Eritrea

In a report delivered to the United Nations Human Rights Council on 20 June, the Special Rapporteur on the human rights situation in Eritrea described a deterioration in freedom of religion in the country. The report, which covered the period between April 2022 and April 2023, detailed ‘renewed waves of arrests’ of adherents of denominations not recognised by the state and of religious leaders critical of the country’s human rights record. It estimated that at the end of the reporting period over 400 Christians were being arbitrarily detained. Elsewhere, the report described an upsurge in forced conscriptions into the military between mid- and late 2022, which was carried out using increasingly coercive methods, including the torture and forced eviction of families of draft dodgers. The upsurge was driven by Eritrea’s involvement in the war in Ethiopia’s Tigray province that was formally ended by a peace deal signed in November 2022.

Torture Arbitrary Detention

A report from the UN Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in Eritrea to the UN General Assembly, found that the country’s involvement in the war in Tigray, Ethiopia, has negatively impacted its human rights situation. It noted in particular that the increased militarization of the country has prompted a rise in forced conscriptions. Amongst the forced recruits are growing numbers of children and Eritrean refugees kidnapped from Ethiopia. The Special Rapporteur also reported that the arrest of at least 47 Christians has reversed a positive trend in freedom of religion. Civic and democratic space remains tightly closed, with Eritreans unable to express dissent or participate in decision-making and hundreds subject to prolonged and arbitrary detention. According to the report, no attempts had been made by the government to tackle impunity and victims of human rights abuses continue to be denied access to justice. 

UN Special Rapporteur