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SMS ዓቕሊ ጽበት ህግደፍ

ነቲ ኣብ ጋቢና ወይውን ኣብ ባኮ ተዓሺጉ ብመቓልሕ ናይታ እንኮ ዝኾነት ብሓንቲ ልሳ ናይ ሓሶት መጋቤሪያ ቲቪ ኤረን ጋዜጣ ሓዳስ ኤርትራን ጸሚሙ ዝነብር ዘሎ ህዝብና፡ ማዕከናት ዓለም ከይሰምዕ ዝተሓረሞ ህዝቢ፡ ጉጂለ ውልቀ መላኺ ኢሰያስ ነቲ ብመርማሪ ኮምሽን ውድብ ሕቡራት ሃገራት ኣብ ሰብኣዊ መሰላት ኤርትራ፣ ምልካዊ ስርዓት ኢሳይያስ ገበናት ኣንጻር ሰብኣውነት Crimes Against Humanity ከምዝፈጸመ ዘማሓላለፎ ጋዜጣዊ መግለጺ፡ ኣብ ዝመጽእ መስርሕ ኣብ ኣህጉራዊ ገበናዊ ቤትፍርዲ ዘ-ሄግ ቀሪቡ ክፍረድ ከም ዝኾነ ዝራዓደ ምልኪ ኢሰያስ ህዝቢ ከይፈልጦ ነቲ ብኮምሽነር ዝሓለፈ ውሳነ ዝኣልሞ ዘሎ ውዲታት ህዝቢ ንምድንጋር ሕቡራት ሃገራትን ኣመሪካን ኤርትራ ምስ ኢትዮጵያ ክጽምብርዋ ደሊዮም ብዝብል ጎስጓስ ካብ ኤምባሲታቱ ዝማሓላለፍ ዘሎ በቶም ኮራኹሩ ዝኾኑ መንደልሓቕቲ ንቀረብቶምን ነቶም ኢሰምዑናዮም ዝብልዎም ሰባት ኤሰመስ SMS እንዳሰደዱ ፕሮፓጋንዳ ይዝርጉሑ ኣለዉ። ኣብ ሽወደን ዝርከብ ህዝቢ ብሽወደን ዝተጻሕፈ ከምዚ ይብል… Nu eller aldrig, historia upprepar sig, västländer, USA och FN i spets har aldrig velat ha en självständig Eritrea. De vill ha Eritrea som en del av Etiopien. Nu är upp till oss att försvara vårt kära land, vårt folk och vår regering. Detta är en direkt angrepp på Eritrea som stat. Det har ingenting med mänskliga rättigheter att göra. Det är falsk anklagelse bara för att , de vill inte ha ett fritt och oberoende Eritrea. De vill ha en till Libyen, Irak eller Syria. Vi ska visa vårt stöd till Eritreanska folket. De ska inte beröva oss våra rättigheter att få vara Eritreaner. Nu måste alla åka till Geneve och visa de att vi har varit om det här tidigare, vi har betalt dyrt med vårt blod och vunnit förr och vi ska besegra de nu som tidigare. Alla måste åka nu till Geneve , de som inte kan åka får medverka så att andra åker. Aset N’Hafash ብትግርኛ ከምቲ ዘለዎ ዝተተርጎመ… ሕጂ ወይ ኣበደን፡ ታሪኽ ንኽድገም፡ ሃገራት ምዕራባዊያንን፡ ኣመሪካን፡ ሕቡራት-ሃገራትን ናይ ኤርትራ ነጻነት ኣሚነሙሉ ኣይፈልጡን። እቲ ድሌቶም ኤርትራ ኣካል ኢትዮጵያ ክትከውን ኢዮም ዝጽዕሩ። ስለዚ ሕጂ’ዩ ሰዓቱ ነታ ንፈትዋ ሃገርናን ንህዝብናን ንመንግስትናን ክንካላኸል ዘለና። እዚ ብቀጥታ ምውራር ንኤርትራ ከም ሓንቲ  ልኡላውነት ሃገር ምጉባጥ ኢዩ። እዚ ምስ ሰብኣዊ መሰላት ኤርትራ ብፍጹም ዘራኽብ የብሉን። እዚ ፋልሶ ዝኾነ ናይ መርማሪ ኮምሽን ውድብ ሕቡራት ሃገራት ክሲ፡ እቲ ዘይድሌቶም ጥራሕ ሰላምን ናይ ኤርትራ ብልጽግና ክሪኡ ዘይዋሓጠሎም ምዃኖም’ዩ። እቲ ድሊየቶም ሓንቲ ተወሳኺት ከምእኒ ሊቢያን፡ ኢራንን ሱሪያን ኢዩ። ከነርኢዮም ኣለና ሕቡናት ህዝቢ ምዃንና። ነቲ መሰልና ክወስዱልና የብሎምን ኤሪትራውነትና። ናይ ግድን ኩልና ሕጂ ናብ ጀነቫ ከድና ከነርኢዮም ኣነና ከምቲ ዝሓለፈ ቅድሚሕጂ። ዝኸበረ ከፊልና ኢና ብደምና ዝሳዓርናዮም ሕጂውን ከምቲ ዝሓለፈ። ኩሉ ናይግድን ናብ ጀነቫ ክኸይድ ኣለዎ። እቶም ክኸዱ ዘይክእሉ ንኻልኦት ክታሓባበርዎም ኣለዎም ንኽኸዱ። ዓወት ንሓፋሽ    

