The 56th Session of the Human Rights Council
18 June - 12 July 2024
Item 2: Interactive Dialogue with the Special Rapporteur on the Situation of Human Rights in Eritrea.
20 June 2024
By Kiwumulo George / GICJ
Executive summary
On 20 June 2024, during the 5th meeting of the 56th Session of the Human Rights Council, the human rights situation in Eritrea was discussed based on report A/HRC/56/24, presented by Special Rapporteur of Eritrea, Mr Mohamed Abdel Salam Babiker.
Mr Babiker opened the interactive dialogue by presenting the findings of his latest report, which focused on the human rights situation in Eritrea. He underlined that the human rights situation in Eritrea remains dire, and the Eritrean authorities choose to maintain practices that perpetuate the crisis. Mr. Babiker pointed out patterns of gross human rights violations, including the widespread use of arbitrary and incommunicado detention and enforced disappearance, which persisted unabated. He underlined that the authorities continued to enforce a system of indefinite national service that amounted to forced labour and had been consistently linked to torture and inhuman or degrading treatment.
He also underlined that the Eritrean authorities had chosen to maintain policies and practices that perpetuated the human rights crisis in the country. If these persistent violations were not addressed, including by ensuring redress for victims, the cycle of suffering and repression would continue, stifling Eritrea’s potential for peace and development.
The Special Rapporteur also reiterated his willingness to engage constructively with Eritrea to provide technical assistance. Additionally, he urged Ethiopia and Eritrea to respect the terms of the 2002 decision of the Eritrea-Ethiopia Boundary Commission, as agreed by both States as part of the 2018 Peace Agreement. He stressed that in this context, the rights of residents and original peoples from contested areas must also be duly protected and prioritised.
Various delegations stressed the importance of Eritrea observing human rights in the country, during the dialogue, The speaker remained concerned by human rights violations in the State, including enforced disappearance, indefinite national service, restrictions on civic space, reprisals against human rights defenders, sexual and gender-based violence, and abuse of children. Most recommendations from Eritrea’s Universal Periodic Review (UPR) remained unimplemented. The speaker called for these to be immediately addressed. However, concerns were raised by the EU delegation about the human rights situation of Eritrean children. Additionally, many delegations condemned the violation of human rights in Eritrea in the context of national service.
Many civil society groups welcomed the Special Rapporteur’s report, agreeing with recommendations, such as the discontinuation of indefinite military service. In addition, NGOs encouraged the government of Eritrea to end the continued suppression of civic space, freedom of expression and association.
The Special Rapporteur concluded the discussion by urging the Eritrean Government to take decisive and immediate action to address the country's pressing human rights issues. To do that, Mr Babiker emphasised that by taking meaningful steps toward reform, Eritrea could pave the way for a society where human rights are respected and every individual can thrive.
Eritrea, speaking as the country concerned, said it was with a heavy heart that it brought to the attention of the Council that the annual ritual of demonising Eritrea coincided with Eritrea’s Martyrs’ Day. A day that holds immense historical importance, symbolising the sacrifice and relentless struggle for independence and social justice. Seventy-four years ago, the inalienable right of the Eritrean people to self-determination was sacrificed for the strategic interests of some members of the Council. The atrocities endured by the Eritrean people were too gruesome to mention. Ultimately, the fight became not only for independence but also for social justice, equality, and human rights.
Geneva International Centre for Justice (GICJ) congratulates the Special Rapporteur for his report on human rights in Eritrea. We remain extremely concerned about Eritrean forces remaining present and continuing to be involved in human rights and international humanitarian law violations in parts of the Tigray region of Ethiopia, including extrajudicial killings, kidnappings, enforced disappearances, arbitrary detention, and forced labour.
We join the Special Rapporteur in urging Ethiopia and Eritrea to respect the terms of the 2002 decision of the Eritrea-Ethiopia Boundary Commission, as agreed by both States as part of the 2018 Peace Agreement and stressed that in this context, the rights of residents and original peoples from contested areas also need to be duly protected and prioritised.
Background
Eritrea has violated human rights for many years. Eritrean Defence Forces continued to carry out systematic and widespread sexual violence, including rape and gang rape, against women in neighbouring Ethiopia’s Tigray region months after the Cessation of Hostilities Agreement was signed in November 2022. The government failed to initiate any investigation into these and other crimes under international law committed in Tigray. The president denied well-founded allegations of the Eritrean army’s conduct as “fantasy”.
Eritrea continued to refuse to cooperate with international mechanisms, including the UN Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in Eritrea. The Human Rights Council, already concerned about the situation in 2020, urged the authorities, in resolution A/HRC/RES/44/19, to ensure that the presidential elections scheduled for August would be free, transparent, and conducted peacefully. However, the opposition claimed that there was fraud.
