UN Human Rights Council – 56th session
Interactive Dialogue on the report of the Special Rapporteur on Eritrea
Delivered by Sigrid Lipott
Thank you Mr President.
CIVICUS appreciates the work of the Special Rapporteur and his latest report. Civic space in Eritrea continues to remain closed, as the CIVICUS Monitor has documented. In the past year, Eritrean authorities have persistently suppressed fundamental rights and escalated their use of unlawful detentions.
Eritrea continues to suppress basic rights, including to freedom of opinion, religion, and expression, with heightened restrictions in the context of forced mass conscription. Eritrean security forces continued to commit serious human rights violations in Ethiopia's Tigray region.
We particularly express concerns around the widespread use of illegal arrests and detention as a systematic tool of intimidation to suppress dissent, as well as about incommunicado detention of Eritrean citizens including journalists, and lack of information on conditions of detention.
Peaceful protesters continue to be subject to the threat of prolonged or indefinite periods of detention and the gravity of violations of the right to a fair trial de facto result in arbitrary detention. The excessive use of force by law enforcement authorities to disperse protests is also of great concern. Furthermore, freedom of association is severely restricted and independent CSOs are not able to operate in the country due to censorship and onerous reporting guidelines.
We urge government of Eritrea to comply with decisions of the Working Group on Arbitrary Detention, to release all those arbitrarily detained and to constructively engage with the mandate of the Special Rapporteur.
Furthermore, we call on this Council to adopt a meaningful resolution renewing the crucial mandate of the Special Rapporteur and highlighting grave human rights violations and cross-border attacks committed against civic groups.
We thank you.
