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C O N F I D E N T I A L ASMARA 000995 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SIPDIS 
 
LONDON FOR AFRICA WATCHERS, PARIS FOR AFRICA WATCHERS 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 11/27/2016 
TAGS: PGOV PHUM PINR SOCI ER
SUBJECT: SAWA: A SCHOOL, A TRAINING CAMP AND A DETENTION 
CENTER 
 
 
Classified By: AMB. Scott H. DeLisi for reasons 1.4 (b) and (d). 
 
¶1. (C) Summary: On the dusty hot plains of western Gash 
Barka, in the small village of Sawa, the GSE operates two 
facilities, the youth campus of Sawa and Forto Sawa.   The 
youth campus of Sawa, commonly called Sawa, provides military 
training and political indoctrination and academic classes to 
Eritrean youth.  Approximately 2 kilometers away and separate 
from the Sawa youth campus, Forto Sawa serves as a military 
training and detention facility. The detention facility is 
the site of the GSE,s re-education efforts for Eritrean 
citizens who the GSE believe do not fully support the 
government and the party.  Following a shooting circa October 
2006 of Sawa students who attempted to cross the border to 
Sudan, students at the youth campus remain locked down on the 
campus and GSE officials do not permit parents to visit.  End 
Summary. 
 
------------------------ 
A STUDENT,S LIFE AT SAWA 
------------------------ 
 
¶2.  (U) In 1994, the Government of Eritrea began rotating all 
Eritrean students from 8th to 12th grades to participate in 
month-long military training programs at Sawa.  In the early 
years, some of these students also served as construction 
workers and built the campus.  In 2001, the GSE changed the 
program and established a ROTC-like boarding school. 
Overseen by the Ministry of Defense with the involvement of 
the Ministry of Education, all 12th grade students, with no 
exceptions, are required to spend their final year of 
secondary school at the Sawa youth campus.   An estimated 
four to six thousand students attend each year, including 
those with disabilities and special needs.  Students with 
special needs or disabilities are exempt from the military 
training only after rigorous medical review of their 
conditions. 
 
¶3. (U) While attending Sawa, students take the country-wide 
matriculation exam, a pre-requisite for assignment to one of 
the few state-run post-secondary institutions.  According to 
students, the most important subject is political 
indoctrination and military training.  Members of the 
Eritrean Defense Forces, assigned as trainers to Sawa, teach 
the students how to use weapons and care for munitions, 
conduct military operations and provide basic military 
training.  Members of the People,s Front for Democracy and 
Justice (PFDJ), Eritrea,s sole political party, serve as 
educators for political indoctrination, focusing on Eritrean 
history, the history of the struggle and the role of the 
party.  In addition, they recruit party members. (Note: Party 
membership is essentially a requirement for all adult 
Eritreans seeking any government related job or services. End 
note.) Most of the academic teachers are Eritrean graduates 
of the University of Asmara.  Yet, in the past, a few foreign 
nationals, mostly Indians, taught in the sciences. There are 
rumors that in the near future the Ministry of Education,s 
computer training program will be based at Sawa.  For the 
first time ever, in the 2006-2007 school year, parents were 
expected to pay for their child,s school supplies, including 
books. 
 
¶4. (U) While the weather can be extremely hot, the living 
conditions appear adequate and provide sufficient shelter for 
the students.  Morning classes are held five days a week. Due 
to the severe heat, there are no afternoon classes.  Students 
usually study in the evening until ten o,clock when the 
electricity is turned off.  The youth campus compound is 
quite large and includes: dormitories, a cafeteria, 
classrooms and labs, a library, and playing fields.  The 
dormitories look like large warehouses with the boys and 
girls sleeping on bunk beds in separate dorms.  The food 
supply, however, is limited, and the students participate in 
military training and occasionally hard labor.  Students 
report receiving three rolls of hard bread and lentil stew as 
their daily ration.  Tea is provided and meat served on 
holidays.  In the past, parents were able to supplement the 
food ration by providing food during visits and the students 
were able to purchase supplementary food in the local town; 
however the ban on visitation and the student lockdown has 
 
ended this practice. 
 
---------------------------- 
NO PARENT'S DAY; NO HOLIDAYS 
---------------------------- 
 
¶5. (C) Student reactions about Sawa are mixed.  A few Sawa 
graduates portray a happy time with friends in their first 
adventure away from home.  For most, the time in Sawa is 
difficult and, increasingly, parents are seeking ways to 
avoid sending their children.  With reports of abuses of 
students at the campus, including the sexual assault of young 
women, parents are increasingly nervous about their 
children's attendance.  Muslim parents reportedly are 
extremely reluctant to send their daughters to Sawa. In 
addition, post heard reports that in Spring 2006, several 
students caught reading the bible were severely punished and 
held in detention. In Asmara, on the day of departure for 
Sawa in August, many crying children and parents were seen at 
the bus pickup sites. 
 
¶6. (C) In the past, parents easily received permission from 
regional officials to visit their 12th grade children.  For 
the past few months, GSE officials have denied parents 
permission and some parents report having no communication 
from their children during this time.  Presently, students 
are not permitted to leave the campus, even to travel to the 
local town to purchase supplementary food items.  The school 
officials established these restrictions following the 
reported shooting of at least two students attempting to 
illegally cross the border to Sudan in October.  One parent 
told Poloff that he has not heard from his son at Sawa in 
months and believes his son has been sent to another 
location, possibly outside of Eritrea.  Since 2001, school 
officials allowed students a month-long holiday after the 
first semester (usually during the month of November) during 
which they were permitted to visit their families.  For the 
current school year, officials cancelled the break and have 
provided no information on plans to reinstate it. 
 
------------------------------------- 
MEANWHILE, AT THE DETENTION CAMP ... 
------------------------------------- 
 
¶7.  (C) The GSE often recalls Eritreans serving in national 
service for "re-training" at Sawa and for other national 
service administrative tasks.  For these programs, the GSE 
typically uses the youth campus.  However, the GSE also 
maintains Forto Sawa a second facility near the village of 
Sawa.  At Forto Sawa, a military training and detention camp, 
there are reports that Jehovah,s Witnesses, Pentecostals and 
other members of unregistered religious groups, draft dodgers 
and other individuals seen as threatening the stability of 
the GSE and the PFDJ rule, are sent to Sawa for 
"re-education."  (Note: Post believes that the Embassy FSN, 
who was arrested in Spring 2006 and is still in detention ) 
presumably because he is a Jehovah's Witness - is being held 
at Forto Sawa. End Note.)  Post has heard reports that 
detainees suffer maltreatment, including torture, during 
their detention.  Many are held for months and even years 
with no due process or charges levied against them. 
 
------- 
Comment 
------- 
 
¶8.  (C) The schooling at Sawa is a significant phase in the 
life of an Eritrean youth and a prominent feature in Eritrean 
society today.  During the summer months when many of the 
diaspora returned, the GSE sponsored "fun" youth camps for 
children of the diaspora in an effort to paint Sawa as a 
positive Eritrean educational experience, to indoctrinate the 
youth of the diaspora and to refute allegations about the 
treatment and training of the youth.  Many Eritreans believe 
their youth need to learn the value of being tough and strong 
through experiences of hardship and pain - just like their 
parents and the fighters in the struggle.   These attitudes 
reflect important values in the Eritrean culture. 
 
¶9. (C) The lockdown and the tight controls at Sawa are not a 
 
surprise.  Given Sawa's proximity to Sudan, many young people 
while at Sawa have attempted to illegally cross the border. 
They are likely to continue to trying to do so and, as a 
result, the Sawa experience may become even more restrictive. 
 End Comment. 
DELISI