ትርጉም ብእንግልዘኛ… Now or never, history repeats itself, the Western countries, the United States and the United Nations in lace has never wanted an independent Eritrea. They want Eritrea as part of Ethiopia. Now it is up to us to defend our dear country, our people and our government. This is a direct attack on Eritrea as a state. It has nothing to do with human rights to do. It’s false accusation simply because they do not want a free and independent Eritrea. They want to Libya, Iraq or Syria. We should show our support to the Eritrean people. They should not deprive us of our rights to be Eritreans. Now everyone must go to Geneva and show the that we have been about this earlier, we have paid dearly with our blood and won before, and we will defeat the now as before. Everyone must now go to Geneva, those who can not go to be involved so that other field. Awet N’Hafash

ምስዚ ኣብ ላዕሊ ተጠቒሱ ዘሎ ህግደፋዊ ፕሮፓጋንዳ ዝተታሓሓዘ ወጋሕታ 12 ሰነ 2016 ኣብ ዶባት ኤርትራን ኢትዮጵያን ብወገን ጸሮና ንሓያለ ሰዓታት ዝቐጸለ ብርቱዕ ውግእ ከምዝተኻየደ ይፍለጥ። ውልቀ መላኺ ኢሰያስ ኣብዚ ፈተነዚ ክልተ ጸወታዩ ዝደሊ ዘሎ። ቀዳማይ ንህዝቢ ንምድንጋር፡ እቲ ካልኣይ ነቲ ገበናት ኣብ ልዕሊ ህዝብና ኣውሪድዎ ዘሎ ዝወረዶ ፍርዲ ግዜ ንምንዋሕን መመኽነታ ኣብ ኲናት ኢዩ ዘሎ ክባሃል መታን ግዜ ክናዋሓሉ ንምጽዓር እዩ። እዚ ሜላ’ዚ ግን የዋጽኦ ዲዩ ኣየዋጽኦን ቀስ ኢልካ ዝረኤ ጉዳይ ኢዩ። 

ውህደት ደሞክራሲያዊት ኤርትራ ኣብ ኢጣልያ
Coordinamento Eritrea Democratica

ዕለት 08/06/16

ኣገዳሲ መግለጺ

ኩነታት ህዝብናን ሃገርናን ካብ ዕለት ናብ ዕለት ናብ ዝኸፍአ ይኸይድ ኣሎ። ናይዚ ኩሉ ጠንቂ ከኣ ብሓደ ሰብ ዝቖመ ስርዓት ዝወለዶ ኢዩ።

PDF ኣገዳሲ መግለጺ

ምጽራይ ሕ.ሃ. ገበናት ኣንጻር ሰብኣውነት ኣብ ኤርትራ ረኺቡ

Geneva (8 June 2016) – ገበናት ኣንጻር ሰብኣውነት፡ ብዝሰፍሐን ሜላውን መልክዕ ኣብ ናይ ኤርትራ መዳጎኒ ማእከላት፡ ወተሃደራዊ መሰልጠኒ ማእከላት ከምኡ ውን ኣብ ካልኦት ቦታታት እታ ሃገር ኣብ ውሽጢ ዝሓለፋ 25 ዓመታት ተፈጺሞም፡ ብመሰረት ረቡዕ ዝተዘርግሐ ሓድሽ ጸብጻብ ናይ ሕ.ሃ. ኮምሽን ምጽራይ ሰብኣዊ መሰላት ኤርትራ።

