UNITED NATIONS: Report of the Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in Eritrea, Sheila B. Keetharuth
Summary The present report is submitted pursuant to Human Rights Council resolution 20/20. It is based upon the initial observations of the Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in Eritrea and information gathered from a variety
Summary
The present report is submitted pursuant to Human Rights Council resolution 20/20.
It is based upon the initial observations of the Special Rapporteur on the situation of human
rights in Eritrea and information gathered from a variety of other sources, including
Eritrean refugees interviewed during a field mission to neighbouring countries from 30
April to 9 May 2013. In the report, the Special Rapporteur provides an overview of the
most serious human rights concerns in Eritrea, including cases of extrajudicial killing,
enforced disappearance and incommunicado detention, arbitrary arrest and detention,
torture, inhumane prison conditions, indefinite national service, and lack of freedom of
expression and opinion, assembly, association, religious belief and movement. She
addresses a number of recommendations to Eritrea and the international community aimed
at improving respect for human rights in the country.
It is based upon the initial observations of the Special Rapporteur on the situation of human
rights in Eritrea and information gathered from a variety of other sources, including
Eritrean refugees interviewed during a field mission to neighbouring countries from 30
April to 9 May 2013. In the report, the Special Rapporteur provides an overview of the
most serious human rights concerns in Eritrea, including cases of extrajudicial killing,
enforced disappearance and incommunicado detention, arbitrary arrest and detention,
torture, inhumane prison conditions, indefinite national service, and lack of freedom of
expression and opinion, assembly, association, religious belief and movement. She
addresses a number of recommendations to Eritrea and the international community aimed
at improving respect for human rights in the country.
Yerihiwo June 1, 2013
Thank you Ms. Keetharuth! You only reported a tiny portion of the evil things that was commited against Eritrean people. Watch out Dictator Isaias Afwerki, war crime against humanity is coming soon!! Prepare to be hunted down like Charles Taylor. International Criminal Court is waiting for this report. You wiped out at least three generations. You killed our fathers, then you killed us, now you killing our kids.
What will you say about G-15? Where are they? What will you say, if the son of Sherifo asked you “where is my dad?” What will you answer to thousand mothers fathers that are victims of your ruling? What will you say about all the people you killed in your jail? What will say about the torture, shoot-to-kill orders?
Zaul June 1, 2013
The Eritrean National Service and its Implications
After the Independence of the country, the Eritrean government issued new proclamations that
introduced National Service. National Service, as also demonstrated by Proclamation 11/1991
and later on also articulated by Proclamation 82/1995 was expected to result in the integration of the diverse array of the cultures of the country, to pass on basic values of hard work, understanding and tolerance for the young generation of the country. The idea of national service was widely accepted by the majority of the country’s population. However, national service, which was intended to last only for 18 months, became an endless service for all participants. The government, making excuses of the Eritrean-Ethiopian border conflicts and its consequences refused to demobilize the hundreds of thousands of members of national service program. Many of them are forced to deliver their unpaid service for many years.
Some members of the national service are still kept in the army against their will for over 14 years. Refugees who deserted their units and went elsewhere in the neighbouring countries to live as refugees also allege that they suffered from maltreatments by their military chiefs and they often describe their stay in the Eritrean army as the most horrible experience in their lives. They assert that their rights were greatly violated. Among others, assorted inhuman techniques of physical abuse such as rapes and various brutal punishments are being reported by these refugees. Stories of refugees who spent life in the Eritrean army are often heartbreaking. Because of innumerable abuses they sustained in the army, many members of the Eritrean army deserted their units despite of the fact that the army itself applies lifethreatening punishments against deserters, including shoot-to-kill practices.
http://www.nai.uu.se/ecas-4/panels/101-120/panel-102/Mussie-Tesfagiorgis-Full-paper.pdf
luna June 1, 2013
An excellent report and with details. Good job Ms Sheila Keetharuth and thanks.
Kiflom June 1, 2013
THANK YOU MADAM!!! Your appointment which was rejected by the totalitarian state have created a lot of problems to meet them face to face. Since they know who they are and what they are doing they prefer dark corners and talks behind the screen. They are a group of terrorists. Terrorism has been their method since the late 1960s. I am one of the few who directly confronted most of them from 1997 up to 2006. I am the one directly advised them to behave and not to be the first to pull the trigger of the gun. I was also one of those few who directly confronted them on their system and the organizational structure and means of running affairs within and outside the territory.I vouch for all the things you did although we never met. I appreciate your determination, impartiality, honesty, @ clarity. I wish you all the best. God bless you!!!!
