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Eritrea

Eritrea is now one of the most repressive States in the world. Freedoms of movement, religion, expression, and assembly are severely restricted contrary to the country’s domestic and international legal responsibilities. Tens of thousands of political prisoners are detained, many incommunicado, without charge or trial. There is no independent civil society to speak of and all independent and private media outlets have remained shut since a crackdown in 2001; largely obscuring the extent of the situation to the outside world .

The international community’s sole focus on the issue of security has undermined the sorry state of the human rights situation in the country. Efforts to pressurize the government of Eritrea to implement its constitution and abide by the international and regional human rights standards which she has ratified have also not yielded much. 

Arbitrary arrest and detention without trial are an everyday practise in Eritrea. People are regularly arrested without warrants, in particular during clampdowns on draft evaders, members of non-registered churches or on critics or alleged critics of the government or the military.

Political freedom is inexistent as the country is a one-party state under the control of the ruling People’s Front for Democracy and Justice (PFDJ). The presidential elections which were planned for 1997 have never taken place. On the 18th September 2001, a more reformist group of the ruling party, which included several generals and former ministers, known as the Group of 15 (G15) were arbitrarily arrested after they called for the implementation of democratic reforms, including the implementation of the Constitution. This group continues to be held incommunicado and none of them have yet been charged or brought to court. It is believed that several have since died as a result of the harsh prison conditions and the torture and cruel, inhumane and degrading treatment or punishment to which they have been subjected to. Other supposed opponents of the regime have also been detained by a regime increasingly paranoid. As a result opposition parties are forced to operate in exile.

Prison conditions in the country remain poor as prisoners are tortured and ill treated leaving in inhuman conditions. According to a Human Rights Report realeased by Human Rights Watch, detention includes several beatings which often lead to permanent physical damage. 1

Freedom of religion is restricted in Eritrea since 2002. Only the official four religions are allowed to practice that is Islam, Catholics, orthodox and the Lutheran while Persecution of members of minority Christian churches, notably Pentecostals and Jehovah Witnesses is rampant.

Eritrea has had no independent civil society or media to speak of since the September 2001 crackdown by the authorities leading to the arrest and detention of journalists, the forced exile of others and the closure of the few independent media houses in operation. Eritrea is the only country in Sub-Saharan Africa which does not have a single operating independent or private news outlet as private ownership of media and international influence or ownership of media are banned. As a result, there is absence of critical reporting on the human rights situation, resulting from the ongoing clampdowns which largely block off the country to the outside world especially on the extent of the human rights violations occurring in the country. This situation has also forced population and particularly HRDs to leave their country crossing dangerous borders to the neighbouring countries.

The fate of 10 journalists who disappeared into secret prisons following the September government crackdown has to date not officially been known however recent developments reveled  the supposed deaths of five journalists in government custody and the whereabouts, health, and detention conditions of the others.2 This was revealed by Eyob Bahta Habtemariam a former supervisory guard at two prisons northeast of the country’s capital at a broadcast by Radio Wegahta

With the inexistent independent media or civil society, there isn’t any freedom of association or expression to talk about. The government of Eritrea does not allow the formation of private associations and this includes labour unions and self help organisations.3