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Eritrea: "Rule of Fear, Not Law"
AfricaFocus Bulletin
June 15, 2015 (150615)
(Reposted from sources cited below)
Editor's Note
"Citing an array of human rights violations on a scope and scale
seldom witnessed elsewhere, the report by the UN Commission of
Inquiry on Human Rights in Eritrea describes a totalitarian state
bent on controlling Eritreans through a vast security apparatus that
has penetrated all levels of society. 'Information gathered through
the pervasive control system is used in absolute arbitrariness to
keep the population in a state of permanent anxiety,' the 500-page
report says. 'It is not law that rules Eritreans - but fear.' -
Press release, Office of UN High Commissioner on Human Rights
This new United Nations report, released on June 8 and scheduled to
be presented to the UN Human Rights Council in Geneva on June 23, is
a devastating and well-documented indictment, substantiating reports
from multiple human rights organizations in recent years. The
prospects of direct short-term effects on the ruling regime in
Eritrea, or on the willingness of the international community to
significantly increase pressure on the regime, are limited.
However, depending on the political climate on immigration issues in
each country, it could have an impact, particularly in Europe, on
the legal strategies available for Eritrean asylum-seekers, as well
as on European policies on development aid for the country.
The implications of the report are that because of the situation
from which they are fleeing, Eritrean asylum-seekers should have a
prima facie case for refugee status. The recognition rate in
industrial countries was between 80% to 90% in 2014, according to
November 2014 data from the UNCHR. Yet the trend, paralleling
growing anti-immigrant sentiment in many countries, has been to move
towards more restrictive policies (as in Denmark and in the UK). The
UN report provides additional evidence for use by policy advocates
and immigration lawyers, although its impact depends on conditions
in particular potential receiving countries.
What is certain is that the flow of asylum-seekers will continue as
long as the fundamental causes are not addressed, that attempts to
control it by heightening restrictions will fail, and that both
international law and humanitarian imperatives require new measures
for protection both of asylum-seekers and of all migrants.
Among additional relevant recent sources:
Analysis of implications of UN Commission report by Mirjam van
Reisen and Klara Smits, June 8, 2015
http://www.socialwatch.org/node/16951
For additional background and testimonies, see the website of Human
Rights Concern Eritrea (http://hrc-eritrea.org/).
UNHCR Eligibility Guidelines for Assessing the International
Protection Needs of Asylum-Seekers from Eritrea, April 2009
http://www.refworld.org/pdfid/49de06122.pdf
"Number of Eritreans seeking asylum in Europe increases threefold in
a year," Guardian, November 21, 2014
http://tinyurl.com/lokpvcl
++++++++++++++++++++++end editor's note+++++++++++++++++
UN Inquiry reports gross human rights violations in Eritrea
Office of UN High Commissioner on Human Rights
http://www.ohchr.org / direct URL: http://tinyurl.com/pl34n3f
Geneva (8 June 2015) -- The Government of Eritrea is responsible for
systematic, widespread and gross human rights violations that have
created a climate of fear in which dissent is stifled, a large
proportion of the population is subjected to forced labour and
imprisonment, and hundreds of thousands of refugees have fled the
country, according to a UN report released Monday. Some of these
violations may constitute crimes against humanity.
Citing an array of human rights violations on a scope and scale
seldom witnessed elsewhere, the report by the UN Commission of
Inquiry on Human Rights in Eritrea describes a totalitarian state
bent on controlling Eritreans through a vast security apparatus that
has penetrated all levels of society.
"Information gathered through the pervasive control system is used
in absolute arbitrariness to keep the population in a state of
permanent anxiety," the 500-page report says. "It is not law that
rules Eritreans - but fear."
The release of the report comes as the international community,
particularly governments in Europe, North Africa and the Middle
East, struggles to cope with a growing exodus of refugees, asylum
seekers and migrants across the Mediterranean and along other
irregular routes. Many of them are Eritreans, a significant
proportion of whom fall victim to human traffickers while trying to
reach Europe. The UN refugee agency placed the number of Eritreans
under its concern outside the country at more than 357,400 in
mid-2014.
