Eritrea: Denial of Free Expression Remains “Systematically Entrenched” in Eritrea
The following statement was delivered at the 35th Session of the UN Human Rights Council, during an Item 4 interactive dialogue with the UN Special Rapporteur on the human rights situation in Eritrea Mr Vice President, ARTICLE
The following statement was delivered at the 35th Session of the UN Human Rights Council, during an Item 4 interactive dialogue with the UN Special Rapporteur on the human rights situation in Eritrea
Mr Vice President,
ARTICLE 19 welcomes the report of the UN Special Rapporteur on the human rights situation in Eritrea. We remain disturbed that the denial of freedom of expression, assembly and association rights remains “systematically entrenched” in Eritrea, as the Commission of Inquiry found last year.
The silencing of independent media and critical voices has been central to, and has enabled, the Eritrean government’s apparatus of repression, sustaining a climate of impunity worsened by a perpetual “state of emergency” and the absence of the rule of law.
No private media have existed in Eritrea since the last eight private newspapers were forced to close in 2001, when at least 18 journalists and 11 former government officials (part of a collective known as G-15) were arrested on the pretext of ‘national security’. These detentions have been condemned by two ACHPR decisions, the most recent in 2016 concerning Dawit Isaak.
ARTICLE 19 estimates that a total of 69 journalists have been arbitrarily arrested and detained for exercising their right to freedom of expression since 2001, without charge or fair trial. While at least eight journalists are thought to have died in detention, a wall of silence means it is impossible to know how many others remain in prison, where they are, and what their condition is.
Government-controlled media is the only type of local media in Eritrea: they act as a mouthpiece of the Ministry of Information. Access to alternative information sources, including online, is limited. We share the Special Rapporteur’s concerns that since 2016, new regulations require Internet cafes to register customers before they can use the Internet. We also note that Eritrea’s sole and government owned telecommunications provider continues to routinely block online news sources. Internet penetration levels, and Internet speeds, remain woefully slow.
We also call on the Eritrean government to end its policy of non-cooperation with the United Nations, including the Special Rapporteur, and to facilitate access to the country at the earliest possibility. The institutions that are needed in Eritrea to safeguard human rights can only be established with technical assistance, which will benefit the Eritrean people.
This Council must renew the Special Rapporteur’s mandate at this session, and ensure accountability for human rights violations in the country, including through referral of the situation to the UN Security Council. We also call on the African Union to establish an appropriate accountability mechanism without delay.
