Under a mechanism called UPR (Universal Periodic Review), UN member states report every five years  to the UN Human Rights Council  on what actions they have taken to improve the human rights situations in respective their countries in fulfilling their human rights obligations. They also mention the challenges they faced while trying to take action. When its time came to present something in the afternoon of 28 January, the Eritrean regime – represented by the same old Ambassador Tesfamichael Gerhatu - had no factual achievements to report. Instead, regime representative had to go back to the same old bald lies presented in its previous two UPR reports.

Eritrean Regime Continued its Limitless Lies at UPR reporting 1

If any, what one would call “successes” it had to report included the signing of the Ethiopian Prime Minister’s initiative for peace accord, and the UNDP-UNICEF projects for children and women in Eritrea. That was all. Almost none of previous recommendations were achieved.

Unsatisfied with what Eritrea had to report, member countries listed additional 261 recommendations for the Asmara regime to act towards improving human rights in Eritrea. These were in addition to the myriad recommendations of the Council and the UN Special Rapporteur which were not acted upon.  

Many of the 89 member states that made statements during the session, did not find it useful to repeat their old critical viewpoints and strong condemnations of the failures of the Eritrean regime, and instead “praised”  the peace accord with Ethiopia and listed their sharp recommendations.

The usual Eritrea supporters like North Korea, Myanmar, China, Russia, Syria, Saudi Arabia, the Sudan and Pakistan praised the “Eritrean government for its endeavors despite many challenges.” None of them could mention those non-existent endeavors.

The working group meetings of this 32nd session of the UPR mechanism were held between 21 January and 1 February. The UN Human Rights Council will hold its 40th session between 25 February to 22 March 2019 during which time the new UN Special Rapporteur for Eritrea, Ms. Daniela Kravetz, is expected to report of what she had done since her election to the post last October.

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Eritrean Regime Continued its Limitless Lies at UPR reporting 2While serving as a humanitarian law expert on the Security Council mandated Panel of Experts on the Sudan from 2016 to 2018, Ms Kravetz conducted fact-finding missions to the Sudan and regional countries to investigate alleged violations by the parties to the conflict. Previously, she worked for over twelve years at the UN International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia, first as a law clerk in Chambers and later as a prosecutor in the Office of the Prosecutor. Her prior experience includes working as a human rights officer in the UN Mission in the Democratic Republic of Congo.

Ms Kravetz has specialized in providing technical assistance and training to domestic institutions on the promotion of women’s rights, working as a consultant on projects aimed at addressing gender-based violence in several countries. She has served as international human rights and gender expert before the Inter-American Court of Human Rights, and is currently on the roster of international amicus curiae of the newly established Special Jurisdiction for Peace in Colombia. She is a graduate of the University of Chile (Chile) and the Catholic University of Louvain (Belgium). She was called to the bar in Chile in July 1996.

Mandate by the Human Rights Council

Human Rights Council resolution 35/35 extended the mandate of the Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in Eritrea and requested the mandate-holder to continue as appropriate the follow-up on the implementation of the recommendations of the Commission of Inquiry on human rights in Eritrea and her recommendations in her report, and to submit a and present a written report to the Human Rights Council at its thirty-eighth session, and to address and engage in an interactive dialogue with the General Assembly at its seventy-second session.

Individual complaints

In the discharge of her mandate, the Special Rapporteur on Eritrea has developed the information sheet below to facilitate the submission of information. Although communications are also considered when they are not submitted in the form of this model questionnaire, the Special Rapporteur would be grateful for receiving information tailored to her mandate. The objective of this questionnaire is to have access to precise information on alleged human rights violations in Eritrea. If any information contained in the questionnaire should be kept confidential please mark “CONFIDENTIAL” beside the relevant entry. Please do not hesitate to attach additional sheets, if the space provided is not sufficient.

Should you have any questions concerning the completion of this form, please feel free to contact the Special Rapporteur.

