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Eritrean human rights and democracy activists in Australia have, on 22 December, interviewed over a public service radio in Melbourne the head of the UN Commission of Inquiry on Eritrea, reported Mr. Arei Mohammed Saleh, member of the EPDP branch in Melbourne.

The newly designated head of the Commission, Mr. Mike Smith, who is a university professor in Australia, was interviewed by Mr. Arei Mohamed Saleh and Ahmed Mahmoud Alhaj to explain a long range of topics including the mandate of the Commission and what Eritreans can expect from its reports.

Summarized below are points from the radio interview with the chairpersonof the UN Commission of Inquiry on Eritrea of which Ms. Sheila Keetharuth, the UN Human Rights Rapporteur on Eritrea is also a member.

Question: Does the setting up of a UN Commission of Inquiry mean the possible existence of crimes against humanity committed in Eritrea? What is the time frame the Commission’s mandate?

Answer: The Commission of Inquiry has been mandated to investigate alleged human rights violations in Eritrea. We are required to report back by June 2015. There is no mention of crimes against humanity in the resolution but … the Commission will document what violations of human rights have been committed (since independence of Eritrea).

Q: How can people contact you?

A: We already called for submissions from all concerned …..You can also ask anyone who has information relevant to this inquiry to send us his/her input by email (This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.) before the closing date of 31st of January 2015. Some of those who submit information may be contacted in the future for further details.

Q: You launched your inquiry task on the 20th of November 2014 and have already met with Eritreans in Switzerland and Italy. Do you plan to meet Eritreans residing in other countries, in particular the Sudan ad Ethiopia where there are a large number of Eritrean refugees?

A: Yes and very definitely and we would like to meet Eritreans who are living in a number of different countries. We have in fact sent letters to a number of the neighboring countries to Eritrea. …. But we will be visiting a number of countries. We would like to visit all countries where Eritreans are living including Australia….

Q: Are you optimistic that the Eritrean government will allow you to visit Eritrea? If not, how will this affect your work?

A: We have written to the Eritrean government and also spoken to the diplomatic representative in Geneva and have asked for their agreement to our visiting and meeting people, and visiting various sites in Eritrea. They have not replied yet and I do not want to pre-judge… The Office of High Commission for Human Rights has a lot of experience in this area….where the commissions were not allowed to visit certain countries, information was collected from outside those countries from people who have first-hand experience, expertise …     and were able to provide very credible and compelling reports. …we will do our report whether we visit Eritrea or not.

Q: How do you verify the creditability of information you receive?

A: Commissions of inquiry follow established standard procedures…. We check the credibility of the information and the reliability of the source of the information…..

Q: How will you protect the identity of those who provide you with information as many may need assurances that their information and identity will not be leaked to the Eritrean regime?

A: We have all the measures to ensure the full confidentiality of all information and the identity of people who have had contact with us. Their concerns are well addressed if they do not want to be mentioned by name…

Q: How do you report to the UN Human Rights Council in Geneva?

A: In March 2015, we will give an oral report to the Council. We will tell what we were doing and will answer questions from Council members…..Then in June 2015, we shall make a presentation to the Council in Geneva and to the UN General Assembly in its next session, probably in October 2015. ….I would expect that the reports will include recommendations….