On March 30th, Security Police in the tiny African nation of Eritrea arrested Tewelde Ghebremedhin, Chairperson of the Food, Beverages, Hotels, Tourism, Agriculture, and Tobacco Workers Federation (affiliated with the IUF) and Minase Andezion, Secretary of the Textile and Leather Workers Federation. This was followed by the arrest, on April 9th, of Habtom Weldemicael, head of the Coca-Cola Workers Union and member of the Food and Beverage Workers Federation's Executive Board. All three men are still being detained incommunicado and without formal charges being filed.

It is believed that Mr. Weldemicael was about to lead a strike of Coca-Cola workers to protest the abhorrent decline in the standard of living for the country's workers.

Eritrea is ruled by a single party and recently won its' independence from neighboring Ethiopia. The two countries are still embroiled in conflict. The leadership of Eritrea is using this conflict to tighten the grip on its people and become increasingly more repressive.

Amnesty International has issued statements on the Human Rights violations in Eritrea, categorizing the discretions as "on a massive scale."

LabourStart.org has created a web page that allows Union Brethren from around the world to send a message to the Government of Eritrea demanding the release of these Union leaders.

Read more at LabourStart.org and the IUF websites. Lend your voice today to support our Labor brothers and sisters worldwide.