25 years on: children of jailed Eritrean freedom fighters still don't know if parents are alive

In September 2001, Eritrean security forces detained 11, and eventually 15, senior officials known as the "G-15" after they signed a letter urging President Isaias Afwerki to implement the country's 1997 constitution and hold elections. The arrests took place days after the 9/11 attacks in the US, when global attention was elsewhere.

Among those detained was Petros Solomon, a former defence and foreign minister who had played a key role in Eritrea's independence war. His daughter, Hanna Petros Solomon, was just 10 when her father went for his usual morning run and never returned. Her mother, Aster Yohannes, who was studying in the US at the time, returned to Eritrea two years later after receiving assurances of her safety, but was detained at the airport and has not been heard from since.

Ibrahim Sherifo's family suffered a similar fate — both his parents, including his father Mahmoud Ahmed Sherifo, a former local government minister, were arrested in the same period. Ibrahim, who was 13 at the time, now lives in exile in the Netherlands.

None of those detained has ever been brought to trial in the 25 years since, and none has been allowed to see relatives. Some are believed to be held at the secretive Ela-Ero prison in the country's east, others at Karshelli prison in Asmara. Around the same time, the government also shut down independent newspapers and jailed their editors.

Eritrea's government, including its embassy in the UK, has not responded to the BBC's request for comment on the prisoners' whereabouts. Human rights groups, including the UN, regard the G-15 as prisoners of conscience and have called for their release. President Isaias, now 80, has still not implemented the constitution and has never held an election.

Both Hanna and Ibrahim say they still don't know if their parents are alive and are calling on the government to disclose information about their fate.