by Martin Plaut

                               Press release         

Addressing criminalisation of refugees and impunity of human trafficking

Brussels, 28 June 2018

As EU leaders are meeting in Brussels to discuss migration, experts denounced current EU migration policy as ineffective in tackling human trafficking and undermining migrant and refugee rights. A public hearing took place in the European Parliament today on the impact of EU external action in the Horn of Africa and addressing the criminalisation of refugees and impunity of human trafficking.

The event was hosted by the GUE/NGL group of Parliamentarians. The speakers emphasised the importance of protection in the region, addressing human trafficking at the highest level and to the source. The experts denounced the cooperation on migration of the EU with governments who are involved in human trafficking. The meeting took place as the European Council met on migration in Brussels.

The meeting was opened by Member of the European Parliament, Marie-Christine Vergiat. “The situation in the Horn of Africa is particularly dramatic.” Ms. Vergiat stated. “The Khartoum process has worsened the situation of migrants in that area of the world and this is particularly true in Sudan and Eritrea.”

Speaker Makeda Saba warned of the consequences of current cooperation programmes with regimes in the Horn of Africa, including those accused of crimes against humanity, such as Eritrea. Currently, there are three international NGOs working in Eritrea, VITA, Norwegian Refugee Council (NRC) and Finn Church Aid (FCA). According to Saba, these organisations do harm by collaborating with the Eritrean regime, accused of committing crimes against humanity, including slave labour.

According to Saba, these NGOs are dependent upon the favour of operating in the country by the highest level of the regime: “These NGOs operate without legal basis or rule of law. They are not able to be independent and impartial. They strengthen the oppressive institutions of the government, including the militarised education system. They cannot operate without using and legitimising forced labour. They are not helping the people of Eritrea”

Sara Prestianni from ARCI Immigrazione spoke about the situation in Sudan and the Khartoum process, stating: “Omar al-Bashir has everything to gain from cooperation with the EU so he can brush up on his image. He is taking ownership of this collaboration to once again play a central role in the international arena. […] The Rapid Support Forces operate to now at the border in Eastern Sudan. Who knows what crimes are being committed?”

Christian Jakob, journalist at the German Tagezeitung, has extensively investigated the effect of the externalisation of Europe’s borders in Africa: “In countries like Eritrea and Sudan, it is very easy for the EU to get what they want because there is no one from civil society who can question it.”

Meron Estefanos, Eritrean-Swedish journalist, covered the situation of human trafficking in Libya, victimising many through human rights abuses, torture and extortion: “Libyan officials are extorting money from people who are intercepted on the sea and sent back. […] Even from within the legal detention, refugees are sold for labour and other illicit purposes.”

Prof. Mirjam van Reisen covered the overall effect of EU policies, communication strategies and the lack of protection for refugees in the region. The policies are irregularising even those that have already integrated or have a legitimate asylum claim.

“The system is irregularising people that we know we previously integrated or are legitimate asylum seekers. […] This is against international law and it is immoral. But most of all, it does not work and cannot work.” Prof. van Reisen continued: “People who have already experienced so much cruelty are chased across the region. Highly traumatised people remain in a mode of fleeing. That really works to the benefit of the human trafficking networks – they thrive on fear.” She argues that human trafficking has to be addressed at the top level: “The big money of human trafficking is made at the top. The top traffickers should be held responsible before anybody else.” She said.

We need to move to a policy where we 1) respect international law, 2) use our resources to create places of protection and care and 3) where we persecute those responsible for human trafficking at the top of the networks.”

Three documentary excerpts showed at the public hearing gave striking images of the tragedy.

The documentary ‘It will be chaos’ showed up close the tragedy for Eritrean refugees at Lampadusa, 2013. Such tragedies still occur frequently in the Mediterranean Sea. The ARTE documentary ‘Türsteher Europas’ covered the situation in the Horn of Africa, where EU cooperation is contributing to unseen deaths in the desert. The final excerpt of the Swedish SVT documentary ‘Hunt for the General’ shows how refugees become victims of action against human trafficking, while the top people continue to be involved with impunity.

Martin Plaut | June 29, 2018 at 7:47 am | Categories: Uncategorized | URL: https://wp.me/p9mKWT-gM

 

by Martin Plaut

Reuters Aaron Maasho

 ADDIS ABABA (Reuters) - Ethiopia’s prime minister will meet the Eritrean president soon as the once-warring nations try to resolve one of Africa’s most intractable military stand-offs, Ethiopian state-affiliated media said, citing the foreign minister.

