Mr. President,
Any hopes among Eritreans that the end in 2018, of the ‘no peace, no war’ stalemate with Ethiopia would usher an end to decades of government repression have been utterly dashed since the adoption of Eritrea’s last UPR. Over the past four years, Eritrean authorities have continued to maintain an iron grip on its citizens at home, continuing egregious rights violations, while Eritrean forces carried out heinous abuses during the armed conflict in Ethiopia’s Tigray region.
We regret that Eritrea did not support the recommendations made by several states to end its abusive indefinite military service. The authorities continue to channel thousands of young people, some still children, into military training before they have finished schooling, and in the context of the conflict in northern Ethiopia, conducted a mass conscription drive, punishing families of alleged evaders through ruthless home evictions and detention of elderly relatives.
We regret that Eritrea did not support recommendations calling for an end to arbitrary arrest, including incommunicado detention, and enforced disappearances of which countless Eritreans, including government officials and journalists, have been victims for decades. Authorities continue to detain people of ‘’unrecognized’’ faiths purely for their religious beliefs. As some such detainees have died in detention over the last four years, it is critical that the international community follow up on this issue.
We welcome attention to the issue of torture and ill-treatment of detainees during Eritrea’s review, asmany prisoners languish in formal and informal prisons with overcrowding, inadequate food, water, and medical care.
This Council should actively follow up on the recommendations relating to widespread war crimes and other atrocities against civilians, including Eritrean refugees, committed by Eritrean forces in Ethiopia’s Tigray region - including mass killings, horrific sexual violence, pillage, and abductions. Impunity for these atrocities, and decades of abuse at home, is the norm and is emboldening perpetrators.
This Council also has a responsibility to follow up on recommendations relating to Eritrea’s cooperation with the Human Rights Council and its Special Rapporteur on Eritrea, especially given the country’s membership of this Council which comes with expectations and responsibilities in that regard.
Thank you.