The report strongly urges continued international protection for
Eritrean refugees fleeing human rights violations, and warns against
sending them back to danger in a country that punishes anyone who
tries to leave without permission.
"Faced with a seemingly hopeless situation they feel powerless to
change, hundreds of thousands of Eritreans are fleeing their
country," the report says. "In desperation, they resort to deadly
escape routes through deserts and neighbouring war-torn countries
and across dangerous seas in search of safety. They risk capture,
torture and death at the hands of ruthless human traffickers. To
ascribe their decision to leave solely to economic reasons is to
ignore the dire situation of human rights in Eritrea and the very
real suffering of its people. Eritreans are fleeing severe human
rights violations in their country and are in need of international
protection."
The commission of inquiry was established by the UN Human Rights
Council in June 2014 to conduct an investigation of all alleged
violations of human rights in Eritrea, including: extrajudicial
killings; enforced disappearances; arbitrary arrest and detention;
torture and inhumane prison conditions; violations of freedom of
expression and opinion; freedom of association and assembly; freedom
of religion and belief; freedom of movement; and forced military
conscription.
The three-member commission is chaired by Mr. Mike Smith
(Australia), with Mr. Victor Dankwa (Ghana), and Ms. Sheila B.
Keetharuth (Mauritius), who also serves as the UN Special Rapporteur
on the situation of human rights in Eritrea, as commissioners.
Announcing the release of the report Monday, Ms. Keetharuth urged
renewed commitment from the international community to help end the
climate of fear in Eritrea.
"With the end of the commission's investigations and the publication
of this report detailing our findings on human rights violations in
Eritrea, I look forward to a renewed commitment by the international
community to address the justice deficit and to support our call for
a restoration of the rule of law," she said. "Rule by fear - fear of
indefinite conscription, of arbitrary and incommunicado detention,
of torture and other human rights violations - must end."
The commission is scheduled to formally present its report to the UN
Human Rights Council on June 23 in Geneva.
Eritrean authorities ignored repeated requests by the commission for
direct access to the country as well as for information. The
commission travelled to eight other countries and carried out some
550 confidential interviews with Eritrean witnesses who had fled the
Horn of Africa nation. In addition, it received some 160 written
submissions.
The report says fear of reprisals, even among witnesses now in third
countries, was a major challenge.
"Many potential witnesses residing outside Eritrea were afraid to
testify, even on a confidential basis, because they assumed they
were still being clandestinely monitored by the authorities and
therefore feared for their safety and for family members back in
Eritrea," the report says.
The report notes that the initial promise of democracy and rule of
law that came with Eritrea's independence in 1991 has been
extinguished by the Government under the pretext of national
defence.
"The commission finds that systematic, widespread and gross human
rights violations have been and are being committed by the
Government of Eritrea and that there is no accountability for them,"
it says. "The enjoyment of rights and freedoms are severely
curtailed in an overall context of a total lack of rule of law. The
commission also finds that the violations in the areas of
extrajudicial executions, torture (including sexual torture),
national service and forced labour may constitute crimes against
humanity. The commission emphasizes that its present findings should
not be interpreted as a conclusion that international crimes have
not been committed in other areas."
The report lists the main perpetrators of these violations as the
Eritrean Defence Forces, in particular the Eritrean Army; the
National Security Office; the Eritrean Police Forces; the Ministry
of Information; the Ministry of Justice; the Ministry of Defence;
the People's Front for Democracy and Justice (PFDJ); the Office of
the President; and the President.
The report describes the repressive systems used by the Government
to control, silence and isolate individuals, including a pervasive
domestic surveillance network in which neighbours spy on neighbours
and even family members mistrust each other.
"As a result of this mass surveillance, Eritreans live in constant
fear that their conduct is or may be monitored by security agents
and that information gathered may be used against them, leading to
arbitrary arrest, detention, torture, disappearance or death," it
says.
