Corporate report

Eritrea - in-year update July 2015

Published 15 July 2015

Eritrea’s human rights record remains poor, with reports of widespread arbitrary detention and shortcomings in the rule of law and respect for fundamental freedoms.

Eritrea made some limited progress against its international commitments on human rights during the period from 1 January to 30 June 2015. The most significant development was the publication in May of new Civil, Penal, Civil Procedure and Criminal Procedure Codes to replace the previous Transitional Codes. The government of Eritrea also hosted a visit by representatives of the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights to consider potential project work in the field of human rights in Eritrea.

However, there remain significant concerns on areas such as arbitrary and inhumane detention, religious freedom, freedom of expression and assembly, freedom of movement, and progress in the implementation of a constitution which would provide for fully participative politics. Eritrea has not yet permitted the UN Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in Eritrea to visit the country.

Eritrea continued its engagement with the international community on human rights which it began in September 2014. The government provided a further briefing to Ambassadors and representatives of international organisations in Eritrea on 3 March regarding the follow-up to the recommendations made in the 2014 Universal Periodic Review of Eritrea at the HRC. We continue to lobby the Eritreans to take concrete action to implement the recommendations of the UPR.

The HRC Commission of Inquiry into Eritrea visited the UK in January 2015. This visit was facilitated by FCO officials who set up meetings for the commission and helped identify premises where members of the commission could conduct confidential interviews with Eritreans in the UK. Commission representatives met senior FCO and Home Office officials and academics from Chatham House to discuss their remit and mandate.

The commission presented an oral update of its work to the HRC on 16 March, and published its report on 4 June. Its chairman reported that the government of Eritrea had not cooperated with the commission nor accepted its requests to visit Eritrea. From evidence gathered through interviews with 500 people in five other countries, and the submission of written evidence, the commission reported that it had identified significant human rights violations in Eritrea since the country’s independence in 1994, with no evidence that the individuals responsible were held accountable for them. These violations included enforced disappearances; arbitrary arrest and detention; torture and inhumane prison conditions; violations of freedom of expression and opinion; and forced military conscription.

The commission acknowledged recent cooperation by Eritrea with some human rights mechanisms, including its ratification of the UN Convention Against Torture, and also noted the government of Eritrea’s decision to limit national service for new entrants to 18 months.

The UK participated in the interactive dialogue with the commission at the HRC on 24 June 2015 in Geneva. We shared the commission’s concerns regarding human rights in Eritrea, and noted that Eritrea continued to fall short of domestic implementation of its international human rights obligations. We urged Eritrea to release all those arbitrarily detained, and to hold those responsible for violations and abuses to account. We argued that the HRC should extend the commission’s mandate for a further 12 months.

The UK also engaged in an interactive dialogue with the UN Special Rapporteur at the HRC on 24 June 2015 in Geneva. We reaffirmed our disappointment that the government of Eritrea continued to deny the Special Rapporteur access. We specifically sought the views of the Special Rapporteur on business and human rights in Eritrea, and asked if she would engage with international companies who were seeking to operate in Eritrea, particularly the extractives sector.

The EU and its member states continue to use every opportunity to raise the importance of progress on human rights with the government of Eritrea, including through direct representations to the government in Asmara, in their response to the Commission of Inquiry, and during high-level visits to Eritrea, including the visit of EU Special Representative for the Horn of Africa, Alex Rondos.

Eritrea remains at the lowest rating (7) “not free” in the Freedom House 2015 report on political rights and civil liberties. Eritrea has been listed at this level since 2010. Reporters without Borders welcomed the release from detention in late January of six radio journalists who had been detained without trial since February 2009. However, despite this development, Eritrea was bottom of the Reporters Without Borders World Press Freedom Index for 2014.

Eritrea is one of the top sources of irregular migration to Europe. We have been clear to the government of Eritrea that the poor human rights situation is one of the drivers of migration. We, and EU partners, are stepping up dialogue with Eritrea on how to stem this flow, including by addressing the reasons why migrants leave in the first place. FCO and Home Office officials have discussed these issues with the government of Eritrea bilaterally and we welcome Eritrea’s engagement in the “Khartoum Process” (EU – Horn of Africa Migration Route Initiative).