RES/29/18 Situation of human rights in Eritrea

Human Rights Council Twenty-ninth session

Agenda item 4

Resolution adopted by the Human Rights Council on 2 July 2015

29/18. Situation of human rights in Eritrea

The Human Rights Council,

Guided by the Charter of the United Nations, the Universal Declaration of Human

Rights, the International Covenants on Human Rights and other relevant international

human rights instruments,

Recalling resolution 91 and decisions 250/2002 and 275/2003 of the African

Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights,

Recalling also its resolution 5/1, on institution-building of the Human Rights

Council, and 5/2, on the Code of Conduct for Special Procedures Mandate Holders of the

Council, both of 18 June 2007, and stressing that the mandate holder shall discharge his or

her duties in accordance with those resolutions and the annexes thereto,

Recalling further its resolutions 20/20 of 6 July 2012, 23/21 of 14 June 2013 and

26/24 of 27 June 2014,

Commending the commission of inquiry on human rights in Eritrea for completing

its work in a transparent, impartial and consultative manner,

Deeply regretting the lack of cooperation by the Government of Eritrea with the

commission of inquiry and the Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in

Eritrea, including the lack of access to the country,

Stressing the importance of the first-hand accounts of victims and witnesses who

delivered testimonies at the confidential interviews held by the commission and through

written submissions,

Emphasizing that everyone has the right to take part in the conduct of public affairs

of his or her country, directly or through freely chosen representatives, and expressing

grave concern that national elections in Eritrea have not been held since 1993 and that the

Constitution of 1997 has never been implemented,

Reiterating its deep concern at the ongoing reports of grave violations of human

rights by the Eritrean authorities against their own population and fellow citizens,

Expressing deep concern at the commission’s findings that systematic, widespread

and gross human rights violations have been and are being committed by the Government

of Eritrea, and that the violations in the areas of extrajudicial executions, torture and ill-

treatment, including sexual violence and abuse, national service and forced labour may

constitute crimes against humanity,

Noting with grave concern the continued use by the Government of Eritrea of

arbitrary arrest and detention, including incommunicado detention and in life-threatening

conditions, of persons for suspected of evasion of national service, attempting to flee the

country or having a family member who has fled, inability to produce identity documents,

being a journalist, exercising the right to freedom of religion, being perceived as critical of

the Government, and of those who return to the country, as well as those detained in the

aftermath of the takeover on 21 January 2013 of the building housing the Ministry of

Information,

Expressing grave concern at the widespread use of indefinite conscription into

national service, a system that constitutes forced labour, and the reported forced

conscription of children under the age of 18 into military service, and regretting that the

fear and experience of a lengthy national service causes large numbers of Eritreans to leave

the country,

Expressing grave concern also at reports that the Government of Eritrea is also

forcing persons to participate in its citizen militia,

Deeply concerned that the situation of human rights in Eritrea incites an ever-

increasing number of Eritreans to leave their country, often facing risks of abduction,

abhorrent physical and mental abuse and other ill-treatment on their migration path, abused

by smugglers and human traffickers,

Reaffirming that everyone has the right to leave any country, including his or her

own, and to return to his or her country,

Noting the participation of Eritrea in the second cycle of the universal periodic

review and its approval of several recommendations, while regretting the lack of

implementation by Eritrea of the recommendations made at its first review,

Recalling the obligations of Eritrea under the International Covenant on Civil and

Political Rights, the Convention on the Rights of the Child and the Convention against

Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment,

1. Welcomes the report of the commission of inquiry on the situation of human

rights in Eritrea,A/HRC/29/42. and notes the importance of the work of the commission of inquiry and

the information it has collected in support of future accountability efforts;

2. Also welcomes the third report of the Special Rapporteur on the situation of

human rights in Eritrea;A/HRC/29/41.

3. Strongly condemns the systematic, widespread and gross human rights

violations that have been and are being committed by the Government of Eritrea in a

climate of generalized impunity;

4. Condemns in particular the extrajudicial executions, enforced

disappearances, torture, arbitrary and incommunicado detentions, and human rights

violations in the context of indefinite national service, including those involving forced

labour, forced military conscription of children and sexual violence;

5. Expresses its deep concern at the severe restrictions on the rights to freedom

of opinion and expression, freedom of information, liberty of movement, freedom of

thought, conscience and religion, and freedom of peaceful assembly and association, and at

the detention of journalists, human rights defenders, political actors, religious leaders and

practitioners in Eritrea;

6. Reiterates its numerous calls upon the Government of Eritrea, without delay:

(a) To end its use of arbitrary detention of its citizens, and to end the use of

torture or other cruel, inhumane and degrading treatment or punishment;

(b) To account for and release all political prisoners, including members of the

G-15 reform group and journalists;

(c) To account for those detained in the aftermath of the takeover on 21 January

2013 of the building housing the Ministry of Information, and to release them or to ensure

that they are given a free and fair trial, with full respect for due process;