ገበናት ባርነት፡ ማእሰርቲ፡ ግዱድ ምስዋር፡ መስቀይቲ፡ ምግፋዕ፡ ጾታዊ ዓመጽ፡ ቅትለትን ካልኦት ኢሰብኣዊ ተግባራትን፡ ከም ኣካል ናይ ሰፊሕን ሜላውን ወፍሪ ኣብ ህዝቢ ራዕዲ ንምዝራእ፡ ተቓውሞ ህዝቢ ንምግታእን መወዳእትኡ ድማ ንናይ ኤርትራ ሲቪላዊ ህዝቢ ኣብ ትሕቲ ቁጽጽር ንምእታውን ካብ 1991 ዓ.ም ማለት ኤርትራውያን ሰበ-ስልጣናት ቁጽጽር መሬት ኤርትራ ምስ ተረከቡ፡ ዝተፈጸሙ እዮም፡ ይብል እቲ ጸብጻብ።

ኤርትራ፡ መላኺ መንግስቲ ዘለዋ ሃገር እያ። ኣብ ኤርትራ፡ ነጻ ፈራዲ ኣካል የለን፡ ሃገራዊ ባይቶ የለን፡ ካልኦት ዲሞክራስያውያን ናይ ምሕደራ ኣካላት ውን የለዋን። ካብዚ ናይ ምሕደራን ግዝኣተ ሕግን ባዶነት ዝመንጨወ ናይ ዘይተሓታትነት ሃዋህው ድማ ነቶም ኣብ ዝሓለፈ ርብዒ ዘመን ዝተፈጸሙ ገበናት ኣንጻር ሰብኣውነት ኣኽኢሉ። “እዞም ገበናት ሎሚ ውን የጋጥሙ ኣለው፡” ኢሉ ማይክ ስሚዝ፡ ኣቦ-መንበር ኮምሽን ምጽራይ።

“ናይ ኤርትራ ስርዓተ-ፍርዲ፡ ንገበነኛታት ብርትዓውን ግሉጽን መንገዲ ተሓተትቲ ክገብሮም እዩ ዝብል ርጉጽ ተስፋ የሎን። ፈጸምቲ እዞም ገበናት ኣብ ሕጊ ክቐርቡ ኣለዎም፡ ድምጺ ናይ ግዳያት ድማ ክስማዕ ኣለዎ። ማሕበረ-ሰብ ዓለም ሕጂ ስጉምቲ ክወስድ ይግብኦ፡ እንተላይ ንኣህጉራዊ ቤት-ፍርዲ ገበነኛታት (ICC)፡ ን ኣብ ቤት-ፍርድታት ሃገራቶም ዘለዉ ሕጋጋትን ካልኦት ኣገባባትን ብምጥቃም፡ ተሓታትነት ናይቶም ኣብ ኤርትራ ዝፍጸሙ ዘለዉ ግፍዕታት መታን ክረጋግጽ፡” ክብል ስሚዝ ጠቒሱ።

እቲ ጸብጻብ፡ “ኤርትራውያን፡ ኣደዳ ገደብ-ዘይብሉ ሃገራዊ ኣገልግሎት፡ ሃውራዊ ማእሰርቲ፡ ብሰንኪ ብህሎኣዊ ገበን ኣባላት ስድራ ዝወርዱ ሕኒ-ሕነኣዊ ስጉምትታት፡ ኣድልዎ ብሰንኪ ሃይማኖትን ብሄርን፡ ጾታዊ ዓመጽን ጾታ-ዝመበገሲኦም ዓመጻትን መቕተልትን ኮይኖም ይቕጽሉ ከም ዘለዉ፡” ብተወሳኺ የብርህ።