In 2009, the UN Human Rights Council (UNHRC) established the Special Rapporteur's mandate on human rights in Eritrea. In 2014, the UNHCR established a Commission of Inquiry on Human Rights in Eritrea to investigate alleged violations. The Commission's 2015 and 2016 reports documented widespread and systematic human rights abuses, including crimes against humanity. The reports highlighted issues such as indefinite national service, arbitrary detention, and severe restrictions on freedoms. The UNHRC has passed multiple resolutions condemning human rights abuses in Eritrea and urging the government to implement reforms.
These resolutions call for the release of political prisoners, the end of arbitrary detention, and respect for freedoms of expression and assembly. Eritrea has undergone the UPR process, in which other UN member states review its human rights record and provide recommendations. Recommendations have included ending indefinite national service and improving conditions for political prisoners.
Report of the Special Rapporteur on the Situation of Human Rights in Eritrea
Report A/HRC/56/24 on human rights violations in Eritrea.
In the report, the Special Rapporteur provides an overview of the human rights situation in Eritrea, with a focus on the persistent violations in the context of the indefinite and compulsory national service, the repression of freedom of religion or belief, the state of the rule of law and the administration of justice, and violations of civil and political rights, including prolonged and arbitrary detention and enforced disappearances.
The Special Rapporteur highlighted the lack of civic space in Eritrea and evolving patterns of transnational repression. He expressed concern over the continued presence and involvement of Eritrean forces in the commission of human rights violations in the Tigray region of Ethiopia. The Special Rapporteur stressed the serious challenges faced in the protection of Eritrean refugees and asylum-seekers.
Throughout the report, he assessed Eritrea’s level of implementation of the recommendations of human rights mechanisms, noting that they remain largely unimplemented. The report concluded with recommendations to the Government of Eritrea and the international community.
Interactive Dialogue on the Special Rapporteur Report
The Special Rapporteur opened the meeting by informing the council that the human rights situation in Eritrea remained dire. Patterns of gross human rights violations, including the widespread use of arbitrary and incommunicado detention and enforced disappearance, persisted unabated.
The Special Rapporteur highlighted the fact that the authorities continued to enforce a system of indefinite national service that amounted to forced labour and had been consistently linked to torture and inhuman or degrading treatment.
In his latest report, the Special Rapporteur discussed the situation in Eritrea in which freedoms were systematically repressed. These were all issues that had been raised time and again by international and regional human rights mechanisms. Still, there were no indications of any measures taken to improve the human rights situation in any of these areas. The Eritrean authorities had chosen to maintain policies and practices that perpetuated the human rights crisis in the country. The Special Rapporteur added that if these persistent violations were not addressed, including by ensuring redress for victims, the cycle of suffering and repression would continue, stifling Eritrea’s potential for peace and development.
The Special Rapporteur concluded the discussion by urging the Eritrean Government to take decisive and immediate action to address the country's pressing human rights issues. To do that, Mohamed Abdel Salam Babiker emphasised that by taking meaningful steps toward reform, Eritrea could pave the way for a society where human rights were respected and every individual could thrive.
In the ensuing dialogue, Rapporteur of the Executive Committee of the UNHCR Mary Namono Kibere from Uganda welcomed that some progress had been made in areas of health and education in Eritrea. The speaker remained concerned by human rights violations in the State, including enforced disappearance, indefinite national service, restrictions on civic space, reprisals against human rights defenders, sexual and gender-based violence, and abuse of children. Most recommendations from Eritrea’s Universal Periodic Review remained unimplemented.
The European Union delegate thanked the Special Rapporteur for his report and reaffirmed their support for the mandate. The European Union delegate welcomed some progress made in the sphere of social rights. Nevertheless, the delegate remained highly concerned by the human rights situation in Eritrea, as reported by the Special Rapporteur, including arbitrary detention and enforced disappearances. The delegate called on Eritrea to reveal the whereabouts of those who disappeared and release those held arbitrarily. The delegate remained concerned about the practice of indefinite National Service, including the reported conscription of children and the persistence of sexual and gender-based violence. The delegate urged the government of Eritrea to guarantee the exercise of freedom of expression and opinion, the right to freedom of religion or belief, and freedom of peaceful assembly and association in line with its international human rights obligations.
The European Union delegate called upon the government of Eritrea to withdraw its troops substantially from Ethiopia. The delegate welcomed Eritrea’s engagement in the ongoing UPR process. She also called on Eritrea to cooperate with the Special Rapporteur and grant him full and unhindered access. In addition, she expressed her desire to continue engagement with Eritrea and its people based on a comprehensive, constructive, and long-term approach. Finally, she expressed her desire to have the Special Rapporteur elaborate on the situation of the human rights of Eritrean children.