 

A high-level Eritrean delegation arrived in the Ethiopian capital city Addis Ababa on Tuesday for the first time since the two countries fought between 1998 and 2000 over their disputed border, with diplomatic relations broken off ever since.

Ethiopian leader Abiy Ahmed said this month he would honor all the terms of a peace deal, suggesting he might be ready to settle the border dispute.

After Tuesday’s meeting, Eritrean Foreign Minister Osman Saleh said the former foes “have opened the door of peace” whilst Abiy said he hoped the dispute would end with this generation and reiterated his willingness to transfer territory.

Eritrean President Isaias Afwerki had welcomed Ethiopia’s “positive messages” earlier this month and decided to send the delegation, which included his adviser Yemane Gebreab and his envoy to the African Union. They returned on Thursday.

The border war between the long-time foes killed some 80,000 people and the sides remain at odds over the status of the frontier town of Badme. The border remains militarized.

Abiy has sent a letter to President Isaias, Ethiopia’s Fana media said, without detailing the content.

Martin Plaut | June 29, 2018 at 8:01 am | Categories: Uncategorized | URL: https://wp.me/p9mKWT-gQ

 

by Martin Plaut

Khartoum S Sudan

The president of South Sudan and his former vice president signed a peace deal on Wednesday 27 July in a bid to end their country’s protracted civil war.

The rivals — President Salva Kiir and former Vice President Riek Machar, who leads the largest rebel group fighting the government — met for the first time in two years last week. The civil war has lasted for more than four years and has plunged South Sudan, the world’s youngest country, into a humanitarian crisis.

Despite the agreement, signed in neighboring Sudan, many worry that a lasting resolution to the conflict is still a long way off. Peace deals signed by both leaders have fallen apart in the past, and the war now involves numerous smaller parties. Just two years ago, the pair struck a similar agreement that soon unraveled.

Here is the official document signed by all concerned. Khartoum Declaration

Martin Plaut | 28/06/2018 at 12:58 pm | Tags: Ceasefire, Khartoum Declaration, peace, South Sudan | Categories: Africa, South Sudan | URL: https://wp.me/p1OD48-3D0

ወይዘሮ ላ ቢ ኪታሩ ፍልይቲ ልእኽቲ ሕቡራት ሃገራት ኣብ ሰብኣዊ መሰል ኤርትራ ሓሙሻይን ናይ መወዳእታን ጸብጻበን ናብቲ ብ26 ሰነ 2018 ኣብ ጀነቫ ዝተጋበአ መበል 38 ኣኼባ ባይቶ ሰብኣዊ መሰል ሕቡራት ሃገራት ኣቕሪበን። ኣብዚ ጸብጻበን ነቲ ኣብ ኤርትራ ዝጸንሐ ቀጻሊ ግህሰት ኣቃሊዐን።

እቲ ኣገራሚ ጸብጻበን ኣብታ ኩሉ መሰረታዊ መሰላት ዝተኣገደላን ግፍዒ፡ ዓመጽ፡ ዓማሚ ማእሰርቲ፡ ክሳብ ሞት ዘብጽሕ ኣተሓሕዛ እሱራት ዝዝውተራን ኤርትራ ዝኾነ ንሰብኣውን ፖለቲካውን መሰላት ዝምልከት ለውጢ ከምዘየለ ኣቃሊዑ።

ንሰን እቲ ዘሕዝን ኩሉቲ ኣብ ኤርትራ ዝፍጸም ጥሕሰት ሰብኣዊ መሰልን ካልእ በደላትን፡ ግቡእ ግምት ይወሃቦ ይወሃቦ የለን ኢለን። ኣተሓሒዘን ከኣ ኣብዚ ዝሓለፈ ግዜ ኣብ ኣስመራ ዘሎ ዓመጸኛ ጉጅለ 90 ጋዜጠኛታት ኣሲሩስ ገሊኦም ክሳብ ሕጂ ዳርጋ ኣብ ዘይፍለጡ ኣብ ኣብያተ-ማእሰርቲ ይሓቁ ኣለዉ ኢለን።