ገደብ-ኣልቦ ፕሮግራማት ወተሃደራዊ/ሃገራዊ ኣገልግሎት ብተደጋጋሚ ብኤርትራውያን ከም ቀንዲ ጠንቂ ካብታ ሃገር ምህዳሞም ይጥቀሱ። ኣብ 2015, 47,025 ኤርትራውያን ኣብ ኤውሮፓ ዑቕባ ሓቲቶም። ብዙሓት ካብኣቶም፡ ነቲ ሓደገኛ ጉዕዞ መዲተራኒያን ብሰንኮፍ ጃልባታት፡ ብደላሎ ሰባት እንዳተመዝመዙ፡ ድሕነት ንምድላይ ዝሰገሩ እዮም።

እቲ ጸብጻብ ብምውሳኽ፡ ብ ሰነ 2015 ኣብ ዝተዘርግሐ ቀዳማይ ጸብጻብ ኮምሽን ምጽራይ ተሰኒዶም ዝነበሩ ኩነታት ሰብኣዊ መሰላት ዝኾነ ምምሕያሽ ከም ዘይተራእየ ይምልከት።

እቲ ጸብጻብ “ፍሉያት ውልቀ-ሰባት፡ እንተላይ ኣብ ዝለዓለ ጽፍሒ እታ ሃገር ዝርከቡ ሰበ-ስልጣናት መንግስቲ፡ እታ ኣብ መሪሕነት ትርከብ ሰልፊ – ህዝባዊ ግንባር ንደሞክራስን ፍትሕን (ህ.ግ.ደ.ፍ.) – ከምኡ ውን ኣዘዝቲ ሰራዊት፡ ተሰከምቲ ሓላፍነት ናይቲ ገበናት ኣንጻር ሰብኣውነትን ካልኦት ግሉሓት ግህሰታት ሰብኣዊ መሰላትን ምዃኖም፡” የለሊ።

እቲ ጸብጻብ ቀጺሉ፡ “ቤት-ጽሕፈት ሃገራዊ ድሕነት ተሰካሚ ሓላፍነት ናይ መብዛሕኦም ጉዳያት ሃውራዊ ማእሰርቲ፡ ግዱድ ማሕዩርን መስቀይቲ ኣብ ወግዓውያንን ዘይወግዓውያንን መዳጎኒ ማእከላትን እዩ፡” ይብል።
ኮምሽን፡ ኣብ ልዕሊ ዝቑጸሩ ውልቀ-ሰባት፡ ተሰከምቲ ሓላፍነት ናይ ገበናት ኣንጻር ሰብኣውነት ምዃኖም ንምእማን ርትዓዊ ምኽንያት ዘለና፡ ጸብጻብ መርትዖ ሰኒዳ ኣላ። እቲ መርትዖ፡ ኣብ ምዱብ ግዜኡ ንዝምልከተን ኣካላት ምሕደራ ክፉት ክግበር እዩ፡ እንተላይ ንቤት-ፍርድታት ሕጊ፡ ጽኑዕ መምርሒታት ምሕላው ድሕነት ናይ መሰኻኽር ብምኽታል፥ መታን ህዝቢ ኤርትራ ፍትሒ ከም ዝረክብ ንምርግጋጽ።

መሰረት እቶም ኣብዚ ጸብጻብ ተገሊጾም ዘለዉ ኣገባባት ኣካይዳ፡ 833 ቃለ-ምስክርነታት ብኤርትራውያን ከምኡ ውን 160 ጽሑፋት ደብዳቤታት፡ ኣብ ቀዳማይ ገጽ ስራሕ ኮምሽን ምጽራይ፡ ካብ ፍርቂ-2014 ክሳዕ ፍርቂ-2015፡ ዝተቐበልናዮም እዮም።

ኮምሽን፡ ካልኣይ መርመራኣ እናካየደት ኣስታት 45,000 ደብዳቤታት ተቐቢላ። ዝበዝሑ ካብዚኦም፡ ንናይ ኮምሽን ቀዳማይ ጸብጻብ ዝነቕፉ ብእኩብ ዝተጻሕፉ ደብዳቤታትን ጥርዓናትን እዮም።

እዞም ደብዳቤታት፡ ሓባራዊ ቴማታትን ተመሳሳሊ ትሕዝቶን ዘለዎም ኮይኖም፡ ቀጥታዊ ውጽኢት ናይ ብመንግስቲ ዝተጠርነፈ ነቲ ምጽራይ ንምጽላም ዝዓለመ ዘመተ እዮም። ዝተማልአ ትንተና እዞም ደብዳቤታት ድሕሪ ምክያድ፡ ኮምሽን፡ ንመርመራታታ ዝምልከት ጭቡጥ ሓበሬታ ከም ዘይምልኡ ደምዲማ።