(d) To ensure free and fair access to an independent judicial system for those

detained, and to improve prison conditions, including by prohibiting the use of underground

cells and shipping containers to hold prisoners, ending the use of secret detention centres

and secret courts and the practice of incommunicado detention, allowing regular access to

prisoners for relatives, legal advocates and other competent and legally authorized

authorities and institutions, and to grant unhindered access to medical care;

(e) To put an end to the system of indefinite national service by demobilizing the

national service conscripts who have completed their mandatory 18 months of service, as

announced by the Government of Eritrea, and by effectively ending the practice of

engaging them in forced labour after such a period, to provide for conscientious objection

to military service, and to end the compulsory practice of all children undertaking the final

year of schooling in a military training camp;

(f) To end the practice of forcing citizens to participate in the militia;

(g) To investigate promptly all allegations of extrajudicial killings, torture and

other cruel, inhumane and degrading treatment or punishment rape and sexual abuse within

the national service, and to bring perpetrators to justice;

(h) To end the practice of shooting at Eritrean citizens attempting to cross the

border to flee the country;

(i) To collaborate with human rights and humanitarian organizations and to

allow them to operate in Eritrea without fear or intimidation in order to facilitate the full

implementation of the Strategic Partnership Cooperation Framework for 2013-2016 signed

by the Government of Eritrea and the United Nations on 28 January 2013, as well as other

human rights-related projects;

(j) To respect everyone’s right to freedom of expression and to freedom of

thought, conscience and religion or belief, and the rights to freedom of peaceful assembly

and of association;

(k) To enhance further the promotion and protection of women’s rights,

including by taking additional measures to combat harmful practices, such as child, early

and forced marriage and female genital mutilation;

(l) To implement the recommendations made during its second universal

periodic review, to report on progress made and to cooperate fully with the Human Rights

Council and the universal periodic review during its third cycle;

(m) To end “guilt-by-association” policies that target family members of those

who evade national service or seek to flee Eritrea;

(n) To cooperate fully with the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner

for Human Rights in accordance with its international human rights obligations by, inter

alia, allowing unhindered access to a further mission by the Office as requested by the High

Commissioner, the human rights treaty bodies and all mechanisms of the Human Rights

Council, and to cooperate with all international and regional human rights mechanisms;

(o) To provide the Office of the High Commissioner with all relevant

information on the identity, safety, well-being and whereabouts of all detained persons and

persons missing in action, including members of the G-15, journalists, those detained in the

aftermath of the takeover on 21 January 2013 of the building housing the Ministry of

Information, and the 19 Djiboutian combatants;

(p) To allow the creation of political parties and to hold free, fair and transparent

democratic elections at all levels, in accordance with international democratic standards;

(q) To account for the modalities and the progress of the expert group appointed

to work on a constitution for Eritrea, while implementing the Constitution of 1997 in the

meantime, and to govern in accordance with the principles of the rule of law;

7. Urges Eritrea to make available information pertaining to the Djiboutian

combatants missing in action since the clashes of 10 to 12 June 2008 so that those

concerned may ascertain the presence and condition of Djiboutian prisoners of war;

8. Calls upon the Government of Eritrea to take immediate and concrete steps to

implement recommendations made by the commission of inquiry in its report in order to

address the dire situation of human rights in the country;

9. Decides to extend the mandate of the Special Rapporteur on the situation of

human rights in Eritrea for a period of one year, and requests the mandate holder to present

an oral update to the Human Rights Council at its thirty-first session and to address and

engage in an interactive dialogue with the General Assembly at its seventieth session;

10. Also decides to extend, for a period of one year, the mandate of the

commission of inquiry to investigate systematic, widespread and gross violations of human

rights in Eritrea with a view to ensuring full accountability, including where these

violations may amount to crimes against humanity;

11. Requests the commission of inquiry to present an oral update to the General

Assembly at its seventy-first session, and a written report to the Council at its thirty-second

session;

12. Calls upon the Government of Eritrea to cooperate fully with the Special

Rapporteur and the commission of inquiry, to permit them and their staff members

unrestricted access to visit the country, to give due consideration to the recommendations

contained in the reports of the Special Rapporteur, and to provide them with the

information necessary for the fulfilment of their mandates, and underlines the importance

for all States to lend their support to the Special Rapporteur and the commission of inquiry

for the discharge of their mandates;

13. Urges the international community to cooperate fully with the Special

Rapporteur and the commission of inquiry;

14. Also urges the international community to strengthen efforts and

collaboration to ensure the protection of those fleeing from Eritrea, in particular the

increasing number of unaccompanied children;

15. Requests the Secretary-General to provide the Special Rapporteur and the

commission of inquiry with all information and the resources necessary to fulfil their

mandates;

16. Decides to transmit all reports and oral updates of the commission of inquiry

to all relevant bodies of the United Nations, including the General Assembly and the

Secretary-General, for appropriate action;

17. Requests the Office of the High Commissioner to continue to enhance

engagement in improving the situation of human rights in Eritrea, and to report on progress

in the cooperation between Eritrea and the Office to the Human Rights Council at its thirty-

first session;

18. Decides to remain seized of the matter.

44th meeting

2 July 2015

[Adopted without a vote.]