እዘን ዳርጋ ናይ ሽዱሽተ ዓመት ናይ ኣገልግሎት ግዜአን ዝውደኣ ዘለዋ ወይዘሮ፡ ሕቡራት ሃገራት ተልእኮ ናይቲ ጉዳይ ሰብኣዊ መሰል ኤርትራ ዝምልከቶ ኣካል ንከናውሕ ጸዊዐን። ምስዚ ኣተሓሒዘን ከኣ እቲ ኣካል ሕቡራት ሃገራት ነቲ ናይ ቅድሚ ሕጂ ነቲ ኣሰካፊ ኩነታት ኤርትራ ዝምልከት ውሳነታትን ለበዋታትን ባይቶ ሰብኣዊ መሰላት ንከተግብር ጸዊዐን። ኣብቲ ኣኼባ ይሳተፉ ካብ ዝነበሩ ናይ ብዙሓት ሃገራት ልኡኻት ነቲ ናይ ወይዘሮ ኪታሩዝ ጸብጻብ ዝድግፍ ርኢቶታት ሂቦም፡ ጉዳይ ሰብኣዊ መሰል ኤርትራ ኣብ መጻኢ ዝያዳ ኣቓልቦ ንክግበረሉ ተላብዮም።

ኣብዚ መበል 38 ኣኼባ ባይቶ ሰብኣዊ መሰል ሕቡራት ሃገራት ኣብ ሰብኣውን ደሞክራስያውን መሰላት ዝነጥፉ ኤርትራያን ተሳቲፎም፡ ቆላሕታ ክወሃቦም ዝግበኦም ኤርትራዊ ጉዳያት ከኣ ኣጕሊሖም።

ብኻልእ ወገን ከኣ ብ25 ሰነ 2018 ብዶ/ር ዳንኤል ረዘነ ዝተማእከለ ተዛማዲ ኣኼባ ተኻይዱ። ኣብዚ ኣኼባ ክሳብ ሕጂ ኣብ ጉዳይ ሰብኣዊ መሰል ኤርትራ ዝተዐመመ ስረሓትን ኣብ መጻኢ ኣብዚ መዳይዚ ከጋጥም ዝኽእል ብደሆታትን ዝምልከት ዳህሳስ ተኻይዱ። ካለኦት ኤርትራውያንን ንጉዳይ ኤርትራ ዝሕግዙን ወገናትን ከኣ ብኣቶ ረዲ ኣብዩ ካብ ዓባይ ብሪታንያ እናተመርሑ ብ26 ሰነ 2018 ኣኼባ ኣካይዶም። ኣብዚ ኣኼባዚ ንኤርትራ ዝምልከት ሓደስቲ ምዕብልናታት ብማሕሙድ ኣደምን ኢብራሂም ካቡሽን ካብ ማሕበር መታሕት ኤርትራ ከምኡ እውን ብእስማዒል ገባይታ ካብ ማሕበር ሰብኣዊ መሰል ዓፋር ቀይሕ ባሕሪ መብርህታት ተዋሂቡ። ኣብዚ መብርሂ ቆላሕታ ዝተዋህቦ ጉዳይ መሬት ኣብ ክልቲኡ ከባቢ ክኸውን እንከሎ ብሓፈሻ ኣብ መላእ ኤርትራ ጉዳይ መሬት ቆላሕታ ዘድልዮ ምዃኑ’ውን ተጠቒሱ። ውይዘሮ ቢ ኪታሩዝ ከኣ ኣብዚ ጐኒንጐኒቲ መበል 38 ኣኺባ ባይቶ ዝተኻየደ ክልቲኡ ኣኼባታት ተኣስቲፈን።

ኣብ መወዳእታቲ ናይ 26 ሰነ 2018 ኣኼባ ብዙሓት ኤርትራውያን ግዱሳት ምስ ወይዘሮ ኪታሩዝ ናይ ድራር እንግዶት ኣካይዶም። ኣብዚ ናይ ድራር እንግዶት ኣብቲ ኣጋጣሚ ዝነበሩ ኤርትራውያን ብስም ኩሎም ኣበርቶአን ኣብ ጉዳይ ሰብኣዊ መሰል ኤርትራ ዝንእዱ ሕቋፍ ዕንበባን ንኤርትራ ዘንጸባርቕ መዘከርታን ሂቦም።

Ms Sheila B. Keetharuth, UN Special Rapporteur on Human Rights in Eritrea,  on 26 June presented her fifth and final report about the persisting "climate of repression" in Eritrea to the 38th Session of the UN Human Rights Council currently meeting in Geneva.

 

The bleak report underlined the fact that nothing is changing in the political and human rights situation in Eritrea where severe restriction of all basic freedoms, torture, rape, arbitrary arrests, ill treatment of prisoners and incommunicado detentions until death are ongoing crimes being committed in the country.

