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Eritrean government accused of failing to cooperate with UN inquiry as abuses including detention and enforced military service are highlighted

The Eritrean government has been linked with “ruthless repression” and systemic human rights violations, including carrying out widespread detention and forcing citizens into indefinite military service, according to the UN’s first inquiry into human rights in the secretive country.

Rights abuses perpetuated by Eritrea’s government, coupled with dismal economic prospects, are driving hundreds of Eritreans out of the country every day, according to an interim report by the UN’s commission of inquiry on human rights in Eritrea.

“Most Eritreans have no hope for their future,” said Mike Smith, chairman of the commission, which was formed in June last year. “National service, whether in a military unit or in a civil assignment, is the only thing that from the age of 17 they can expect to spend their life doing – paid between less than $1 and a maximum of $2 a day.”

Describing Eritrea’s culture of “pervasive state control”, Smith said a network of spies had been created that permeated the basic fabric of everyday life. “A man employed by national security might not know that his daughter is similarly employed,” he said, noting that extra-judicial executions, enforced disappearances and incommunicado detentions were commonplace.

“Is it surprising that, faced with such challenges, Eritreans leave their country in their hundreds every day?”

As of July last year, more than 320,000 Eritreans had fled the country, according to the UN’s High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR). After Syrians, Eritreans are the second most common nationality to arrive on Italian shores.

The UN commission’s interim report, released on Monday, is based on interviews with about 400 people, including government officials, in five different countries. It incorporates 140 written statements relating to human rights abuses in Eritrea.

The commission expressed concern that Eritrea’s government had “so far not cooperated” with its investigation and did not respond to repeated requests to visit the country to carry out research.

But the commission said that Eritrea was making some progress in improving human rights, noting that it had ratified the UN’s convention against torture and promised to reduce national service to 18 months. The commission will deliver its final report on Eritrea’s human rights situation in June.

Human Rights Watch (HRW) said the interim report showed “that it is essential for Eritrea to remain on the Human Rights Council’s agenda for the foreseeable future”. In the past, HRW has urged the Eritrean government to release political prisoners, let independent monitors into the country, allow independent media and end indefinite national service. HRW said there is no indication of progress on any of these points.

Eritrea has long been regarded as one of the world’s most secretive states, even drawing comparisons with North Korea. It was ranked at the bottom of the 180 countries assessed in Reporters Without Borders’ (RWB) 2015 press freedom index.

“Eritrea systematically violates freedom of expression and information. It is Africa’s biggest prison for journalists, with at least 16 currently detained – some of them held incommunicado for years,” said RWB.

Eritrea’s president, Isaias Afewerki, who has been in power since de facto independence from Ethiopia in 1991, has for decades used the threat of an outbreak of war with Ethiopia as a means of keeping his people under tight authoritarian rule.

In 1998, a brutal border war broke out between Eritrea and Ethiopia, killing an estimated 70,000 people on both sides. Despite agreeing to a new border under the 2000 Algiers agreement, which ended the conflict, Eritrea claims that Ethiopian forces continue to occupy positions in its territory.

The ensuing military stalemate between the two sides has led Eritrea to adopt a “no war, no peace” position with Ethiopia, according to the commission. “It is an expression abusively used by the Eritrean authorities to disregard international human rights law as if Eritrea was in a legal limbo,” Smith said.

Accusations that Eritrea was supporting the Somali Islamist group al-Shabaab led the UN security council to impose an arms embargo on the country in 2009. The UN also levied asset freezes and travel bans on some officials.

Human rights activists are pushing for tighter sanctions against key figures in Eritrea’s government, saying they continue to commit crimes against humanity under the guise of protecting the country from Ethiopian aggression.

“If the UN inquiry concludes there is a situation of crimes against humanity in Eritrea, which I very much hope it will do, then we can say the international community is duty bound to respond with actions commensurate to that of crimes against humanity,” said Daniel Mekonnen of the Eritrean Law Society, who added that he is hoping Eritrean leaders would be referred to the International Criminal Court.

The Eritrean government responded to the UN’s inquiry by criticising its reporting methods. Tesfamicael Gerahtu, an Eritrean diplomat, said: “My delegation is dismayed at the protracted reliance on unreliable, unproven and sensational information and interactions. Preconceived ideas and conclusions on Eritrea have become rampant.”

