{"id":5999,"date":"2015-03-20T10:17:47","date_gmt":"2015-03-20T10:17:47","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/munkhafadat.com\/en\/?p=5999"},"modified":"2015-03-20T10:17:47","modified_gmt":"2015-03-20T10:17:47","slug":"eritrea-blighted-by-ruthless-repression-and-human-rights-violations-says-un","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/munkhafadat.com\/en\/uncategorized\/eritrea-blighted-by-ruthless-repression-and-human-rights-violations-says-un\/","title":{"rendered":"Eritrea blighted by ‘ruthless repression’ and human rights violations, says UN"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Eritrean government accused of failing to cooperate with UN inquiry as abuses including detention and enforced military service are highlighted<\/p>\n

Eritreans in Washington call for human rights to be upheld in their homeland. Photograph: B Christophe\/Alamy<\/p>\n

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The Eritrean government has been linked with \u201cruthless repression\u201d and systemic human rights violations, including carrying out widespread detention and forcing citizens into indefinite military service, according to the UN\u2019s first inquiry into human rights in the secretive country<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Rights abuses perpetuated by Eritrea\u2019s government, coupled with dismal economic prospects, are driving hundreds of Eritreans out of the country every day, according to an interim report by the UN\u2019s commission of inquiry on human rights in Eritrea<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\u201cMost Eritreans have no hope for their future,\u201d said Mike Smith, chairman of the commission, which was formed in June last year. \u201cNational service, whether in a military unit or in a civil assignment, is the only thing that from the age of 17 they can expect to spend their life doing \u2013 paid between less than $1 and a maximum of $2 a day.\u201d<\/p>\n

Describing Eritrea\u2019s culture of \u201cpervasive state control\u201d, Smith said a network of spies had been created that permeated the basic fabric of everyday life. \u201cA man employed by national security might not know that his daughter is similarly employed,\u201d he said, noting that extra-judicial executions, enforced disappearances and incommunicado detentions were commonplace.<\/p>\n

\u201cIs it surprising that, faced with such challenges, Eritreans leave their country in their hundreds every day?\u201d<\/p>\n

As of July last year, more than 320,000 Eritreans had fled the country, according to the UN\u2019s High Commissioner for Refugees<\/a> (UNHCR). After Syrians, Eritreans are the second most common nationality to arrive on Italian shores.<\/p>\n

The UN commission\u2019s interim report, released on Monday, is based on interviews with about 400 people, including government officials, in five different countries. It incorporates 140 written statements relating to human rights abuses in Eritrea.<\/p>\n

The commission expressed concern that Eritrea\u2019s government had \u201cso far not cooperated\u201d with its investigation and did not respond to repeated requests to visit the country to carry out research.<\/p>\n

But the commission said that Eritrea was making some progress in improving human rights, noting that it had ratified the UN\u2019s convention against torture<\/a> and promised to reduce national service to 18 months. The commission will deliver its final report on Eritrea\u2019s human rights situation in June.<\/p>\n

Human Rights Watch (HRW) said<\/a> the interim report showed \u201cthat it is essential for Eritrea to remain on the Human Rights Council\u2019s agenda for the foreseeable future\u201d. In the past, HRW has urged the Eritrean government to release political prisoners, let independent monitors into the country, allow independent media and end indefinite national service. HRW said there is no indication of progress on any of these points.<\/p>\n

Eritrea has long been regarded as one of the world\u2019s most secretive states, even drawing comparisons with North Korea<\/a>. It was ranked at the bottom of the 180 countries assessed in Reporters Without Borders\u2019 (RWB) 2015 press freedom index<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\u201cEritrea systematically violates freedom of expression and information. It is Africa\u2019s biggest prison for journalists, with at least 16 currently detained \u2013 some of them held incommunicado for years,\u201d said RWB.<\/p>\n

\"MDG
Human rights activists endorse the UN\u2019s belief that abuses have occurred on the watch of Isaias Afewerki, the Eritrean president. Photograph: Simon Maina\/AFP\/Getty Images <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Eritrea\u2019s president, Isaias Afewerki, who has been in power since de facto independence from Ethiopia in 1991, has for decades used the threat of an outbreak of war with Ethiopia as a means of keeping his people under tight authoritarian rule.<\/p>\n

In 1998, a brutal border war broke out between Eritrea and Ethiopia, killing an estimated 70,000 people on both sides. Despite agreeing to a new border under the 2000 Algiers agreement<\/a>, which ended the conflict, Eritrea claims that Ethiopian forces continue to occupy positions in its territory.<\/p>\n

The ensuing military stalemate between the two sides has led Eritrea to adopt a \u201cno war, no peace\u201d position with Ethiopia, according to the commission. \u201cIt is an expression abusively used by the Eritrean authorities to disregard international human rights law as if Eritrea was in a legal limbo,\u201d Smith said.<\/p>\n

Accusations that Eritrea was supporting the Somali Islamist group al-Shabaab led the UN security council to impose an arms embargo<\/a> on the country in 2009. The UN also levied asset freezes and travel bans on some officials.<\/p>\n

Human rights<\/a> activists are pushing for tighter sanctions against key figures in Eritrea\u2019s government, saying they continue to commit crimes against humanity under the guise of protecting the country from Ethiopian aggression.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf the UN inquiry concludes there is a situation of crimes against humanity in Eritrea, which I very much hope it will do, then we can say the international community is duty bound to respond with actions commensurate to that of crimes against humanity,\u201d said Daniel Mekonnen of the Eritrean Law Society<\/a>, who added that he is hoping Eritrean leaders would be referred to the International Criminal Court.<\/p>\n

The Eritrean government responded to the UN\u2019s inquiry by criticising its reporting methods. Tesfamicael Gerahtu, an <\/a>Eritrean diplomat<\/a>, said: \u201cMy delegation is dismayed at the protracted reliance on unreliable, unproven and sensational information and interactions. Preconceived ideas and conclusions on Eritrea have become rampant.\u201d<\/p>\n

Leslie Lefkow<\/a>, HRW\u2019s Africa director, said: \u201cThe [Eritrean] government\u2019s refusal to cooperate with human rights investigators is symbolic of its broader rejection of essential human rights reforms. Until that stance changes it is impossible to have meaningful impact on the domestic crisis and the massive exodus of Eritreans provoked by the dire human rights situation.\u201d<\/p>\n

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Source:<\/p>\n

\"guardian\"<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/header>\n

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Eritrean government accused of failing to cooperate with UN inquiry as abuses including detention and enforced military service are highlighted Eritreans in Washington call for human rights to be upheld in their homeland. Photograph: B Christophe\/Alamy The Eritrean government has been linked with \u201cruthless repression\u201d and systemic human rights violations, including carrying out widespread detention …<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":6000,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[13,1],"tags":[58,138],"yoast_head":"\nEritrea blighted by 'ruthless repression' and human rights violations, says UN | ELL<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/munkhafadat.com\/en\/uncategorized\/eritrea-blighted-by-ruthless-repression-and-human-rights-violations-says-un\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Eritrea blighted by 'ruthless repression' and human rights violations, says UN | ELL\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Eritrean government accused of failing to cooperate with UN inquiry as abuses including detention and enforced military service are highlighted Eritreans in Washington call for human rights to be upheld in their homeland. 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