Thank you.
ARTICLE 19
This statement was originally published on article19.org
ሚካኤል June 26, 2017
ሻዕብያዎች የሀበሻ ዳዕሽ(ISIS) ናቸው፡፡ ኣምልኮታቸው የተንሸዋረረ፣ የማይጨበጥና፣የሰከነ የሰዎች አኗኗር የሚፃፀረርና የሚጫረስም ሆኗል፡፡ አዕሙራቸው የተቃኘው ከፋሽት ሙሰለኒ ወታደሮች በቀሰሙት ቆሻሻ አስተሳሰብና ውርደት፣ ከምንሊክ ብሎም ሀይለስላሴ አስተዳደር የቀሰሙት ኋለቀር ፊዊዳላዊ ጉራና እበልጥ ባይነት፣ በአስመራ ሻይ ቤት የለመዱት ወረኛነትና ቅጥፈት፣ በዐረቡ ፀረ ሀበሻነትና ፀረ ኢትዮጵያዊነት ተለብጠው፣ ተቃኝተውና በፔተሮ ዶላር ተሸኝተው ሕዝባቸውን የሚያሰቀዩባትና የሚያጠፉባት የጉግ ማንጉግ፣ የጭራቆች አስተዳደር አነገሱ፡፡ በአንድ ወቅት እንደ እመነት አባታቸው ቢንቶ ሙሰለኒ “አንድ ኤርትራዊ ለ1000 ኢትዮጵያዊ!!!”፣ ኢትዮጵያን ባዶ ቅል!!!፣ የአፈሪካ ህብረትንና መሪዎቹን “ bantch of useless Idiots!!!” ብለው በቅሌታቸው የሰማይን ጣርያ ነኩ፡፡
ከላይ የቀጠለ፡-
የኤርትራው ዳዕሽ መሪ ሸፋፋው እግር ኤስያስ አፈወርቂ እንደ ባለጌ ህፃን የወያኔን ጥፊ ተከናንቦ ዳግም ላያውገረግር አርፎ ከመቀመጡ በፊት በዋጋደጉ(ቦኪናፋሶ) ሁለት እጁን ኪሱ ውስጥ ከትቶ በእዩኝ እዩኝ ሲቅበጠበጥ፣ ቅሌቱን ያዩ የአፍሪቃ መሪዎች የሱን ቦታ ወስደው የህፍረት ማቅ ለበሱ፡፡በመጨረሻም የሻይ ቤት ቀጣፊ ውርደት አያውቅምና በጉልበቱ ተንበርክኮ የወያኔን ጦር አስመራ እንዳይገባ ተማፀነ፣ ለመነ፡፡ አሁንም ወንድ መስለው የሚያወሩት ወያኔ ዱላውን እስኪያነሳ እንጂ፣ ዝናብ አንደበሰበሰች ኮስናና ቀበሮ ጅራታቸው ወደእንብርታቸው ቆልፈው ወደ ዐረቡ ሀገር እንደሚያፈተልኩ ጥርጥር የለውም፡፡ የቶኒ ብሌር ቢሮ መውጫ መግብያ ያሳጡ አልቃሾቹ የምዕራቡ ሻዕብያዎችም፣ ኢርትራን የግል ኢትዮጵያን የወል በማድረግ ሊያሟግጡ የነበረቸው ምኞት ህልም ሆኖ ቀርቷል፡፡ በፈረንጅ ኬሚካል ተበልተው፣ ለኤርትራም ይሁን ለኢትዮጵያ ሳይበቁ ባክነው መቅረታቸው ተገንዝበዋል፡፡ አቅም የለምና ጥዋትና ማታ ወያኔን መርገም ሙያቸው ሆንዋል፡፡
ከላይ የቀጠለ፡-
የኤርትራ ሕዝብም ከሰው በላዎቹ ከሻዕብያ ዳዕሾች(Eritrean ISIS) ለማምለጥ በአራቱ አቅጣጫ እግሬ አውጭኝ ብሏል፡፡ ህወሀት ከ ዜሮ ተነስቶ በኢትዮጵያ ከፍተኛ ዕድገት አስመዝግቧል፡፡ ለ100-ሚልዮን ሕዝብ ተስፋ ያላት ሀገር እየገነባ ነው፡፡ ሻዕብያ ለ5-ሚልዮን የሚያስተዳድረበት አንደበት በማጣቱ የኤርትራ ሕዝብ ቁም ስቅሉ በልቶ በአራቱ አቅጣጫ ወደ ሌላው ዓለም ተበትንዋል፡፡ሀገራቸው ከፈረሰባቸው ሶርያውያን፣ኢራቃውያንና ተርታ ተሰልፈዋል፡፡እነ ዓለም ጎይተኦም(መስከረም ዶት ኔት) የሚመኩበት የሚዋጉለት የኤርትራ ሕዝብ የእልቂት ጠንቅ ሻዕብያ ይከው ነው፡፡ በየመን ላይ ተኩስ፣ በሱዳን ላይ ተኩስ፣ በጁቡቲ ላይ ተኩስ፣ የሻዕብያዎች መቅበዝበዝ ውርደት የማያውቅ “የፓስተው ሥልጣኔ!!!” ፡፡ የጀግናው ሌተናንት ጻድቃን ገብረተንሳኤ ድምጽ ሲሰሙ ሻዕብያዎች ነብር እንደገባበት የዝንጀሮ መንጋ በያሉበት ተንጫጩ፡፡ እጁን ስለሚያውቁ በህልማቸውም በውንያቸውም ይደነግጣሉ!!!፡፡
ከላይ የቀጠለ፡-
ከሀዲዎቹ የሻይ ቤት ብልጣብልጦች፣ ክህደትም ስብእናቸው ነውና ለ30-ዓመታት ፔትሮ ዶላር ለለገሰላቸው የዓረቡን ዓለም በ1991ዓ/ም ካዱት፣ ቀጥሎም እንደቤታቸው ለተገለገሉበት ሱዳንን ጥይት ተኮሱበት፣ ከዛም ለህወሀት በጀርባ ሊወጉት ሞከሩ፣ በመጨረሻም ኳታርን ከድተዋል፡፡ ሻዕብያዎች ከጤነኛ ሰው አስማምቶ የሚያኖር ስብእና የላቸውም፡፡አዕምሮቸው ተበክሏል፡፡የሚያመልኩት የማይጨበጥ የማይዳሰስ ቆሻሻ አስተሳሰብ ነው፡፡ከማንም በላይ ለኤርትራ ሕዝብ ህልውና አደጋዎች ሁነዋል፡፡ ተፈጥሮ ግን ሥራዋን አትዘነጋም፣ እንደተበከሉ አርጅተዋል፣ የተመኙትን ኤርትራን የብቻ ኢትዮጵያን የአቻ ከሁለቱም አንዱም ሳያገኙ ሳይመቻቸው ከነሀጥያታቸው ወደ ላይኛው ዓለም አንድ በአንድ እየተሸኙ ናቸው፡፡
Berhe Tensea June 26, 2017
The only solution is to revolt against the Tembeni colonizers. The human rights condition is getting worse year after year.
The whole country can be described as a big prison. I feel sorry for the imprisoned journalists, politicians and former officials,
As long as the people remain silent the suffering will continue.
Death to the Tembenay and his puppets.
Nahon June 27, 2017
“As long as the people remain silent the suffering will continue.”
Berhe Tensea
Very true and very sad too.
Why so much silence ?
Isn’t indifference damaging to all ?
amanuel June 27, 2017
Death to iseyas, two yemanes, abraha kasa, kisha, filipos, and wedi kebed and all generals. These are the top list of the criminal gang and rhe cancer of eritrea.
Aba thimmer June 27, 2017
Those to be blamed most are the people who saw all evil deeds with their own eyes and say nothing.