The judicial system in the country lacks independence and the
administration of justice is "completely deficient," the report
says. Arbitrary detention is ubiquitous and conditions of detention
in the country's vast network of jails are extremely harsh. Holding
prisoners incommunicado is a widespread practice, and many detainees
simply disappear. In addition, many detainees have no idea why they
are being held, nor of the length of their imprisonment.
"The commission finds that the use of torture is so widespread that
it can only conclude it is a policy of the Government to encourage
its use for the punishment of individuals perceived as opponents to
its rule and for the extraction of confessions," the report says.
"Monitoring of detention centres is non-existent and perpetrators
are never brought to justice."
The report also describes how the Government, under the pretext of
defending the integrity of the State and ensuring national selfsufficiency,
has subjected much of the population to open-ended
national service, either in the army or through the civil service.
When they turn 18 or even before, all Eritreans are conscripted.
While national service is supposed to last 18 months, in reality
conscripts end up serving for an indefinite period, often for years
in harsh and inhumane conditions.
Thousands of conscripts are subjected to forced labour that
effectively abuses, exploits and enslaves them for years. Women
conscripts are at extreme risk of sexual violence during national
service.
Many others - detainees, students, members of the militia - are also
subjected to forced labour: "The use of forced labour is so
prevalent in Eritrea that all sectors of the economy rely on it and
all Eritreans are likely to be subject to it at one point in their
lives," the report says.
"The commission concludes that forced labour in this context is a
practice similar to slavery in its effects and, as such, is
prohibited under international human rights law."
END
Media contacts: Ron Redmond: coieritreaconsultant@ohchr.org; Rolando
Gómez: +41 22 917 9711, rgomez@ohchr.org; Cédric Sapey: +41 22 917
9695, csapey@ohchr.org
Report of the commission of inquiry on human rights in Eritrea
A/HRC/29/42, June 4, 2015
Excerpts from section III: Principal Findings of the Commission and
Section IV: Conclusions
Full report and documentation available at:
http://tinyurl.com/q9noeak
23. The commission finds that systematic, widespread and gross
human rights violations have been and are being committed in Eritrea
under the authority of the Government. Patterns of systematic human
rights violations have been identified, taking into account several
factors. They include the high frequency of occurrence of the human
rights violations documented and corroborated during the
investigation, the number of victims and the replication of the
violation during a certain period of time; the type of rights
violated; and the systemic nature of these violations, meaning that
they cannot be the result of random or isolated acts of the
authorities. The main perpetrators of these violations are the
Eritrean Defence Forces, in particular the Eritrean Army; the
National Security Office; the Eritrean Police Forces; the Ministry
of Information; the Ministry of Justice; the Ministry of Defence;
the People's Front for Democracy and Justice (PFDJ); the Office of
the President; and the President.
24. The struggle for the independence of Eritrea is recorded in
history as a major feat of a people's fight for self-determination.
The commission finds that the current situation of human rights in
Eritrea is the tragic product of an initial desire to protect and
ensure the survival of the young State that very quickly degenerated
into the use of totalitarian practices aimed at perpetuating the
power of the Eritrean People's Liberation Front and its successor,
the People's Front for Democracy and Justice.
25. In the present report, the commission shows how the initial
promises of democracy and rule of law, incarnated in the neverimplemented
Constitution of 1997, were progressively suppressed then
extinguished by the Government on the pretext of threats to its
existence. It details how the Government has created and sustained
repressive systems to control, silence and isolate individuals in
the country, depriving them of their fundamental freedoms. It shows
how information collected on people's activities, their supposed
intentions and even conjectured thoughts is used to rule through
fear in a country where individuals are routinely arbitrarily
arrested and detained, tortured, disappeared or extra-judicially
executed. The commission also describes how, under the pretext of
defending the integrity of the State and ensuring its selfsufficiency,
Eritreans are subject to systems of national service
and forced labour that effectively abuse, exploit and enslave them
for indefinite periods of time.