The questionnaire (English, Arabic, Tigrinya) should be filled out and sent to:
Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in Eritrea
c/o Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights
United Nations at Geneva
8-14 avenue de la Paix
CH-1211 Geneva 10
Switzerland
Fax: (+41) 22 917 90 06
E-mail: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. or This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. (then please include in the subject box: Special Rapporteur on Eritrea).

By Issued on 01-02-2019 Modified 01-02-2019 to 13:43

media Eritrean President Isaias Afwerki (left) and Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir (right) during a welcome ceremony in Khartoum, 11 June 2015.Photo: Ashraf Shazly/AFP
 

Sudan’s President Omar al-Bashir has ordered the reopening of his country’s border with Eritrea. Sudan’s eastern border had been closed since last year following the announcement of a state of emergency in the regions of Kassala and North Kordofan.

“Politics can divide us but they [Eritreans] are still our brothers and relatives,” Bashir said, according to the AFP news agency.

Bashir made the announcement during a televised address for a rally in the regional capital Kassala. However, he did not provide more details on the decision.

The border was closed in January 2018 in line with a six-month state of emergency in Kassala and North Kordofan. The intention was to stop smuggling, control unlicensed vehicles and tackle human trafficking, the Xinhua news agency reported.

Bashir’s address in Kassala also touched on continuing protests in Sudan that have erupted in Khartoum and other cities since December.

“Changing the government or presidents cannot be done through WhatsApp or Facebook. It can be done only through elections,” Bashir told the crowd of supporters.

“It’s only the people who decide who will be president,” he added.

Protests started over increases in the price of bread, but have morphed into a more general dissatisfaction with Bashir and his government.

Human rights groups say more than 40 people have been killed in a crackdown by security forces on demonstrations since December. Sudanese officials say 30 people have died in protest-related violence.

Source=http://en.rfi.fr/africa/20190201-bashir-reopens-sudan-border-eritrea-and-dismisses-protests

New UN Special Rapporteur for HR in Eritrea to Present Her First Oral Report Soon

In a good-wishes memorandum to the new UN Human Rights Special Rapporteur for Eritrea, Ms Daniela Kravetz of Chile, the Eritrean People's Democratic Party (EPDP) expected her and the UN system to keep under close scrutiny the repressive and inflexible  regime in Asmara.

The new UN expert is expected to present her first oral report in a few weeks' time on the human rights situation to the 40th Session of the UN Human Rights Council due to meet in Geneva between 25 February and 22 March 2019

The EPDP message, dated 31 January, said it fully appreciate the difficulties ahead for her, difficulties that are compounded by her not having access to Eritrea in addition to the and "the blatant lies of the regime, as witnessed in the laughable contents of the third Universal Periodic Review (UPR) report the regime representative shamelessly presented to the UN Human Rights Council on 28 January 2019."

The message alluded to the 6-year long hard work of her predecessor, Ms Sheila Keetharuth, who scored successes in recording the excessive abuses of the Eritrean regime in addition to her unachieved work to "encourage and mobilize the international community to push for the implementation of the resolutions and recommendations of the UN Human Rights Council."     

The EPDP memo hoped that Ms Kravetz, who was appointed by the UN Human Rights Council last October, would succeed in helping to stop the ongoing heinous human rights violations in the country by ensuring accountability for those responsible for serious human rights violations in Eritrea.  

The message concluded by stating that the EPDP alongside other Eritrean justice seekers are committed to do what is possible to help her mandate succeed in facing the "challenging tasks" of changing to the better the sad human rights situation in Eritrea

Friday, 01 February 2019 09:32

Radio Demtsi Harnnet Kassel 31.01.2019

Written by
Wednesday, 30 January 2019 23:02

A ‘roadmap’ for Eritrea – Ethiopia co-operation

Written by

January 30, 2019 Ethiopia, News

Source: Borkena

Eritrea and Ethiopia roadmap for cooperation ready

“The next step for the two countries to sign agreements of overall bilateral cooperation and establish a joint-commission which will oversee implementation of the agreements.”
 