Leslie Lefkow, HRW’s Africa director, said: “The [Eritrean] government’s refusal to cooperate with human rights investigators is symbolic of its broader rejection of essential human rights reforms. Until that stance changes it is impossible to have meaningful impact on the domestic crisis and the massive exodus of Eritreans provoked by the dire human rights situation.”

By: Theguardian

ሕዝቢ ኤርትራ ኣብ ታሪኹ ርእይዎን ሰሚዕዎን  ዘይፈልጥ፥ ንኽትሰምዖ ዘደንጹን ዘስካሕክሕን ከቢድ ዝኾነ ፈተናታትን ስቓይን የሕልፍ ኣሎ። እዚ ድማ ብተደጋጋሚ ከም ዝተገልጸ፥ መርገም ናይዞም፥ ኣቦ ክኾኑና ብመሪሕነት መንፈስ ቅዱስ ዝተዋህቡና ወዲ 90 ዓመት ቅዱስ ኣቡነ እንጦንዮስን፥ ስቓይ እቶም  ብዘይፍርድን ሕግን ኣብ ጎዳጉድን ሸላታትን ዝነብዑ ዘለዉ ንጹሃት ዜጋታት፥ ንብዓት እተን ብዘይፍትሕ ዝማእመና፥ ዝኽትምና እቶም ብዘይመርድእ ኣቦኦም ዝነብሩ ዘለዉ ገጽ ኣቦኦም ዘይጸገቡ ንጹሃት ህጻናት ። ድኻም እቲ ወዲ ወዱ ዝሕንግር ዘሎን ቀባሪን ኮዓቲ ጉድጓድ ዘይብሉ ዝተረፈ ሽማግለ ኣቦ፥ ሓዘን እታ ሰበይቲ ወዳ ክትእብድ እትውዕልን፥ ገጽ ወዳ ዝሰኣነት ኣደን፥ ኮታ ክንደይ ኢልካ እሞ ክጽብጸብ ዘይቆረረት ስድራ፥ ዘይናፈቐት ሓፍትን፥ ገረውረው ዝበለ ካንሸሎ፥ ቆጺርካ ዝውዳእ ኣይኮነን።

ሕዝቢ ኤርትራ ብመራሕቲ ፖለቲካን ብመራሕቲ ሃይማኖትን ተጠሊሙ፥ ጉድጓድ ክፍሕር ይነብር ኣሎ።

እዚ ኩሉ ጸገምን ኣደራዕን ከብቅዕ፥ ካልእ እንተ ተረፈ፥ ኣብቲ እዉጅን ፍሉጥን እዋን-ሱባኤ ጾም ኣርብዓ፥ ካብ ጳጳሳት ጀሚሮም ኩሎም መነኮሳት ኣብ በዓትታትን ገዳማትን ሱባኤታትን ዝዕጸዉሉ፥ ካህናት ብቕዳሴን ብጸሎትን መስዋእቲ ዘዕርጉሉ፥ ምእመን ኩሉ ምሕረት ዝልምነሉ እዋን እዩ።  እዚ ኣብ እንጽበየሉ እዋን እዩ ድማ፥  ናይ ፖለቲከኛታት ልኡኽ ጉጅለ ብስም ሃይማኖት፥ በቶም ነጹርን ግሉጽን ክሕደት እግዚኣብሔር ዘለዎም ኣባ ሉቃስ እናተመርሐ፥ ኣብ ሃገራት ኤውሮጳ ዓዲ ዓዲ ሸናዕ ዝብል ዘሎ።

እዚ ኩሉ ጉያን  ዓበድበድን ኣብ ጾም ኣርብዓ ናይ ኣባ ሉቃስ ሓደ ነገር ንምርካብ እዩ። ንሳ ድማ ስልጣን ፓትርያርክ ዓቃቢ መንበር ፓትርያርክን ንምርካብ እዩ።  እዚ ስልጣ እዚ ካብ እቲ ንቓሉ ርኹስ ዝበልዎ ሕያው ኣምላኽ ዘይኮነስ፥ ካብቶም ለኣኽቶም ፖለቲከኛታት ክብርን ስልጣንን ንምርካብ እዩ።