Gebez June 1, 2013
In umber 23, it says as follows: “Eritrea and SOME OF ITS NEIGHBOURS ( Djibouti, Ethiopia, the Sudan and Yemen) have had troubled relations over border issues.”
As far as we know, Eritrea has only these neighbours. So, it is not with SOME but with ALL ITS NEIGHBOURS!!
Genet June 1, 2013
An excellent!
“Since independence, the PFDJ has remained the only legal political party in Eritrea. Political space is restricted and limited, with no alternative voice allowed”
“The constitution which was ratified in 1997 by the constituent assembly but never formally implemented”
“The basic tenets of the rule of law are not respected in Eritrea owing to a centralized system Gov. where decision making powers are concentrated in the hands of the president and his close collaborators”
“The separation of powers among the various arms of the state is inexistent”. “Eritrea is thus, a country ruled by decree”. Translation Eritrea is ruled by a dictator!
I will refer every body I know to this report.
Genet
Genet June 1, 2013
An excellent report!
Genet
Kabbire June 1, 2013
I think the issue of Eritrea’s indigenous languages and lack of protection to our own languages should be raised as a human rights concern in Eritrea. There is no enough protection of Eritrea’s own languages, and they deserve full legal protection.
Some Jebha elements who have no respect to Eritrean values have committed linguistic and cultural genocide, as shown below:
Whose agenda is burning Eritrean languages, heritage and identity?
Here is what you will see according to their wishes:
History repeated itself again 28 years later after the second organizational conference of the ELF/Jebha in 1975. Educational books, which were prepared in the Tigré language by teachers at the Sawa training center, were ordered to be burned by the Executive Committee, citing the reason that it was a conspiracy directed against the status and prominence of the Arabic language in Eritrea. The leadership of the ELF gave orders not to prepare any more educational texts in the Tigré language henceforth.
“ኣብ ፕሮግራም ናይቲ ቀዳማይ ጉባኤ፣ ኣብ ሕቶ ቋንቋታት፣ ትግርኛን ዓረብን ወግዓውያን ቋንቋታት ኮይነን፣ ናይ ኩለን ቋንቋታት ኤርትራ መስልን ማዕርነትን ክሕሎ ዝብል ነጥቢ ነይሩ እዩ። እዚ ነጥቢ’ዚ ድሓር በቶም ዓቃባውያን ወገናት፣ ከም ኣንጻር ዓረብ ዝቐንዐ ውዲት እዩ ተራእዩ። “እዚአን ቋንቋታት ኣይኮናን ዲያለክትስ እየን” ዝብል ምጉት ኣምጺኦም። ከም ውጽኢት ናይዚ ኣመለኻኽታ’ዚ፣ ኩሉ ተጋዳላይ ጀብሃ ከምዝዝከሮ፣ ድሕሪ 2ይ ውድባዊ ጉባኤ፣ ኣብ 1975 ኣብቲ ውድብ ዝነበረ ንመምሃሪ ተባሂሉ ዝተዳለወ ናይ ትግረ መጻሕፍቲ ተቓጺሉ እዩ። ኣብ መዓስከር ሳዋ ዝነበሩ መማህራን፣ ካልኣይ ቋንቋ ናይ ኤርትራ ትግረ’ዩ ብዝብል ገርሃዊ ኣተሓሳስባ እዮም ብትግረ መምሃሪ መጻሕፍቲ ኣዳልዮም። እዚ ምስተሰምዐ፣ ኣብ ኣኼባ ፈጻሚት ሽማግለ ጀብሃ “ናይ ትግረ መጻሕፍቲ ክጸሓፍ የብሉን” ዝብል ውሳነ ሓሊፉ ከምዝቃጸል ተገይሩ። እቲ ውሳነ ኣብ ገለ መራሕቲ ጀብሃ ዝነበረ ናይ መንነት ቅልውላው ዘንጸባርቕ እዩ ነይሩ።” (http://www.ehrea.org/dont_forget_history_01.pdf)
Kabbire June 1, 2013
Zaul has posted important information that may help start the debate:
M.E.S(3,018 m)
It’s not just a matter of negativity and fear. There are historical examples of how people who were not Arabs became arabized. The real Arabs, are only those from the Arabian Peninsula.
A definition from Wikipedia.
“Arabization or Arabisation (Arabic: تعريب taʻrīb) describes a growing cultural influence on a non-Arab area that gradually changes into one that speaks Arabic and/or incorporates Arab culture and Arab identity. It was most prominently achieved during the 7th century Arabian Muslim conquests which spread the Arabic language, culture, and—having been carried out by Arabian Muslims as opposed to Arab Christians or Arabic speaking Jews—the religion of Islam to the lands they conquered. The result: some elements of Arabian origin combined in various forms and degrees with elements taken from conquered civilizations and ultimately denominated “Arab”, as opposed to “Arabian”.
