Eritrea - Universal Periodic Review

UPR 32, January 28, 2019
Recommendations by Canada

Recommendations

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Thank you, Mr. President.

Canada welcomes Eritrea’s signing of a peace agreement with Ethiopia and recent rapprochements with both Somalia and Djibouti. However, we remain concerned about restrictions on many fundamental rights, including the right to freedom of expression and religion.

Canada recommends that Eritrea:

1. Immediately end the practice of indefinitely extending National Service, a system which amounts to forced labour.
2. Immediately end its practice of arbitrary arrest and indefinite detention, torture and ill-treatment of detainees.
3. Take steps to improve the protection of religious and belief communities and ensure their protection from persecution by permitting all religions and releasing all prisoners being held for their religious beliefs and practices.
4. Allow the incoming Special Rapporteur access to Eritrea and work with her to identify reform benchmarks and an implementation plan to address key areas of concern.

We would also remind Eritrea, as a member of the HRC, of its responsibility to cooperate with UN Special Procedures.

Background

According to UPR Info, a non-profit, non-governmental organization (NGO) that tracks the Universal Periodic Review (UPR) process, in the first two cycles of the UPR, Eritrea received 200 recommendations and accepted 92 (42% acceptance rate). Canada’s previous recommendations to Eritrea were related to the persecution of religious minorities, civil rights, and ending indefinite conscription.

Eritrea, which is party to six of the nine core international human rights treaties, is governed by an authoritarian regime and has among the worst human rights records in the world. Thousands of Eritreans flee the country monthly to avoid mandatory military conscription which is supposed to last 18 months, but in practice results in indefinite forced labour, as many Eritreans spend the majority of their working lives in military service, receiving insufficient pay to cover basic living expenses.

Many Eritreans are subject to arbitrary arrest and indefinite detention. Prison conditions are poor, with many prisoners allegedly subjected to torture and other degrading treatment. All independent civil society organizations and media are banned. Bans on many religious faiths also remain in place, with practitioners of banned religions subject to reprisals, including potential imprisonment.

Despite a thawing of relations with Ethiopia, freedom of movement in Eritrea remains restricted.  Eritrea has also consistently denied access to the country’s UN Special Procedures, including the country-specific Special Rap­por­teur, thus making it virtually impossible to independently verify the many allegations of human rights violations.