ኣባ ሉቃስ እዚ ኩሉ ገበን ዝፍጽሙ ዘለዉ፥ ዓገብ ዝብል ስለ ዝወሓደ፥ ኣጣቓዕቲ ስለ ዝረኸቡን፥ ኣነ ይንበር እምበር ናይ ካልእ እንታይ ገደሰኒ ዝብል ስለ ዝበዝሐን እዮም። ሃይማኖትና ተደፊሩ፥ ፓትርያርክና ተኣሲሮም፥ ንሕና ምስ መስቀልና ተሰከምቲ ብረት ገይሮሙና፥ ኢሎም ሞት ተሳጊሮም ዝመጹ፥ ኣብ ዝተዓቖቡለን ሃገራት ብሰንኪ እምነትናን መዓርግናን ፈተና በጺሕና ኢሎም ነቢዖም ዑቕባ ዝሓተቱን ካህናትን ዲያቆናትን፥ ነቶም ትማሊ ፖለቲካዊ ሓይሊ ከውሊ ገይሮም መረበት ዓደቦኦም ዘስኣንዎም በዓል ኣባ ሉቃስ ከም ንህቢ ዓሲሎሞም ክትርኢ ከሎኻ ነብስካ ትምንን። ብፍላይ ኣብዚ ኣብ ኤውሮጳ ታቦት ሃቡና ጥራይ እምበር ኣብዚ ኮንና ክንግብረልኩም ኢና ኢሎም፥ ኢድ ክነስኡን፥ ብኢድ እዞም ፍጹም ኣምላኽ ዝኸሓዱ ቆቢዕ ጵጵስና ዝለበሱ፥ ብውግዘት ስላሴ ዝተኣስሩ፥ ተባሪኾም ክቕበሉ ክትርኢ፥ ምእማኑ እዩ ዘጸግመካ። እምበርዶ ፍጡራት ሰባት እዮም? ዝብል ሕቶ ይቕረበካ። “ሕዝበይ ሰኣን ፍልጠት ይጠፍእ፥ ፍልጠት ስለ ዝኣበኻ ኣነ ድማ ካህን ከይትኾነኒ ክኣብየካ እየ። ሕጊ ኣምላኽ ስለ ዝረሳዕካ ኣነ ድማ ንደቅኻ ክርስዖም እየ።” ሆሴእ። ብመጠን እቲ ምብዝሓኦም ኣብዚሖም በደሉኒ፥ ኣነ ንኽብረቶም ናብ ነውሪ ክልውጦ እየ። ሓጢኣት ሕዝበይ ይቕለቡ፥ ልቦም ድማ ናብ ኣበሳኦም የድህብ ኣሎ። እቲ ካህን ከኣ ከም ህዝቢ ክኸውን እዩ። ኣነ ድማ ብሰሪ ኣካይዳኦም ክቐጽዖም፥ ግብሮምውን ክመልሰሎም እየ። ንእግዚኣብሔር ምስዓብ ሓዲጎም እዮም እሞ፥ ይበልዑ ኣይጸግቡን፥ ይምንዝሩ ኣይበዝሑን።” ሆሴእ 4:6-10።

ኣባ ሉቃስ ኣብ ውግእ ኢትዮ-ኤርትራ ቤተ ክርስቲያን ዓዲ ቀይሕ ብነፋሪት ተሃሪሙ ኣብ ቅድሚ ተለቭዥን ቀሪቦም ክበኽዩ ተራእዮም እዮም። ከመይሲ ኣብ ሓደ ጊዜ ናይ ምምሓልን ምንባዕን ባህርይ ዘለዎም ንኽነብሩን ክኸብሩን ክብሪ ኣምላኽውን ዘይግድሶም እዮም። ኣብዚ ሕጂ እዋን ብኣማኢት ዝቑጸሩ ክርስቲያናት፥ ቤቶም ፈሪሱ ስእነትን ሽግርን ደቆም ሒዞም ኣብ በረካን ጎልጎልን ዝጎሓፉሉ ዘለዉ እዋን ጾም ኣርብዓ፥ ኣብ ኤውሮጳ ፈቐዳ ሆቴላት ምስ ኤምባስታት መንግስትን ምስቶም ሕልናኦም ዝሸጡ ካህናትን ኣኼባታት የካይዱ ኣለዉ። ሕሉፍ ሓሊፎም 21 መጋቢት 2015 (12 መጋቢት 2007 ግእዝ) ምስቶም ንኣና ይጥዓመና እምበር ናይ ካልኦት እንታይ ገደሰና ዝብል ውሳኔ ዝመረጹ፥ ካህናትን ዲያቆናትን፥ ኣብ ዓዲ ጥልያን ኣኼባ ክገብሩ ይሻባሸቡ ኣለዉ። ብምትላል ዝመጽእ ምዕባለ ድማ የለን።