Ethiopia _ EritreaAbiy Ahmed (right) and Isayas Afeworki (left)

January 29,2019

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Ethiopia said today that preparation of road-map to institutionalize cooperative relation between Ethiopia and Eritrea is ready.

Part of the purpose is to regulation the relation in a range of areas. Border trade, port usage, custom, immigration and transport are some of the areas to be regulated through legal frame works which is already drafted and discussed, according to a report by Ethiopian Broadcasting Corporation (EBC).

Dr. Workeneh Gebeyehu disclosed the information during his appearance at the 22 regular session of House of People’s Representative today to present his six months of report regarding what the ministry has been doing.

The next step for the two countries to sign agreements of overall bilateral cooperation and establish a joint-commission which will oversee implementation of the agreements.

Eritrea’s Minister for Information, Yemane Gebremeskel, disclosed today that high level committee of Ethiopia and Eritrea is undertaking consultations to regulate trade and transport. From what Mr Yemane tweeted, the consultations between authorities of the two countries is informed by experiences during the trial periods in the last four months.

It is to be recalled that in late December 2018, Eritrea closed border along Zalambessa in Tigray – seemingly with intent to regulate the movement of people and trade to and from Eritrea.

The border between the two countries was reopened after two decades old “no peace -no war” relation was ended following rapprochement policy by the administration of Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed.

Ethiopia says it is focusing on business diplomacy in the region as well and is working to improve relations with Djibouti,Somalia, South Sudan and Sudan.

January 30, 2019 News, UN

The full report can be accessed here.

Readers can judge whether they think it accurately reflects the currents situation in Eritrea.

Note, for example, how the right to Freedom of expression, association, assembly is described. The second sentence curtails and effectively nullifies the first.

“A fundamental principle in the transitional codes and proclamations is respect and protection of citizens’ right to lawful expression and opinion without interference. This demands collective responsibility to the nation and hence protection of national security, national values, public order and respect to others.”

ሕቶ ህዝብና በብመድረኹ ዝተፈላለዩ መልከዓት እንዳሓዘ ክመጽእ ከም ዝጸንሐን ቀጻሊ ከም ዘሎን ፍሉጥ እዩ፡ ኣብ ግዜ መግዛእቲ ሕቶ ህዝብና ምሉእ ናጽነት ነይሩ፡ ሓይሊ መንግዛእቲ ግና ነዚ ሕቶ ፈትዩ ክምልስ ፈቓደኛ ኣይነበረን። ፈቓደኛ ከይከውን ባህርያዊ  ነይሩ፡ ምኽንያቱ ገዛእቲ ፈትዮም ዝህብዎ ናጽነት ስለ ዘየለ። ነዚ ዝተረደአ ህዝቢ ኤርትራ ናጽነቱ ብልማኖ ዘይኮነ መንዚዑ ክረክብ ተቓሊሱ ተዓዊቱ ከኣ። ናብዚ ዓወት ንክበጽሕ ነንእሽቶ መሰል እንዳቆርመመ ዘይኮነ፡ ምሉእ ናጽነቱ ከጨብጦ ዝኽእል ኩነታት ንክፈጥር ስኑ ነኺሱ ተቓሊሱ። ንሓይሊ መግዛእቲ ከኣ ምሉእ ብምሉእ ምስ ኩሉ መግዛእታዊ መሳርሕታቱ ሓግሒጉ ደርብይዎ።