እቲ ጸብጻብ፡ “እቲ ኣብ ኤርትራ ሳሕቲ ንዝበጽሕን ነቶም ኣብ ክፋላት እታ ርእሰ-ከተማ ዝተሓጽሩን ብግህዶ ዝረኣይ ግዳማዊ መልክዕ ህድኣትን ንቡርነትን፡ ምስቶም ብቐጻልነት ዝረኣዩ ከበድቲ ግህሰታት ሰብኣዊ መሰላት ዝገራጮ እዩ፡” ይብል።

እቲ ጸብጻብ ብምቕጻል፡ “እቶም ብ ኮምሽን ተሰኒዶም ዘለዉ ኣብ ኤርትራ ዝተፈጸሙ ዓይነታት ግሉሕ ግህሰታት ሰብኣዊ መሰላት … ኣብ ጽርግያታት ኣስመራ ኣይኮኑን ዝፍጸሙ፡ እንታይ ደኣ? ኣብ ድሕሪ ሽፋን መናድቕ መዳጎኒ ማእከላትን ወተሃደራዊ መሰልጠኒ ማእከላትን። መስቀይትን ጾታዊ ዓመጽን ከም ንቡር ኣብ ክፉት ዝፍጸሙ ገበናት ኣይኮኑን፡” ይብል።

ሽሕ’ኳ ናብ መንግስቲ ኤርትራ ሕቶ እንተቕረበት፡ ኮምሽን ናብ ኤርትራ ንኽትኣቱ ፍቓድ ኣይረኸበትን። ኮምሽን፡ ናብ ኤርትራ በጺሓ ዝደሓረ ርኽበታታን ርእይቶታታን ብቐጥታ ናብ መንግስቲ ኤርትራ ከተቕርብ ድልውነታ ተረጋግጽ።

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ንዝያዳ ሓበሬታ ን ዳን ማክኖርቶን ኣብ [email protected] ወይ +41 79 618 3474፡ ተወከሱ።

ተወሳኺ ንመራኸቢ ብዙሓን ዘድልዩ ነገራት፡ እንተላይ ቪደዮ፡ ቢ-ሮል፡ ስእልታት፡ ምስክርነት ካብ መሰኻኽር፡ ፋክቶግራፊ ኣብ www.ohchr.org/CoIEritrea/ ክርከብ ይከኣል።

ገበናት ኣንጻር ሰብኣውነት፡ ከም ኣካል ናይ ዝሰፍሐ ወይ ሜላዊ መጥቃዕቲ ኣንጻር ዝኾነ ሲቪላዊ ህዝቢ ዝፍጸሙ ገበናት እዮም፡ ወላ ብረታዊ ግጭት ኣብ ዘይህልወሉ።

ኮምሽን ሰብኣዊ መሰላት ኤርትራ ብ ቤት ምኽሪ ሰብኣዊ መሰላት ኤርትራ ብ ሰነ 2014 ንመጀመርታ ዝቖመ እዩ።

ቀዳማይ ጸብጻብ ኮምሽን ምጽራይ ሰብኣዊ መሰላት ኤርትራ ብ 8 ሰነ 2015 ተዘርጊሑ፡ ኣብ ናይታ ሃገር ወተሃደራዊ/ሃገራዊ ኣገልግሎት ፕሮግራማት ዝካየዱ ግሉሓት ግህሰታት ሰብኣዊ መሰላት፡ እንተላይ ዝተናውሐ፡ ንዘይተወሰነ ግዜ ምዃኑ፡ ኣሰቃቒ ኩነታቱን ምጥቃም ክቱባት ን ግዱድ ዕዮን፡ ሰኒዱ።

ኮምሽን፡ ብ ሰነ 2015 ብ ቤት ምኽሪ ሰብኣዊ መሰላት ንኮምሽን፡ “ኣብ ኤርትራ ሜላዊ፡ ሰፊሕን ግሉሕን ግህሰታት ሰብኣዊ መሰላት ንምምርማር፡” መምርሒ ሂብዋ። ዕላማ እዚ መርመራ፡ ምሉእ ተሓታትነት ንምርግጋጽ እዩ፡ እንተላይ እዞም ግህሰታት ክሳዕ ደረጃ ገበናት ኣንጻር ሰብኣውነት ዝበጽሑ ምስ ዝኾኑ።”

