• 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

  • 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.
  • Sudan: End Mass Summary Deportations of Eritreans
    Oct 25, 2011
    The Sudanese authorities are increasingly deporting Eritreans to their country without allowing them to claim asylum, Human Rights Watch said today. On October 17, 2011, Sudan handed over 300 Eritreans to the Eritrean military without screening them for refugee status, drawing public condemnation from the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees.
  • Eritrea: Free Political Prisoners 10 Years On
    Sep 22, 2011
    Ten years after President Isaias Afewerki of Eritrea ordered the detention of 21 senior government members and journalists who criticized him, his government should release the detainees or reveal their fate, a Human Rights Watch briefing paper says. Eritrea should also open its jails to international monitors.
  • Egypt: End Traffickers’ Abuse of Migrants
    Dec 9, 2010
    Egyptian authorities should rescue migrants held for ransom and abused by human traffickers in the Sinai desert. The government has neither prosecuted the traffickers nor closed down their detention sites.
  • From the Horn of Africa, a Ray of Hope
    Jul 21, 2010
    Ask people what they know about Somalia and most will probably start talking about pirates, terrorists and Black Hawk Down. Not many would think to mention democracy or free elections as well, but they should. Last month, Somaliland--an impoverished sliver of territory that has maintained de facto independence from Somalia since 1991--held elections that put the democratic pretenses of its neighbors in the Horn of Africa to shame.
  • Italy: Offer to Shelter Eritreans Detained, Abused by Libya
    Jul 9, 2010
    The Italian government should immediately offer to take into Italy at least 11 Eritreans it had previously forced back to Libya and who are now detained there and threatened with deportation back to Eritrea.
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