Several of the Eritreans controversially repatriated by Malta five years ago remain in detention where they have been systematically tortured and held incommunicado, Amnesty International said in its recent 2007 annual report “The State of the World’s Human Rights”.

The assertion is a disturbing reminder of the fate suffered by over 200 Eritreans who had fled forced military conscription and eventually wound up in Malta, only to be sent straight back into the hands of the Eritrean army, which is known to mete out brutal treatment to army deserters and objectors.

While many of the so-called “ex-Malta deportees” perished while incarcerated in harrowing conditions, some attempted taking their own lives, no longer able to bear the strain of systematic torture, while others still remain detained in the infamous Red Sea Dahlak Kebir Island military detention centre and other prisons without charge or trial.

A handful, however, managed to escape and successfully sought asylum in neighbouring countries with the help of the UNHCR.

A chilling documentary released by Human Rights Concern – Eritrea and screened in December at Amnesty International’s UK Human Rights Centre, chronicled the story of six escaped ex-Malta deportees.

The documentary and interviews with the escapees are certainly not for the faint hearted or the squeamish.

The documentary, Eritrea: Voices of Torture, traced the deported migrants’ departure from Malta, their arrest upon arrival in Asmara, and the ensuing trials and tribulations of the group as they were transported from one prison to another and systematically tortured along the way.

Habtom Teclab, one of the two escapees who did not insist on anonymity for fear of reprisals, gave details of the deportees’ treatment after being ushered straight onto waiting buses upon their arrival from Malta.

The interviewees say the group from the plane were systematically beaten and subjected to various forms of inhumane treatment. Teclab and a group of others attempted to escape but were discovered, returned to camp and “beaten mercilessly” in a “ruthless campaign of interrogation”.

One anonymous deportee recalled: “I was handcuffed with a chain that could be tightened, restricting blood flow, causing my hands to swell as I was being beaten.”

After two months of such treatment, the group was taken to a waiting ship that set off for an unknown destination. So desperate was their plight, a detainee flung himself overboard with bound hands in a suicide attempt, only to be caught in the ship’s propeller, which inflicted severe cuts to his face.

The destination was the Dahlak Kebir Island prison, where many deportees remain to this day.

The escapees recount daily beatings and continued exposure to the elements in 45-50°C conditions, with no more to drink than contaminated water from a nearby refinery.

Teclab and a group of others attempted yet another escape. After being apprehended, he recounts, “We were beaten mercilessly, with everything the soldiers found at hand. Some soldiers urged others to kill us but others said ‘don’t kill them – if they die, they won’t suffer enough’.”

Teclab relates how he was beaten until he vomited blood, and was left tied and exposed to the elements in the so-called suspended helicopter position for 55 days and nights – until his hands turned blue and his skin changed colour and peeled off.

Against all the odds, Teclab survived the ordeal. He was transferred to another prison camp in September 2003 and, after several failed escape attempts and ensuing punishments, he was finally successful.

Others were not so lucky. An anonymous interviewee described how he was shot while fleeing and his untreated wounds left one leg three inches shorter than the other.

Many others were shot dead.

Through the efforts of the UNHCR and Amnesty International, Teclab and 35 others were eventually resettled in Canada, while other ex-Malta deportees were resettled in Sweden, Denmark, Holland, Australia and the UK.

Some 223 Eritreans were deported by Malta between 30 September and 3 October 2002, despite pleas and warnings of the treatment that lay in store for the deportees from an array of human rights groups, the UNHCR and Eritrea’s opposition party. Malta had also been accused of transgressing the principle of the United Nations’ principle of non-refoulement as well as Amnesty International guidelines.

The issue had gone before the Maltese courts and a magisterial inquiry had cleared the government of wrongdoing.