ሕቶ ህዝቢ ኤርትራ በዚ ኣየብቀዐን። እቲ ኣብ ሕቶን ቃልስን ናጽነት ካልኣይ ደረጃ ሒዙ ዝጸንሐ ሕቶ ፍትሕን ዲሞክራስን ድሕሪ ናጽነት ብኡንኡ ክፍታሕዩ ዝብል ትጽቢትኳ እንተነበሮ ብተግባር ግና ኣይኮነን። እቲ ድሕሪ ናጽነት ሓላፍነት ወሲዱ ኤርትራ ናይ ምምራሕ ኣጋጣሚ ዝወሰደ ሕጂ “ህግደፍ” ዝብል ስም ሒዙ ዘሎ ኣካል ዝመል ግና ውልቀመላኺ ዝሕንብሰሉ፡ በቲ ኣብ ግዜ ናጽነት ዝኣተዎ ቃል ጸኒዑ ኣይቀጸለን። ነቲ ኣብ ግዜ መግዛእቲ ዝነበረ ገዛኢ ሓይሊ ተኪኡ መልክዑ ብምቕያር ኣብ ልዕሊ ህዝብና ረቂቕ ናይ ጭቆና ኣርዑት ጽዒኑ። ስለዚ ህዝቢ ኤርትራ ኣብዚ እዋን’ዚ እውን ነዚ መድረሕ ዝምጥን ፍትሓዊ ሕቶ ኣልዒሉ ይቃለስ ኣሎ። ምኽንያቱ ከምቲ ኣንጻር መግዛእቲ ክቃለስ እምበር፡ ኣብ መግዛእቲ ክነብር ባህርያዊ ኣይነበረን ዝበልናዮ፡ ኣብ ትሕቲ ዜቤታዊ ወጽዓ ክነብር እውን ባህርያዊ  ኣይኮነን።

ህዝቢ ኤርትራ ህግደፍ ናብ ልቡ ተመሊሱን ኣናሕስዩን፡ ሕቶ ህዝቢ ኣስተብሂሉ ንክምልሰሉ እኹል ግዜ ተዋሂብዎ እዩ። ምናልባት ሕጂ እውን ኣዝዮም ውሑዳት ዘይቀበጹ፡ ህግደፍ ቃልና ሰሚዑ ሕቶና ክምልሰልና እዩ ዝብል እምነት ዘለዎም ይህልዉ። እንተኾነ ጉጅለ ህግደፍ ነዚ ናይ ህዝብና ዓቃል፡ ሓላፍነታውን ጸዋርን ትጽቢት ከም ፍርሕን ዘይምስትውዓልን ወሲዱ፡ ነቲ ፍታሕ ከምጽእ ዝተዋህቦ ዕድል ከም መደልደሊ ናይ ጭቆና መሓውሩ ወሲዱ ንድሕሪት ናብ ዘይምለስ ውጹእ ጨቛኒ ዓሪግሉ ኣሎ። እነሆ ከኣ  ንህዝብና ኣግሂዱ “ጭቆናይ እንተዘይተቐቢልካ ኣብ ትበጽሕ ብጻሕ” ካብ ዝብሎ ነዊሕ ግዜ ኮይኑ ኣሎ። ምሒር ኣብ ልዕሊ ህዝብን ሰማእታትን ኤርትራ ዘለዎ ንዕቀት ንምርእይ ከኣ ኣብ ልኡላውነት ኤርትራ እውን ምልከት ሕቶ የንብር ኣሎ። ህዝቢ ኤርትራ ከኣ ከምቲ ናይ ግዜ መግዛእቲ ካብ ህግደፍ ከይተጽበየ መሰሉ ባዕሉ ክምንዝዕ ኣብ ዝተገደደሉ ጥርዚ በጺሑ ኣሎ። እቲ በብኹርንዑ ዝስማዕ ዘሎ ናይ ለውጢ ድምጽታትን ዝተፈላለየ ውዳበታትን ከኣ ናይዚ ምልክት እዩ። ከምቲ ሓይሊ መግዛእቲ ነቲ ኣንጻሩ ዝካየድ ዝነበረ ሕያል ህዝባዊ ቃልሲ ዘይተዓገሶ፡ ህግደፍ እውን ነቲ ኣንጻሩ ዝካየድ ዘሎ ናይ ለውጢ ማዕበል ኣይተዓገሶን። እቲ ፈቐድኡ፡ ዝኣስሮ፡ ዝርሽኖ፡ ናብ ስደት ዝደፍኦ፡ ኣብ ገደብ ዘይብሉ ውትህድርና ዘንብሮ ዘሎ ከኣ ናይዚ ዘይምዕጋሱ ምልክት እዩ።