Sadly, all perpetrators of the extreme abuses of other humans in Eritrea are not being made accountable for their acts at home and abroad, she stressed. During the past years, the regime in Asmara arrested 90 journalists, some of whom are still languishing in little known prisons.

Ms Keetharuth, who is ending a six-year term on the Eritrea mandate, has urged the UN Council to extend this mandate of the UN Special Human Rights Rapporteur and do more to implement the Council's previous resolutions and recommendations on the alarming situation in that country.

Many country delegates and civil society activists made short interventions  supporting her report (http://webtv.un.org/search/id-sr-on-human-rights-in-eritrea-17th-meeting-38th-regular-session-human-rights-council-/5801987527001/?term=&lan=english)  and strongly recommending for more attention to the little changing Eritrean situation.

In the meantime, Eritrean human rights and pro-democracy activists attending the 38th Session of the UN Human Rights Council, continued holding side-events to highlight major human rights concerns in Eritrea.

Besides, the side-event moderated by Dr. Daniel Rezene on 25 June assessing achievements in the past few years and Eritrea's human rights challenges head, other Eritreans and supporters also organized another side-event on 26 June. Moderated by Mr. Redi Aybu of UK, the latter event was addressed by representatives of Eritrean Lowlands League (Messrs Mahmoud Adem; Ibrahim Kabushi) and the Red Sea Afar Human Rights Organization (Ismail Gabayta). They highlights the land property abuses of the regime in their respective regions and called for the attention and support of other Eritreans in addressing the land problem in post-dictatorship Eritrea. Both side-events were attended by Ms Keetharuth.

Later in the evening hours of 26 June, a number of Eritrean activists organized dinner in  honour of  Ms. Sheila B. Keetharuththe outgoing Eritrea Sepcial Rapporteur who attended the event dressed in Eritrean traditional costume. The Eritrean friends presented her a bouquet of flowers and a symbolic gift in the name of all Eritreans who appreciated her hard and good work on human rights in Eritrea.

 

ጨንፈር ፍራንክፎርትን ከባቢኣን ወርሓዊ ኣኼባኡ ብዕለት 24.06.2018 ኣካይዱ። እቲ ኣኼባ ሰዓት 02፡00 ድ.ቀ. ብሰናይ ምንዮት ኣቦ-መንበር ጨንፈር ድሕሪ ምስ ተኸፈተ፡ ነቲ ዕለት ናብ ዝተታሕዘ ኣጀንዳታት ተእትዩ።

ኣጀንዳታት ኣኼባ- ከም ወትሩ ዲሲፕሊን ሰልፊ ምኽባርን፡ ሰልፍኻ ምፍላጥ ዝብል ኣብ ቀዳማይ ደረጃ ዝስራዕ እዃ እንተነበረ፡ ኣብዚ ኣኼባዚ ግን፣ ምስዘሎ ምዕብልናታት ንምጉዓዝ ዝዓለመ፣ ሓበሬታ ብዛዕባ ህልዊ ኩነታት ሃገርናን ዞባናን፡ከምኡውን ህግደፍ ዝገብሮ ዘሎ ውደባ መንእሰያት ኣብ ዲያስፖራን ዝብሉ እዮም ብሰፊሕ ዝተታሕዙ ነይሮም።

እቶም ኣጀንዳታት ሓደ ብሓደ ተኣትዮም፡ ለውጢ ብውሽጣዊ ዲሲፕሊንን ሰልፍኻ ምፍላጥን ስለ ዝጅምር መግለጺ ድሕሪ ምቕራብ፣  ኣብቲ ዝስዕብ ኣጀንዳ ሓበሬታ ውሽጣዊ ንጥፈታት ሰልፍን ዞባናን ተኣትዩ። እቶም ቀንዲ ግዜ ዝወሰዱ ምርድዳኣት ድማ ኣብ ዞናና ዝካየድ ዘሎ ሃድሽን ቅልጡፍን ምቕይያራትን ስርርዓት ፍግደፍ ኣብመንእሰያትን ዝብሉ ሰፊሕ ናይ ልዝብን ሓሳባት ምልውዋጥን ዝወሰዱ እዮም ነይሮም። ኣኼበኛ ነቲ ሰልፍና በብእዋኑ ዝወስዶ ዘሎ ዲፕሎማስያውን ፖለቲካውን ንጥፈታትን ምምዕባል ፖለቲካዊ ባህልን ኣሞጒሱ። ብተወሳኺ‘ውን ተቓወምቲ ሓይልታት፡ ነቲ ህግደፍ ብጓይላን ጃህራን ዘብዕሎ ዘሎ መዓልቲ ነጻነት ዝመሳሰል ኣበዓዕላ ዘይኮነስ፡ ብሰሚናር ጌርካ ምብዓሉ ብዝብል ኣተሓሳስባ፡ ህዝባዊ ምጥርናፍ ፍራንክፎርትን ከባቢኡን ኣብ ፍራንክፎርት ሓባራዊ ህዝባዊ ሰሚናር ብምውዳብ ዘካየዶ ጻዕሪ፡ ንቃልስና ናህርን ኒሕን ምጥርናፍን ዘዛይደሉ ብምዃኑ ኣኼበኛ ኣሞጒሱ።

