HRC59: Oral Statement during interactive dialogue with the Special Rapporteur on Eritrea

Item 2: Interactive Dialogue with Special Rapporteur on Eritrea

Speaker:Claire Denman

Thank you, Mr President.

CSW welcomes this report, and thanks Dr Babiker for persisting in this vital work, despite Eritrea’s regrettable lack of engagement.

We call on this Council to renew the Special Rapporteur’s mandate, ensuring it is fully supported and resourced, and that the resolution clearly articulates and condemns the grave violations the Eritrean authorities continue to commit in a context of flagrant, systematic and widespread impunity.

We echo the Special Rapporteur’s concerns regarding the escalation of religious persecution, the ongoing and unwarranted interference in the affairs of the Orthodox Church, and the prolonged arbitrary detention and enforced disappearances of religious leaders and members of religious and belief communities, some of them held for over 20 years without trial or charge.

We are also troubled by continuing reports of transnational repression committed by diplomatic missions and individuals close to them who extort, attack or otherwise harass members of the Eritrean diaspora, as well as by the ongoing commission of extraterritorial crimes by Eritrean forces in occupied areas of Tigray.

Mr President, this session marks the 10 years since the publication of the first report of the Commission of Inquiry on Eritrea, mandated by this Council.

The Commission found that ‘systematic, widespread and gross human rights violations have been and are being committed by the Government of Eritrea and that there is no accountability for them.’ These findings remain true today.

Therefore, we urge the Council to prioritise justice and accountability by implementing the recommendations of the 2015 and 2016 COI reports, and maintaining close scrutiny on human rights violations committed by the Eritrean authorities both domestically and transnationally.

Thank you.