After the rise of Islam in the Arabian Peninsula, Arab culture and language spread through trade with African states, conquest, and intermarriage of the non-Arab local population with the Arabs, in Egypt, Syria, Palestine, Iraq and the Sudan. The peninsular Arabic language became common among these areas; dialects also formed. Also, though Yemen is traditionally held to be the homeland of Arabs, most[1] of the population did not speak Arabic (but instead South Semitic languages) prior to the spread of Islam.”
There are counter-movements in North Africa:
“Berberism (Berber: Timmuzɣa) or Amazighism[1] is a Berber political-cultural movement of ethnic, geographic, or cultural nationalism, started mainly in Kabylia, Algeria, and in Morocco and later spread to the rest of Berber countries in North Africa. A Berber group, the Tuaregs, are in rebellion against the West African country of Mali as of 2012, and have established a temporarily de facto independent state called Azawad and identifies itself as “Berber”.
The Berberist movement in Algeria and Morocco is in opposition against cultural Arabization and the pan-Arabist political ideology, while in Azawad, it is in opposition to perceived discrimination against Berbers on the part of black African majority groups”
“To a lesser extent, Saudi Arabia supported the Eritrean cause in the war of independence
against Ethiopia (1962-1991) by financing the guerrillas but also by facilitating entry and
residence for exiles and guerrilla fighters. Arab countries in general, and the Gulf countries and
Saudi Arabia in particular, supported the Eritrean guerrillas from the 1960s to the 1990s on an
ideological basis and allowed Eritrean refugees to enter and settle in the oil-rich countries using
migration politics as an asylum policy by proxy. Eritrean refugees were considered as Arabs
oppressed by a colonial Christian power (Ethiopia) supported by both Israel and the United
States until the Marxist revolution led by Haile Mariam Mengestu in 1974. Their struggle was
understood in a geopolitical context and was seen by the Arab states around the Red Sea as a key
strategic move toward protecting the “Arab identity of the Red sea,” which they consider an
“Arab lake.”
lxi Rather than straightforward political support through explicit asylum rights, the
stance of the Saudi government was to welcome Eritrean migrants; in turn, the financial flows of
remittance from the kingdom became a crucial source of support for the freedom fighters.
Even though the historiography remains controversial on the emergence of an Arab
political culture of the guerrilla, the intellectual, financial, and political connections between the
first political movements promoting independence and the Arab world is clearly established.
Arabicized elites from Eritrea gathered within the Muslim league in 1946, the Harekat Tahrir
Iritriya (Eritrean Liberation Movement) in 1958, and the Eritrean Liberation Front, and started to 15
claim autonomy from the Ethiopian domination that was formally established over the former
Italian colony after the British army withdrew in 1952.
lxii The essence of the political culture of
the guerrilla has drawn the attention of historians and political scientists up to now.lxiii Primary
sources and historical accounts in Arabic strongly defend the idea of an Arab identity of the
independence struggle based on the support granted to the guerrilla by neighboring Arab
countries. The discourse produced by political leaders in the 1960s and the 1970s was strongly
influenced by Arabism and by the ideological resources it provides for claiming independence.
lxiv
Therefore, the presentation of Eritrea as an Arab country and of Eritreans as Arabs was
acknowledged as a regional political commonplace, which led to the blooming of propaganda
and pseudo-historical literature on Eritrea’s “Arabness.”
(http://oxpo.politics.ox.ac.uk/publications/working_papers/wp_10-11/OXPO_10_11c_Thiollet.pdf)
Salim June 1, 2013
Kabbire,
As a Tigrayan you should focus on the fact that the spread of Tigrigna ( standard Tigrigna as spoken in Eritrea, the Amarika of Tigray) in Tigray is posing a great danger to Agamegna and other dialects in Agameland.
Awet June 1, 2013
Salim:
What a loser you are. Why don’t you side with the Eritrean people and the majority? We want the constitution implemented and political prisoners Fee.
The game has shifted in favor of the opposition deki Erey. We don’t have time nor the energy to discuss about Ethiopian issues. We have plenty of our own. The regime supporters like Salim want divert our attention to Ethiopia and other external subject manner but we should continue our struggle with internal issues which is altimately wiping PFDJ out Eritrea.
Salim June 2, 2013
“The regime supporters like Salim want divert our attention to Ethiopia and other external subject manner but we should continue our struggle with internal issues which is altimately wiping PFDJ out Eritrea.”
You are talking about Woyane, right? ” lay dob gedifkum lay demoKrasi gberu” that is the diversion tactic of Woyane.
