Item 2: Interactive Dialogue with the Special Rapporteur on Eritrea

Organisation: Christian Solidarity Worldwide (CSW)

Speaker: Claire Denman

Thank you, Mr President,

CSW thanks the special rapporteur for his insightful report, and regrets Eritrea’s continued non-cooperation with his mandate and other Council mechanisms.

Violations of the right to freedom of religion or belief continue across the country.

In March three families from Asmara were imprisoned in Mai Serwa.

In April, over 30  Christians were seized at night from their homes in Agordat, Barentu and Tessenay, and detained.

In May, 83-year-old-church leader Reverend Ghirmay Araya, whose son has been detained for seven years, died after almost three years in arbitrary detention.

Moreover, 15 of the 103 Christian students arrested in April 2023 while uploading music to YouTube remain detained. Most are members of the Evangelical Lutheran Church, ostensibly one of three permitted Christian denominations. Those released have not been allowed to resume their studies. Their ID cards were confiscated, thus they are effectively confined to their homes as they risk rearrest if caught without them in public.

Despite repeated articulations of support for the UPR process, Eritrea’s time on the Council is set to conclude without any discernible progress on accepted recommendations.

We therefore urge this Council to renew the Special Rapporteur’s mandate in order to ensure continued monitoring, documentation, and eventual accountability for historic and ongoing international crimes committed by the Eritrean authorities at home and abroad.

Thank you.