ነዚ ሕጂ ብሓድሽ ቀዳማይ ሚኒስተር ኢትዮጵያ ዝውሰድ ዘሎ ኣወንታዊ ስጉምትታት ናይ ሓድሽ ኣተሓሳስባን ግሉጽነትን ተሓታትነትን፡ ከምኡ‘ውን ጉዳይ ዶብ ኤርትራን ኢትዮጵያን ኣኼበኛ ኣሞጒሱ። ሰልፍና‘ውን ነዚ ሕጂ ብዶ. ኣቢይ ዝግለጽ ዘሎ ናይ ምትግባር ውሳኔ ኣልጀርስ ንነዊሕ ግዜ ብጽሑፋቱን ብኣኼባታቱን እናገለጾ ክመጽእ ጸኒሑ‘ዩ። መላኺ ኢሳያስ ግን፡ እዚ ብኢትዮጵያ ዝውሰድ ዘሎ ናይ ዶብ ጉዳይ ምትግባሩ ከይመለሰሉ ን2 ሰሙን ኣጽቂጡ ኔሩ፣ ኣብ መዓልቲ ዝኽረ ስዉኣት ድማ ኣተንፊሱ። ። ስለምንታይ እዚ መጸዋዕታ‘ዚ ንኢሳያስ ካብቲ ንልዕሊ 20 ዓመታት ተሓቢኡሉ ዝጸንሐ በዓቲ ናይ ምስምስ ውግእ-ዶብ ቀሊዑ ዘውጽእን ኣብ መሓንቖ ዘእትዎን ስለ ዝኾነ። እቲ ህዝቢ ክጽበዮ ዝጸንሐ ናይቲ መጸዋዕታ ምቕባል መልሲ ግን፡ ጎቦ-ጎቦ እዩ መሊሱዎ። ነቲ ዶብ ከይተሓንጸጸ ኣይንዛተን ኢና ትብል ዝነበርት መልሓሱ ተቐርጢማ፣ ኣብ ኢትዮጵያ ተፈጢሩ ዘሎ ሓድሽ ኩነታት ዘጽንዕ ልኡኽ ክሰድድ ምዃኑን፡ ንወያኔ ብምጽራፍን እዩ ገሊጹዎ። ምስ ኢትዮጵያ ክረዳዳእ ምስ ወያኔ ግን ክጻረፍ እንከሎ ግን ወያኔ‘ውን ኣካል ናይ መንግስቲ ኢትዮጵያ ምዃኖም ብርሳዕ‘ዩ። እዚ ግን ኣየገርመናን‘ዩ፡ ምልካውያን ረብሕኦም ኣብ ሰላም ዘይኮነስ ኣብ ውግእን ጽልእን ስለ ዝኾነ። እዚ ምንጥልጣል ናይ ዶብ ጉዳይ ሓደ ካብቲ ዓበይቲ ምኽንያታት ናይ ኢሳያስ መናውሒ ስልጣን ስለ ዝኾነ ቅልጡፍ ፍታሕ ክርከበሉ ይግባእ። ሽግር ኤርትራውያን ግን ጉዳይ ዶብ ጥራሕ ኣይኮነን። ቅድሚ ጉዳይ ዶብ ምጅማሩ ብ20 ሰነ 1991 ኣብ ናይ መጀመርያ በዓል መዓልቲ ነጻነት‘ውን ንህዝቢ ኤርትራ ምልካዊ ስርዓት ከም ዘቚውም ሓቡሩዎ እዩ። ብድሕሪኡ‘ውን ንህዝቢ ኤርትራ እናጨፍጨፈ‘ዩ ብፍርህን ራዕድን ምብትታንን ክገዝእ ጸኒሑ። ስለዚ ሕጂ‘ውን ጉዳይ ዶብ ጥራሕ ስለ ዘይኮነ ጸገምና ምልካዊ ስርዓት ከልግስ ከሎ ጥራሕ‘ዩ እቲ መሰረታዊ ፍታሕ። ኣብ ኤርትራ ዲሞክራስያዊ ስርዓት እንተዝትከል ኔሩ እቲ ምስ ጎረባብቲ ምንቛት‘ውን ኣይምሃለወን ኔሩ። ስለዚ እቲ ኣብ ኤርትራ ዝተፈጥረ ብዅረት ዲሞክራስያ‘ዩ ነቲ ምስ ጎረባብቲ ዘሎ ጸገም ፈጢሩዎ እምበር ብኣንጻሩ ኣይኮነን። እዚ ስለ ዝኾነ፡ ኩሉ ህዝቢ ኤርትራ ነዚ ምልካዊ ስርዓት ብምልጋስ ጥራሕ ስለ ዝኾነ መሰረታዊ ለውጢ ዝመጽእ፡ ተጠርኒፉ ተቓውሞኡ ከሐይል ከም ዘለዎ ኣኼበኛ ተማሕጺኑ።