26. Faced with a seemingly hopeless situation they feel
powerless to change, hundreds of thousands of Eritreans are fleeing
their country. In desperation, they resort to deadly escape routes
through deserts and neighbouring war-torn countries and across
dangerous seas in search of safety. They risk capture, torture and
death at the hands of ruthless human traffickers. To ascribe their
decision to leave solely to economic reasons is to ignore the dire
situation of human rights in Eritrea and the very real suffering of
its people. Eritreans are fleeing severe human rights violations in
their country and are in need of international protection.
...
66. The commission finds that systematic, widespread and gross
human rights violations have been and are being committed by the
Government of Eritrea and that there is no accountability for them.
The enjoyment of rights and freedoms are severely curtailed in an
overall context of a total lack of rule of law. The commission also
finds that the violations in the areas of extrajudicial executions,
torture (including sexual torture), national service and forced
labour may constitute crimes against humanity. The commission
emphasizes that its present findings should not be interpreted as a
conclusion that international crimes have not been committed in
other areas.
67. Following up on practices developed during the liberation
struggle, the PFDJ, the ruling and only party in Eritrea, has held
on to power by progressively dismantling or refraining from
implementing reforms aimed at establishing democracy and rule of law
in the country. Through the establishment of control systems and the
application of harsh repression, the PFDJ has eroded public freedoms
and established a rule of fear that tolerates no opposition. It has
blurred the lines between the three sources of constitutional
authority by concentrating all power in the executive, and in
particular in the figure of the President - who is also the head of
the party, at the cost of the legislature and the judiciary.
National elections have never been held.
68. The PFDJ has established a system by which an extraordinary
number of individuals have the power to spy on Eritreans and conduct
investigations and arrests often without observing the law. The
proliferation of national security offices and of officers assigned
to administrative offices but with an intelligence mandate - and
their overlap with the party's own intelligence and with military
intelligence - is a major concern.
69. What was meant to be the supreme law of the country, the
Constitution of 1997, has never been implemented. The National
Assembly stopped convening in 2002. Even while it was sitting, laws
were passed by government decree ("Proclamation"); since 2002, it
has been the exclusive way to promulgate legislation. ...
70. The judiciary is not independent. Judges are appointed,
reassigned and dismissed at the will of the President and are
directed in their actions and influenced in their decisions by
members of the PFDJ and of the army. ...
71. Eritreans are unable to move at will, to express themselves
freely, to practice their religion without undue interference, to
enjoy unrestricted access to information or to have the liberty to
assemble and associate. Pervasive control systems and heavy
consequences for perceived deviant behaviours, including lifetime
incarceration or death, have created an environment of selfcensorship
whereby individuals no longer trust anyone - not even
their own family.
72. Continuing practices already recorded during the liberation
struggle when dealing with internal and external opposition, the
Government has since independence used enforced disappearances and
extrajudicial executions to crush real or perceived opposition and
prevent the rise of any opposing views. The commission finds
particularly abhorrent the Government's practice of acknowledging
arrests while providing no further information regarding the fate or
whereabouts of those arrested.
73. Arbitrary detention is ubiquitous. The number of officials
misusing the power of arrest is particularly worrisome, as is the
number of official, unofficial and secret places of detention - all
outside the control of the judiciary. Conditions of detention are
extremely harsh, and the lack of access to sufficient food, water
and medical care while in detention is found to debilitate prisoners
and to lead to short- and long-term health complications, and
sometimes death. The practice of keeping detainees in incommunicado
detention and/or in isolation with total disregard for international
standards is widespread. The mental and physical health of prisoners
is thus unduly and unnecessarily affected.
74. Persons arrested, detained or held for punishment under
various circumstances, including during national service and
military training, are routinely subject to forms of ill-treatment
that, in many cases, amount to torture. The commission finds that
the use of torture is so widespread that it can only conclude that
it is a policy of the Government to encourage its use for the
punishment of individuals perceived as deviant and for extorting
confessions. Monitoring of detention centres is non-existent, and
perpetrators of torture are never brought to justice.