ቃለ-መሕትታት ኣብ 13 ሃገራት ተኻይዶም- ኣውስትራልያ፡ ካናዳ፡ ጅቡቲ፡ ኢትዮጵያ፡ ፈረንሳ፡ ጀርመን፡ ጥልያን፡ ኔዘርላንድ፡ ኖርወይ፡ ሽወደን፡ ስዊዘርላንድ፡ ዩናይትድ ኪንግዶም (UK) ከምኡ ውን ሕቡራት መንግስታት ኣሜሪካ።

ኮምሽን፡ ሰለስተ ዘይሻራውያን ክኢላታት ትሓቁፍ፡ ኣቦ-መንበር ኣቶ ማይክ ስሚዝ (ኣውስትራልያ)፡ ኣቶ ቪክቶር ዳንክዋ (ጋና) ከምኡ ውን ወ/ሮ ሼላ ቢ. ኪታሩት (ማውሪሸስ)፡ ብተወሳኺ ከም ፍልይቲ ልኡኽ ሕ.ሃ. ኣብ ኩነታት ሰብኣዊ መሰላት ኤርትራ ኮይና ተገልግል ዘላ።

ኮምሽን ምጽራይ ጸብጻባ ናብ ቤት ምኽሪ ሰብኣዊ መሰላት ንዕለት 21 ሰነ 2016 ከተቕርቦ ተወጢኑላ ኣሎ።

Geneva (8 June 2016) – Crimes against humanity have been committed in a widespread and systematic manner in Eritrean detention facilities, military training camps and other locations across the country over the past 25 years, according to a new report by the UN Commission of Inquiry on Human Rights in Eritrea, released Wednesday.

Crimes of enslavement, imprisonment, enforced disappearances, torture, persecution, rape, murder and other inhumane acts have been committed as part of a campaign to instil fear in, deter opposition from and ultimately to control the Eritrean civilian population since Eritrean authorities took control of Eritrean territory in 1991, the report says.

“Eritrea is an authoritarian State. There is no independent judiciary, no national assembly and there are no other democratic institutions in Eritrea. This has created a governance and rule of law vacuum, resulting in a climate of impunity for crimes against humanity to be perpetrated over a quarter of a century. These crimes are still occurring today,” said Mike Smith, chair of the Commission of Inquiry.

“There is no genuine prospect of the Eritrean judicial system holding perpetrators to account in a fair and transparent manner. The perpetrators of these crimes must face justice and the victims’ voices must be heard. The international community should now take steps, including using the International Criminal Court, national courts and other available mechanisms to ensure there is accountability for the atrocities being committed in Eritrea,” said Smith.

The report highlights that “Eritreans also continue to be subjected to indefinite national service, arbitrary detention, reprisals for the alleged conduct of family members, discrimination on religious or ethnic grounds, sexual and gender-based violence and killings.”

The indefinite duration of military and national service programmes are frequently cited by Eritreans as the main reason for fleeing the country. In 2015, 47,025 Eritreans applied for asylum in Europe, many making the dangerous journey across the Mediterranean in unsafe boats, exploited by smugglers in search of safety.

In addition, the report notes that no improvement was found in the human rights situation documented in Eritrea during the first Commission of Inquiry report published in June 2015.

The report identifies that “particular individuals, including officials at the highest levels of State, the ruling party – the People’s Front for Democracy and Justice – and commanding officers bear responsibility for crimes against humanity and other gross human rights violations.”

The report further states that “the National Security Office is responsible for most cases of arbitrary arrest, enforced disappearance and torture in official and unofficial detention centres.”

Dossiers of evidence have been compiled on a number of individuals the Commission has reasonable grounds to believe bear responsibility for crimes against humanity. This evidence will be made available at the appropriate time to relevant institutions, including courts of law, following strict witness protection requirements, to ensure there is justice for the Eritrean people.

The patterns of conduct described in the report are based on 833 testimonies by Eritreans, including 160 written submissions received during the first term of the Commission of Inquiry, from mid-2014 to mid-2015.

