A/HRC/13/42* page 123 the report, it was noted that their whereabouts was “currently unknown”, although it was suggested that they “may be held in some management building between the capital Asmara and the port of Massawa”.465 261. In submitting a claim of habeas corpus to the Minister for Justice, the complainants acting on behalf of the 11 asked the Eritrean authorities to reveal where the 11 detainees were being held, to either charge them and bring them to court or promptly release them, to guarantee that none of them would be ill-treated and that they had immediate access to lawyers of their choice, their families and adequate medical care. The Commission reported that “the Complainants allege that no reaction has been received from the Eritrean authorities”.466 262. In its opinion No. 3/2002, the Working Group on Arbitrary Detention noted that the 11 were detained in isolation for nine months, in one or more secret locations, where they had no contact whatsoever with lawyers or their families.467 By 2003, the African Commission noted that they had then been held in secret detention for more than 18 months, and that the only response from the Government regarding their whereabouts had been a letter from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs on 20 May 2002, stating that they “had their quarters in appropriate Government facilities, had not been ill-treated, have had continued access to medical services and that the Government was making every effort to bring them before an appropriate court of law as early as possible”.468 4. Gambia 263. In its submission to the Human Rights Council for the review of the Gambia under the universal periodic review mechanism, Amnesty International demonstrated that, since the failed coup attempt of March 2006, alleged opponents of the regime, including journalists, opposition politicians and their supporters, were routinely unlawfully detained in official places of detention, such as the Mile II State Central Prison, the National Intelligence Agency (NIA) headquarters and police detention centres. Other official places of detention include Banjulinding, a police training centre, and Jeshwang and Janjanbureh prisons in the interior of the country. Others were held in secret detention centres, allegedly including Fort Buling and other military barracks, secret quarters in police stations such as in Bundung, police stations in remote areas such as Sara Ngai and Fatoto, and warehouses, such as in Kanilai. Special units within the NIA, as well as the President’s personal protection officers and members of the army 465 Ibid., para.3. 466 Ibid., para.4. 467 E/CN.4/2003/8/Add.1. 468 Seventeenth annual activity report, op.cit., para.12.

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