75. The commission finds that the practice of punishing family
members for the behaviour of a relative constitutes a form of guilt
by association that is in violation of international standards.
Retaliation of this kind can be financial or take the form of
harassment (including abroad), arbitrary arrest and detention.
Targets can be relatives of perceived critics of the Government,
conscripts who have deserted, detainees who have escaped or
individuals who had fled the country.
76. Controlled access to property, including land, has allowed
the Government to use such resources as a further means to punish
those in perceived disagreement with it and to reward supporters.
The commission finds that military and party representatives in
particular have abused their authority to seize land, houses and
businesses for their own profit.
77. Since 1994, Eritreans have had to spend most of their
working lives in national service. The duration of national service
is indefinite, its conditions violate international standards and
conscripts are severely underpaid . As such, it is an institution
where slavery-like practices take place. Conscripts are at the mercy
of their superiors, who exercise control and command over their
subordinates without restriction in a way that violates human rights
and without ever being held accountable. Conscripts are regularly
subjected to punishment amounting to torture and ill-treatment,
during both military training and life in the army. Women and girls
are at a high risk of rape and other forms of sexual violence in all
areas of national service, and particularly in military training
camps, where they are often forced into concubinage by superiors in
the camp. Eritreans who attempt to avoid conscription or escape from
the military are severely punished and arbitrarily deprived of their
liberty.
78. The Government has unlawfully and consistently been using
conscripts and other members of the population, including members of
the militia, many beyond retirement age, as forced labourers to
construct infrastructure and to pursue the aim of economic
development and self-sufficiency of the State, thus indirectly
supporting the continued existence of a totalitarian Government that
has been in power for the past 24 years. The use of forced labour is
so prevalent in Eritrea that all sectors of the economy rely on it,
and all Eritreans are likely to be subject to it at some stage in
their lives. The Government also regularly profits from the almost
free work exacted from conscripts and detainees to obtain
illegitimate financial gain when they are "lent" to foreign
companies paying salaries to the Government that are considerably
higher than the amounts paid by the Government to the workers.
79. The situation of human rights incites an ever-increasing
number of Eritreans to leave their country. Overall, it is estimated
that approximately 5,000 people leave Eritrea each month, mainly to
neighbouring countries. The trend has been upwards, with a marked
spike during the latter months of 2014. In October 2014, the
registered refugee population was 109,594 in the Sudan and 106,859
in Ethiopia. The total Eritrean population of concern to the United
Nations High Commissioner for Refugees in mid-2014 was 357,406;
depending on estimates of the current population, this would
constitute between 6 and 10 per cent of the national population.
Thousands of Eritreans are killed at sea while attempting to reach
European shores. The practice of kidnapping migrating individuals,
who are released on ransom after enduring horrible torture or
killed, targets Eritreans in particular. Episodes of Eritreans
killed inside the country while trying to leave have also been
recorded.
80. Discrimination and violence against women are present in all
areas of Eritrean society. Women are not only at extreme risk of
sexual violence within the military and in military training camps,
but also in society at large, where violence against women is
perpetrated in an environment of impunity. Discrimination against
women intersects with the other human rights violations, placing
women in a position of vulnerability. Violations of the right to
property, employment and freedom of movement result in women being
vulnerable to food insecurity, engaging in transactional sex and
prostitution and at heightened risk of punishment for non-sanctioned
work. The lack of genuine rule of law, credible security agencies
and independent and impartial women's civil society organizations
leaves women and girls unable to seek recourse to justice or remedy
for the sexual and gender-based violence and discrimination they
endure.
...
82. The commission has not benefited from any form of
cooperation from the Government of Eritrea. The limited access to
the country by international and regional governmental and nongovernmental
organizations is of great concern, particularly in the
context of a Government that maintains an opaque system and that
does not make information publicly available to either its citizens
or the international community.
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