ኣብ መወዳእታ እቲ ሰዓሪ ህዝቢ ምዃኑ ኣይኮነንዶ ነዓና ነቶም ኣካላት ናይ ለውጢ ሓይሊ ንህግደፍ እውን ይስወሮ እዩ ዝብል እምነት የብለይ። ንስዕረቱ ኣሜን ኢልካ ንዘይምቕባል ከዕለብጥ ምዃኑ ከኣ ካልእ ርዱእ ጉዳይ እዩ። ከምኡ ስለ ዝኾነ እዩ ከኣ ህግድፍ ብፍላይ መራሒኡ ዲክታቶር ኢሳይያስ ኣብ ዘዝኸዶ መድረኽ ወልደፍደፍ ዝብል ዘሎ። ሎሚ እቲ ኣንጻር ህግደፍ ዝቐነዐ ድምጽታት መመሊሱ ይስስን ኣሎ። ትማሊ ህግደፍ የማናይ ኢደይ ዝብሎም ዝነበረ ወገናት ጉልባቦም ቀሊዖም “ደጊም ትዕግስትና ኣብ ኣካይዳ ህግደፍ ተወዲኡ እዩ” ብዝብል ልሳን ህዝቦም ኮይኖም ህግደፍ ናይ ምቅላዕ ተግባር ጀሚሮም ኣለዉ። ካብ ተመኩሮን እውን ከም እንርደኦ ኣርዑት ወጽዓ ዝያዳ ክተርር እንከሎ፡ ትዕግስቲ ውጹዓት ክውዳእን ቃልሶም ክሕይልን ባህርያዊ እዩ። ሕጂ ኣብ ቃልስና ዝረአ ዘሎ እውን እዚ እዩ።

መሰረታዊ መልሲ ንሕቶ ህዝብና መንዚዕካ እምበር፡ ንህግደፍ ለሚንካ ዝትኮብ ከምዘይኮነ ብሩህ እዩ። እቲ ስፍሓት መልሲ ከኣ ምሉእ እምበር እንዳጨራረምካ ዝትኮብ መተዓሻሸዊ ኣይኮነን። ንጉዳይ ግዱድ ዕስክርና፡ ንብኩራት ሕገመንግስቲ፡ ንዘይምትግባር ቀያድን ናይ መወዳእታን ብይን ዶብ ምስ ኢትዮጵያ፡ ንሃለዋት ፖለቲካዊ እሱራት፡ ንብኩራት ልዕልና ህፍትሒ፡ በበይኖም እንዳቆንጠርካ ናብ ህግደፍ ጥርዓን ምቕራብ መፍትሒ ኣይመጽእን እዩ። ህግደፍ እቲ ቀንዲ ጠላምን ጠንቂ ናይ ኩሉ ጭቆናን እንዳሃለወ “ከምዚ እንተገይርካ ካብ ስልጣን ኣይክትወርድን ኢኻ” ዝዓይነቱ መተዓረቒ ምቕራብ እውን ከምቲ ናይ ቀደም ንህግደፍ ዘሻድኖ እምበር ልቡ ዘራህርህ ኣይኮነን። ህግደፍ ምስ ኩሉ ናይ ጭቆና መሓውራቱ ክውገድ ግድን እዩ። ምኽንያቱ ገለ ሸነኹ እንተተሪፉ እንደገና ናይ ምጭብጫብ ዕድል ስለ ዝህቦ። ስለዚ ህግደፍ ክውገድ ኣለዎ እንተኢልና፡ “ናይ ዝህብና ሕቶ ብምልኡ ይመለስ” ንብል ከም ዘለና ክንግንዘብ ይግበኣና።

