• Human Rights in Eritrea

    Torture, arbitrary detention, and severe restrictions on freedom of expression, association, and religious freedom remain routine in Eritrea. Elections have not been held since Eritrea gained independence in 1993, the constitution has never been implemented, and political parties are not allowed. There are no institutional constraints on President Isaias Afewerki, in power now for twenty years. In addition to ongoing serious human rights abuses, forced labor and indefinite military service prompt thousands of Eritreans to flee the country every year. Access to the country for international humanitarian and human rights organizations is almost impossible and the country has no independent media.

  • Map of Eritrea with location of Bisha Mine.
    © 2013 Human Rights Watch
    Eritrea: Mining Investors Risk Use of Forced Labor
    International mining firms rushing to invest in Eritrea’s burgeoning minerals sector risk involvement in serious abuses unless they take strong preventive measures. The failure of the Vancouver-based company Nevsun Resources to ensure that forced labor would not be used during construction of its Eritrea mine, and its limited ability to deal with forced labor allegations when they arose, highlight the risk.
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  • Hear No Evil
    Forced Labor and Corporate Responsibility in Eritrea’s Mining Sector
  • Ten Long Years
    A Briefing on Eritrea’s Missing Political Prisoners
  • Service for Life
    State Repression and Indefinite Conscription in Eritrea
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Eritrea

  • Africa: Obama Visit Should Stress Media Freedoms
    Jun 25, 2013

    United States president Barack Obama should use his visit to Senegal, South Africa, and Tanzania, beginning June 26, 2013, to support besieged media outlets and independent groups across the African continent.

  • Eritrea: Submission to the Universal Periodic Review
    Jun 20, 2013
    Eritrea’s human rights situation has not improved since the Council’s 2009 Universal Periodic Review. Torture, arbitrary detention, and severe restrictions on freedom of expression, association, and religious freedom remain routine. Elections have not been held since Eritrea gained independence in 1993, the constitution has never been implemented, and political parties are not allowed. There are no institutional constraints on President Isaias Afewerki, in power now for 22 years.
  • Human Rights Watch Daily Brief, 14 June
    Jun 14, 2013
  • UN Human Rights Council: Report of the Special Rapporteur on Eritrea Confirms Patterns of Abuses
    Jun 5, 2013
    The Eritrean government remains among the worst human rights violators in the world. The report of the Special Rapporteur on Eritrea confirms the patterns of abuses that Human Rights Watch and other independent observers have documented over the past 15 years. As the Rapporteur noted, there is a “blatant disrespect for human rights in Eritrea” that requires “fundamental reform.”
  • Eritrea: Letter Regarding the Renewal of the Mandate of the Special Rapporteur on Human Rights in Eritrea
    May 31, 2013
    We are writing to call on members of the United Nations Human Rights Council (HRC) to take action during the current 23rdsession of the HRC to renew the mandate of the Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in Eritrea, in response to the continued appalling situation of widespread and systematic human rights violations in Eritrea and the lack of cooperation demonstrated by the Eritrean government towards international and regional human rights mechanisms.
  • Israel: Detained Asylum Seekers Pressured to Leave
    Mar 13, 2013

    Israeli authorities are threatening detained Eritrean and Sudanese nationals, including asylum seekers, with prolonged detention to pressure them to leave Israel, Human Rights Watch and the Hotline for Migrant Workers said today.

  • Eritrea: Mining Investors Risk Use of Forced Labor
    Jan 15, 2013
    International mining firms rushing to invest in Eritrea’s burgeoning minerals sector risk involvement in serious abuses unless they take strong preventive measures. The failure of the Vancouver-based company Nevsun Resources to ensure that forced labor would not be used during construction of its Eritrea mine, and its limited ability to deal with forced labor allegations when they arose, highlight the risk.
  • UN Human Rights Council: Eritrea, Belarus Told to End Abuses
    Jul 6, 2012
    The United Nations Human Rights Council took bold action to address the chronically poor human rights situations in Belarus and Eritrea
  • UN Human Rights Council: Deterioration in Mali; Widespread and Systematic Violations in Eritrea
    Jun 18, 2012
  • Jordan: Don’t Deport Eritrean Refugees to Yemen
    May 15, 2012
    Jordanian authorities are about to deport nine detained Eritrean refugees, including a 7-year-old girl, to Yemen where they risk indefinite detention and possibly deportation to persecution in Eritrea. Jordan should allow the group to remain in Jordan and give the United Nations refugee agency access to the refugees.
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