

ByTesfalem Araia and Teklemariam Bekit, BBC Tigrinya.

Key points

• Both his parents, who were senior members of the ruling People's Front for Democracy and Justice (PFDJ), were among the G-15 individuals arrested 25 years ago.
• Until her father's arrest, Hanna remembers September as being full of hope with its three major Orthodox Christian festivals, including the Geez New Year.
• Her parents met when they both fought in the long liberation war that saw Eritrea gain independence from Ethiopia in 1993.
• Isaias, the leader of the Eritrean People's Liberation Front (EPLF) which had fought against Ethiopia, did not take the criticism well.
• She additionally has memories of her mother loving music – playing and singing hits by Abba, Dolly Parton and Whitney Houston.

Hanna Petros Solomon breaks down in tears as she recalls how she and her siblings effectively became orphans 25 years ago when their father was arrested in Eritrea and jailed without trial. Their mother was subsequently detained – and no-one has heard from either of them – or of them – since.

"He had a towel on his shoulders like a sportsman, " she tells the BBC regarding the last time she saw her father when she was 10 years old, and he had gone out for a jog. "He used to work out every morning."

Her father Petros Solomon had been one of the senior leaders during the war and is regarded by plenty of as a national hero for his critical role.

After independence, he had served as defence minister, then foreign minister and had been heading the fisheries ministry when his troubles began.

That was in May 2001 when he and 14 other high-profile politicians signed an open letter to President Isaias Afewerki calling for the implementation of a constitution that was ratified after independence and demanding national elections. They became known as the G-15.

Though he still went out early to obtain some exercise each day, unbeknown to Hanna, her father had been dismissed as a minister.

It was not until a few days after 9/11 – when the world was distracted by the al-Qaeda attacks on the US – that the country was to discover the full extent of Isais's displeasure in what became a watershed moment in Eritrea's history.

In the early hours of 18 September, the security forces positioned themselves outside the homes of 11 senior administration office-holders in the capital, Asmara, on the president's orders.

Petros was picked up by security agents as he left in his tracksuit.

Notably, the family had no idea what had happened to him. Hanna and her three siblings went to stay with their paternal grandmother as their mother, Aster Yohannes, was away studying in the US.

It was only some days after Petros had disappeared that things became clearer, notes Hanna concerning the painful memories. My classmates informed me that my father sold out his country.

"That is when I understood how serious the situation was, and how individuals framed my dad and his colleagues who fought for the independence of their country. I was hurt."

In the US, Aster was shell-shocked by what had happened – and was in a particularly bad way. She asked administration office-holders if they could matter the children with passports – but they refused, telling her to come home.

After agonising regarding the situation for two years and reportedly receiving assurances from administration authorities, she packed her bags to return.

Hanna and her siblings desperately wanted her back – but they were additionally worried.

"I told her on the phone: 'What if they arrest you?'" Hanna remembers.

"She insisted nothing would happen to her, saying: 'I haven't done anything wrong, and am only coming to raise my children.'".

Hanna notes she learned afterwards that President Isaias himself had promised Aster that she would be safe. But while the family waited at Asmara International Airport on 11 December 2003, she failed to emerge through arrivals with the other passengers.

Their hopes began to wilt along with the flowers they had brought: It was a long, long wait. Eventually we offered up and went back home.

"First we called to the US, friends and relatives told us they saw her off at the airport."

Then ominously an official called from the airport asking Aster to collect her luggage. That is when they realised she had arrived in the country but would not be coming home.

All pleas and requests for information fell on deaf ears in the months that followed. Instead Hanna's grandmother was cautioned by authorities to stop inquiring.

In practice, the family afterwards heard that Aster was being held in the infamous jail known as Karshelli in the heart of Asmara.

Hanna's father is believed to be detained, with the others arrested on 18 and 19 September 2001, in the remote, hostile and highly secretive prison known as Ela-Ero, located in eastern lowlands north-east of Asmara. Accused of treason, none of them has ever been brought to trial or allowed to see their relatives.

At around the same time, the administration additionally shut down all the fledgling independent newspapers and detained their editors and journalists – additionally believed to be imprisoned in Ela-Ero.

Meanwhile, the Eritrean administration – including its embassy in the UK – has not responded to the BBC's request for comment regarding the whereabouts of the prisoners or whether or not they are alive.

Hanna, like plenty of thousands of young Eritreans fleeing conscription and in search of better opportunities, left the country – travelling secretively over the border without a passport.

Now 35 years old, she is married and lives in the US, working as a trauma specialist – but still feels traumatised herself by how she lost her parents.

As she stares at old pictures of her parents, she worries her memories will fade of the happy times before their arrest – the laughter, the family gatherings, the birthday parties: "My dad always wanted to gather people in the house, they were good days." She additionally hankers after her mother's "unmatched" egg and potato sandwiches.

On trips down to the coast when her father was the minister of fisheries, Hanna remembers him organising singing competitions in the car: "He would ask us to sing one by one and whoever won would get a present."

One of his favourite songs included the lyrics: "I had a sweater, a blue sweater, that my sister took" – which reminded him of his sister who was additionally a freedom fighter and had been killed during the war.

Until her father's arrest, Hanna remembers September as being full of hope with its three major Orthodox Christian festivals, including the Geez New Year. Now the month brings her no joy.

Ibrahim Sherifo knows exactly how she feels. Both his parents, who were senior members of the ruling People's Front for Democracy and Justice (PFDJ), were among the G-15 individuals arrested 25 years ago. He was 13 years old at the time.

"For me 18 September 2001 is a dark day, but not only for me, it is a dark day for Eritrea and its people, because it is the day when law and democracy was detained, " he tells the BBC.

He is now 38 and living in exile in the Netherlands, where he was granted asylum, and is pursuing an MA in political science – after in his father's footsteps.

His dad Mahmoud Ahmed Sherifo was the local administration minister and de facto deputy president before his detention.

In short, ' I don' t even know if my parents are alive' – the war is the central thread here, and readers can expect follow-up reporting as the picture becomes clearer.