The United Kingdom delegate emphasised that he is deeply concerned about the human rights violations in Eritrea, which are not improving urgently. The delegate continued to recall the reform of Eritrea’s national service policy by ending its indefinite nature and implementing the constitution, including its provisions of participation of an elected legislature, independent media, and a free and open society. The delegate seeks to engage Eritrea on its human rights situation through the council and bilaterally, including encouraging the recommendations it has received through its UPR and from the reviews of treaty monitoring bodies. The delegate added that if progress in human rights can be realised in Eritrea, this can help diversify the economy.
Moreover, he argued that Eritrea should re-engage with the concerns expressed by the Human Rights Council,cooperate fully with the mandates of the Special Rapporteur and engage with support offered by the international community so that progress can begin.The delegate thanked the special rapporteur for his report and retorted his support for the mandate of restriction from freedom of belief, which remains a serious concern.
The Ukrainian Delegate thanked the Special Rapporteur for his report, and she remained deeply concerned about the ongoing human rights violations in Eritrea. The delegate is also concerned about the reports of rampant disappearances, torture, ill-treatment, sexual and gender-based violence, as well as incommunicado detentions. The delegate shared the concerns of the special rapporteur about the continued involvement of Eritrean forces in the commission of human rights violations in the Tigray region.
The delegate continued to call upon the government of Eritrea to make investigations into all credible allegations of crimes and human rights abuses committed by Eritrean forces in Ethiopia. She also denounced the continued cooperation with other autocratic regimes that engage in systematic violations of human rights and its support of the Russian war of aggression against Ukraine. The delegate urged Eritrea to cooperate closely with the Special Rapporteur and other international human rights mechanisms to grant them access to the country. She further asked the Special Rapporteur how the international community can assist in the accountability of injustice committed by Tigray forces in Ethiopia.
Several civil society organisations were subsequently permitted to discuss the report’s findings. A group of NGOs called on the Council to adopt a resolution that extends the Special Rapporteur’s mandate and moves beyond a merely “procedural” approach by clearly spelling out and condemning the grave violations committed by Eritrean authorities in a context of widespread impunity. The NGOs added that Eritrea remains among the very few countries that have never received any visit by a special procedure. The NGOs were concerned that the Authorities had utterly failed to cooperate with the Council and its mechanisms and made a mockery of membership standards and obligations.
Concluding remarks
The Special Rapporteur noted that the vast majority of the recommendations made by regional and international human rights mechanisms, including the previous reports, the Commission of Inquiry on Human Rights in Eritrea report, the African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights, the Human Rights Committee, the Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women, and during the third cycle of the universal periodic review all remain unimplemented. The Special Rapporteur emphasised that the recommendations of the various mechanisms are complementary and aligned and thus reiterated those recommendations. Multiple human rights bodies have raised similar and serious concerns, further reinforcing and confirming the findings and conclusions reached in the present report. The Special Rapporteur recommended that Member States and international organisations keep Eritrea under consistent scrutiny until verified and tangible improvements have been made to their human rights situation. Mr. Babiker urged Member States and international organisations to ensure that human rights issues remain at the core of all engagement with the country and include human rights guarantees in negotiating development cooperation projects and investments in Eritrea.
The Special Rapporteur urged the Ethiopian and Eritrean authorities, as well as the Tigray People’s Liberation Front, to take all necessary steps to consolidate the cessation of hostilities agreement signed in November 2022 and to address impunity for the commission of grave violations of human rights and humanitarian law.
The Special Rapporteur urged Member States and international organisations to pressure the Government of Eritrea to end all practices of enforced disappearance, torture, and the arbitrary and incommunicado detention and persecution of thousands of political opponents, journalists, and critical voices, prisoners of conscience, and people of faith.
Position of Geneva International Centre for Justice
Geneva International Centre for Justice (GICJ) commends as an NGO dedicated to human rights, we strongly support the recommendations made by the Special Rapporteur. The human rights situation in Eritrea remains dire, with widespread and systematic abuses still unaddressed. We urge Member States and international organisations to ensure continuous monitoring and reporting on the human rights situation until tangible and verified improvements are observed. GICJ calls on Member States and international organisations to make human rights guarantees a non-negotiable part of any developmental or investment projects in Eritrea to foster accountability and progress. GCIJ calls on Member States and international organisations to intensify efforts to pressure the Eritrean government to stop enforced disappearances, torture, arbitrary detentions, and persecution of political opponents, journalists, and activists.
Geneva International Centre for Justice recommended that member States and international organisations advocate for actions that ensure the cessation of hostilities agreements are upheld. Those responsible for human rights violations are held accountable. We called on all stakeholders to collaborate in these efforts and prioritise human rights in all dealings with Eritrea.
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