ሕዝቢ ኤርትራ ብሓፈሻ፥ ሕዝቢ ተዋህዶ ድማ ብፍላይ ነዞም ኣቦና ኣሲሮምን ኣጥፍኦምን ኣቦኹም እየ ዝብሉና ዘለዉ፥ ኣባ ሉቃስን ሰዓብቶምን ዝሓተሉ እዋን ክህሉ እዩ። ንእኦም ጸሓይ ትዓርቦም ኣላ፥ ነቶም ውጹዓት ግን ጸሓይ ናብ ምብራቓ እያ። “ንዳሕራይኪ ተስፋ ኣሎኪ፥ ደቅኺውን ናብ ዶቦም ክምለሱ እዮም” ኤርም። 31:17

ኣባ ሉቃስን መሰልቶምን፥ ንዝኸሓድዎ ኣምላኽ ይቕረታ ሓቲቶም ሱባኤ ኣትዮም ክንስሑ፥ ኣብ ጉድጓድ ንዘእሰርዎም ቅዱስ ፓትርያርክ ኣቡነ እንጦንዮስን ካህናትን፥ ደቆምን ኣንስቶምን ይቕረታ ክሓቱ፥ ጊዜ ዘለዎም እመስለኒ።

ዘንስር ዮሓንስ።

Bronze medallist in 2013 and silver medallist in 2010, Eritrea’s Teklemariam Medhin hopes to complete the set at this month’s IAAF World Cross Country Championships, Guiyang 2015.

Eritrea has made it on to the medals table at eight of the past nine editions of the World Cross. During that time, Medhin has picked up six medals in total, but none of them have been gold.

This winter, Medhin has been getting better with every race. After a fourth-place finish in Atapuerca and a second-place finish in Soria in November, he won in Seville and Elboibar in January against quality fields.

Joining him on the team is Eritrean cross-country champion and 2012 world junior 5000m silver medallist Abrar Osman, 2009 world youth 3000m bronze medallist Goitom Kifle and 19-year-old Tsegay Tuemay, who finished fourth in the junior men’s race at the 2013 World Cross.

African junior cross-country bronze medallist Afewerki Berhane leads the junior men’s team. National trials winner Aron Kifle is also in the squad.

Multiple national record-holder Nazret Weldu will be the sole senior woman entrant for Eritrea, while trials winner Hibret Debesay leads the junior women’s team.

IAAF

Eritrean team for Guiyang 2015

Senior men: Goitom Kifle, Teklemariam Medhin, Abrar Osman, Hiskel Tewelde, Berhane Tsegay, Tsegay Tuemay

Senior women: Nazret Weldu

Junior men: Berhane Amanuel, Afewerki Berhane, Abraham Habte, Yemane Haileselassie, Aron Kifle, Mogos Shumay

Junior women: Nebyat Abraham, Fanus Alem, Hibret Debesay, Yohana Gezae, Lucia Segid, Lemlem Teweldebrhan

ID COI on Human Rights in Eritrea Overview of the U.N. Human Rights Council at the United Nations in March 2015

A year-long United Nations investigation into human rights in Eritrea has found ”very clear patterns” of violations and no rule of law, according to an interim report delivered to the U.N. Human Rights Council on Monday.

GENEVA: A year-long United Nations investigation into human rights in Eritrea has found ”very clear patterns” of violations and no rule of law, according to an interim report delivered to the U.N. Human Rights Council on Monday.

”Most Eritreans have no hope for their future,” the chairman of the investigative team, Mike Smith, told the Council. ”Detention is an ordinary fact of life, experienced by an inordinate number of individuals – men and women, old and young, including children.”

(Reporting by Tom Miles; editing by John Stonestreet)

– Reuters