ኣብ መወዳእታ ድማ እቲ ስርዓት ህግደፍ ንኣብ ወጻኢ ዝተወልዱ ብጀካ ንዙሮት ብምኻድ ንኤርትራ ዘይፈልጡዋ መንእሰያት ሂትለራዊ ውደባ እናወደበ ሓንጎሎም ብምሕጻብ ኣብ ወጻኢ ንዝርከቡ መንእሰያት ንከርዕድ መሳርሒ ንክኾኑዎ ዝገብሮ ዘሎ ገበን ኣኼበኛ ይነጽግ። ብተግባር‘ውን ኣብ ሆላንድ፡ ስዊትዘርላንድ፡ እስራኤልን ዓዲ እንግሊዝን ዝተገብረ ምስ ከምኦም መንእሰያት ኤርትራውያን ምጭፍጫፍ ተራእዩ‘ዩ። ስለዚ መንእሰያት ነዚ ናይ ስርዓት ህግደፍ ገበን ክነቕሑሉን ሓቢሮም ክቃወሙዎን መንእሰያት ለበዋኦም ኣቕሪቦም።

ኣኼባ ድማ ኣብ ሰዓቱ ብዝኽረ-ሰማእታት ተደምዲሙ።

        

CIVICUS Oral Statement

Dialogue with UN Special Rapporteur on Eritrea

UN HUMAN RIGHTS COUNCIL – 38thSession

26 June 2018, Delivered by Niat Hailemariam

 

Mr President

On behalf of CIVICUS, Reporters without Borders, the Eritrean Movement for Democracy and Human Rights, the Eritrean Law society, Eritrea Focus, and the Horn of Africa Civil Society Forum, I would first like to express our deepfelt gratitude and appreciation to the Special Rapporteur for her unwavering support to Eritrean victims of human rights violations.

Today, her work is all the more important. The latest reports emerging from the country indicate that the human rights situation is not improving. Following the imprisonment and death in detention of respected Muslim elder Haji Musa in March 2018, Eritrean authorities have conducted mass arrests and disappearances of youth.

We are also concerned by the Special Rapporteur’s reports that individuals who dare to exercise their right to freedom of expression have been targeted with arrest and detention, while peaceful demonstrations in October 2017 following the arrest of Haji Musa were met with scores of arrests and night house raids without search or arrest warrants.

Since the publication of the UN Commission of Inquiry’s (COI) report, government officials have continued to torture, imprison, and arbitrarily detain people without notifying them of the reason for their arrest.

Mr President, since the publication of the CoI report, not a single individual has been held accountable for the human rights violations, including crimes against humanity, committed in Eritrea. Civil society remains forced to work outside the country and independent press is still not permitted to operate inside the country. Eritrea remains the largest jailer of journalists in sub-Saharan Africa.

The Eritrean government has repeatedly ignored the Special Rapporteur’s requests for access to conduct investigations.

Mr President, we urge the UN Human Rights Council to renew the Special Rapporteur’s mandate and maintain attention on some of the most egregious human rights violations in sub-Saharan Africa. The Human Rights Council has a responsibility to follow up on the CoI’s serious findings and ensure that accountability for crimes against humanity committed in Eritrea remains a priority.

Thank you, Mr President.