Zola June 2, 2013
Salim,
You are indeed a looser. You have never, to my observation, replied to an issue. Feel sorry for you.
The report is an excellent one and should add to the tools for the good of the people.
Salim June 2, 2013
bzaEba bSela’i ztela’ket Ebdi diKa tzareb zeloKa?
ahmed saleh June 2, 2013
Kabire
What is your point ? Are you saying TIGRIGNA and TIGRE language should represent Eritrean society officially ?
If your answer is yes , I might assume you have the same agenda to implement dominance on to others which is
undemocratic and destructive . First of all unless few inside players not every Jebha tegadalay have a clue to
what your are talking about . You like it or not Tigrigna and Arabic are two languages of communication to those
various Ethnic groups , swallow the facts and done deal , period .
MightyEmbasoyra June 2, 2013
+1 to that, Ahmed!
Kabbire June 2, 2013
I am not talking about Tigre or Tigrignia languages, I am talking about this linguistic genocide and the minority languages and rights.
Whose agenda is burning Eritrean languages, heritage and identity?
Here is what you will see according to their wishes:
History repeated itself again 28 years later after the second organizational conference of the ELF/Jebha in 1975. Educational books, which were prepared in the Tigré language by teachers at the Sawa training center, were ordered to be burned by the Executive Committee, citing the reason that it was a conspiracy directed against the status and prominence of the Arabic language in Eritrea. The leadership of the ELF gave orders not to prepare any more educational texts in the Tigré language henceforth.
“ኣብ ፕሮግራም ናይቲ ቀዳማይ ጉባኤ፣ ኣብ ሕቶ ቋንቋታት፣ ትግርኛን ዓረብን ወግዓውያን ቋንቋታት ኮይነን፣ ናይ ኩለን ቋንቋታት ኤርትራ መስልን ማዕርነትን ክሕሎ ዝብል ነጥቢ ነይሩ እዩ። እዚ ነጥቢ’ዚ ድሓር በቶም ዓቃባውያን ወገናት፣ ከም ኣንጻር ዓረብ ዝቐንዐ ውዲት እዩ ተራእዩ። “እዚአን ቋንቋታት ኣይኮናን ዲያለክትስ እየን” ዝብል ምጉት ኣምጺኦም። ከም ውጽኢት ናይዚ ኣመለኻኽታ’ዚ፣ ኩሉ ተጋዳላይ ጀብሃ ከምዝዝከሮ፣ ድሕሪ 2ይ ውድባዊ ጉባኤ፣ ኣብ 1975 ኣብቲ ውድብ ዝነበረ ንመምሃሪ ተባሂሉ ዝተዳለወ ናይ ትግረ መጻሕፍቲ ተቓጺሉ እዩ። ኣብ መዓስከር ሳዋ ዝነበሩ መማህራን፣ ካልኣይ ቋንቋ ናይ ኤርትራ ትግረ’ዩ ብዝብል ገርሃዊ ኣተሓሳስባ እዮም ብትግረ መምሃሪ መጻሕፍቲ ኣዳልዮም። እዚ ምስተሰምዐ፣ ኣብ ኣኼባ ፈጻሚት ሽማግለ ጀብሃ “ናይ ትግረ መጻሕፍቲ ክጸሓፍ የብሉን” ዝብል ውሳነ ሓሊፉ ከምዝቃጸል ተገይሩ። እቲ ውሳነ ኣብ ገለ መራሕቲ ጀብሃ ዝነበረ ናይ መንነት ቅልውላው ዘንጸባርቕ እዩ ነይሩ።” (http://www.ehrea.org/dont_forget_history_01.pdf)
Reply ↓
ahmed saleh June 4, 2013
My friend stop pulling back the discussion on past negative deeds which we have nothing to do with
whatever accusations you bring on a table . At present we have a critical issues which needs great
deal of consideration to help Eritrean lives .
sidiabdu@gmail.com June 1, 2013
The report only mentioned half of what what is happening in Eritrea.It is a good start,which I hope will lead the boss to his downfall and justice will be served believe you me. Remember Saddam Hussain,Kadaffi.
The report just scratched the surface of the evil regime and its merciless boss who think he owns Eritrea. The regime supporters (not sure if they know what they are doing) are getting less and less by the day. The crooks who collect money by intimidating the law abiding Eritreans are getting exposed and becoming persona non grata (expelled) in Countries like Canada.
Awet June 1, 2013
What an excellent report. The regime servants will start barking and down play the signifacts of the report. I hope they get the message because such facts gatherings are foundation towards cornering DIA. His days are numbered were he will be facing at the ICC.