ምናልባት ገለ ወገናት ህግደፍ ክውገድ እንከሎስ ምስኡ ብዙሓት ወገናት ዝልከሙ ስለ ዝመስሎ የሰክፎም ይኸውን። እንተኾነ ሎሚ ህግደፍ፡ ህዝቢ፡ መንግስቲ ወይ ውድብ ዘይኮነ፡ ውልቀሰብ ኢሳይያስ እዩ። ደጋጊምና ህግደፍ ክንብል እንከለና ውልቀመላኺ ኢሳይያስ ንገዛእ ርእሱ ከጸባብቕ ዝጥቀመሉ ስም እምበር ህይወት ዘለዎ ፖለቲካዊ ግንባር ማለትና ኣይኮነን። እቲ ዝውገድ እውን ንሱን ኣዝዮም ውሑዳት ንሱ ስለ ዘዕበዶም ህዝቦም ዝረስዑ ጥራይ እዩ። ካብዚ ሓሊፉ ኢሳይያስ ቀደም ዝረስዖ ትካላት እንዳጠቐስካ ብዙሕ ሰዓባይ ከም ዘለዎ ኣምሲልካ ምቕራቡ ዘየብሉ ክብደት ምሃብ እዩ። እቲ ብረት ዓጢቑ ዘሎ ሰራዊት ኤርትራ’ኳ ከም ኣብነት እንተወሲድና፡ እቲ ዝያዳ ሓርነታዊ ለውጢ ዝጽበ ግዳይ እዩ። ከምኡ ስለ ዝኾነ እዩ ከኣ ንህግደፍ ራሕሪሕዎ ዝስደድ ዘሎ። ስለዚ ክምለስ ዘለዎ ምሉእ ሕቶ ህዝብና እምበር፡ እንዳቆርመምካ እንዳ ሸርመምካ ኣይኮነን። እዚ ኣብ ህላወ ኢሳይያስን መጎልበቢ ጉጅለኡን ዝረጋገጽ ከምዘይኮነ ከኣ ምግንዛብ የድሊ።

An unseemly row has broken out between the Italian and Dutch governments over who is responsible for 47 refugees saved after their craft sank 10 days ago.  Some 50 refugees and migrants drowned.

Seawatch – a maritime rescue organisation working in the Mediterranean – has appealed to both sides to come to an agreement about what to do about the men, women and 13 children, now on board their vessel Seawatch 3.

The boat is effectively stranded: moored 1.4 miles off the coast of Sicily.

The mayor of the Sicilian port of Syracuse says he would welcome the survivors, but the Italian authorities have refused permission to land.

Instead, the captain of the rescue vessel, Captain Jeroen, has been instructed by the Italian government to find another port to take the refugees. The Italian Minister of the Interior, Matteo Salvini has threatened to take legal action against the crew accusing them of supporting illegal migration.

Mr Salvini told the Dutch authorities they are responsible for the fate of the refugees, since Seawatch 3 is registered in the Netherlands.

But this is not happening, as Jelle Goezinnen, spokesman for Seawatch, explained, since the Dutch have refused.

“The Dutch government says it has no responsibility to find a port at which the 47 can be landed,” says Jelle Goezinnen. “But its clear under the Search and Rescue Convention, which is legally binding, that the responsibility for finding a port is a shared between the coastal state (Italy) and the flag state (the Netherlands.)”

A delegation of Italian Members of Parliament visited the asylum seekers on Sea Watch 3 on Sunday. The delegation consisted of Nicola Fratoianni, Riccardo Magi and Stefania Prestigiacomo, the Mayor of Siracuse Francesco Italia, as well as doctors and lawyers. The MPs called for an immediate disembarkation of the 47 survivors.

Professor Mirjam van Reisen from Tilburg University argues that Sea-Watch is operating within the law to save lives. “The Italian prosecutor confirmed this,” she says.

“While Italy must open its harbours, as local ports are ready to receive the ship, the Netherlands should help to shoulder the responsibility. Many of the victims of the shipwreck are minors and most, if not all, are victims of human trafficking in Libya and need protection.”