The Commission received some 45,000 written submissions in the course of its second investigation. The vast majority of these were group letters and petitions critical of the Commission’s first report.

These submissions contained common themes, similar content and were the direct result of an organised Government campaign to attempt to discredit the Inquiry. A thorough analysis of these written submissions was conducted and the Commission concluded that they added no substantial information relating to its investigations.

The report states that “the façade of calm and normality that is apparent to the occasional visitor to the country, and others confined to sections of the capital, belies the consistent patterns of serious human rights violations.”

The report further states “that the types of gross human rights violations in Eritrea documented by the Commission … are not committed on the streets of Asmara, but rather behind the walls of detention facilities and in military training camps. Torture and rape are not normally perpetrated in the open.”

Despite requests to the Government of Eritrea, the Commission was denied access to visit the country. The Commission remains open to visiting Eritrea to present its latest findings and recommendations directly to the Government.

ENDS

NOTES TO EDITORS:

For more information please contact Dan McNorton on [email protected] or +41 79 618 3474.
Further media materials, including video, B-roll and witness testimony are available at: http://www.ohchr.org/COIEritreaMedia
Crimes against humanity are acts committed as part of a widespread or systematic attack against any civilian population, even in the absence of an armed conflict.
The Commission of Inquiry on human rights in Eritrea was first established by the Human Rights Council in June 2014.
The Commission’s first report was published on 8 June 2015 and documented a number of grave human rights violations in the State’s military/national service programmes, including their prolonged and indefinite duration, abusive conditions and the use of conscripts as forced labour.
The Commission of Inquiry was instructed by the UN’s Human Rights Council in July 2015 to further “investigate systematic, widespread and gross violations of human rights in Eritrea with a view to ensuring accountability, including where these violations may amount to crimes as against humanity.”
Interviews were conducted in 13 countries – Australia, Canada, Djibouti, Ethiopia, France, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, Norway, Sweden, Switzerland, the United Kingdom and the United States of America.
The Commission consists of three independent experts: Chairperson Mr. Mike Smith (Australia), Mr. Victor Dankwa (Ghana) and Ms. Sheila B. Keetharuth (Mauritius), who is also the UN Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in Eritrea.
The Commission of Inquiry is scheduled to present its report to the Human Rights Council in Geneva on 21 June 2016.

UN investigation reports a litany of crimes committed in Eritrea since 1991, including enslavement, rape and murder.

The crimes committed since 1991 include imprisonment, enforced disappearance, extrajudicial killings, and rape and murder, said the United Nations Commission of Inquiry (COI) on human rights.

The forced labour of military conscripts is also a major problem in the country, the UN said.

”We think that there are 300,000 to 400,000 people who have been enslaved,” chief UN investigator Mike Smith told journalists in Geneva.

The government also operates a shoot-to-kill policy to stop people fleeing the country, according to evidence collected by the UN inquiry.

About 5,000 Eritreans risk their lives each month to flee the nation where forcible army conscription can last decades.

”Very few Eritreans are ever released from their military service obligations,” Smith said.

One witness said that Air Force conscripts were made to work in a plantation that belonged to the Air Force chief. The conscripts were not paid and were sent to detention facilities if they refused to work.

These acts were perpetrated to terrify and control the civilian population, while crushing opposition, the Commission of Inquiry said.

”There is no genuine prospect of the Eritrean judicial system holding perpetrators to account in a fair and transparent manner,” Smith said.

The Commission of Inquiry recommended that the international community and the International Criminal Court get involved.

”Crimes against humanity have been committed in a widespread and systematic manner in Eritrean detention facilities, military training camps and other locations across the country over the past 25 years,” the UN commission said.

”Particular individuals, including officials at the highest levels of state, the ruling party – the People’s Front for Democracy and Justice – and commanding officers bear responsibility for crimes against humanity,” it said.

The 1991 split between Ethiopia and Eritrea followed a three-decade independence war, which saw Eritrean rebels battling far better-equipped Ethiopian troops backed first by Washington and then by the Soviet Union.

The country ranks below North Korea as the worst in the world for press freedom, according to Reporters Without Borders.

With an annual per capita gross national income of $480, Eritrea is one of the world’s poorest nations, according to the World Bank.