Ms. Navanethem Pillay
UN High Commissioner for Human Rights
Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR)
Palais des Nations
CH-1211 Geneva 10, Switzerland
Tel: +41-22-917-90-00
Fax: +41-22-917-9008 or +1-212-963-4097
Dear Ms. Pillay,
On behalf of the oppressed Eritrean people, we would like to direct our special thoughts of appreciation and our sincere gratitude to you and the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights for finally allowing, Amnesty International, Human Rights Watch, Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ), religious organizations and many other human rights organizations that have been documenting serious violations of a wide range of rights in Eritrea, including the right to freedom of expression, freedom of association and freedom of religion by Mr. Isaias Afewerki's PFDJ autocratic regime upon the people of Eritrea be raised on the United Nations Human Rights Council 6th session of Universal Periodic Review.
Your Excellency:
Using this opportunity we would like to express our profound concern regarding the distressing human rights situation of our fellow Eritrean asylum seekers who are currently languishing in various prison facilities of the world in general and the two horrifying countries, Libya and Egypt, in particular.
Your Excellency:
As you well know, the National Service in Eritrea should last for a year and half. However, in reality, this National Service has no end; hundreds of thousands are still serving for years on unnecessary hard slave labor in pretext of National Service and National Development Campaign. This endless military service and forced conscription have caused mass exodus of the youth from Eritrea to neighboring countries and much further beyond. Nowadays, in order to stop the mass exodus Mr. Isaias Afewerki's PFDJ autocratic regime has introduced a shoot-to-kill policy at border crossings and many have been shot dead, but this evil act has not stopped the mass exodus anyway since the problems that forced the Eritrean youth to flee the country are still in place.
Due to the high risk of being caught, severely tortured and even shot dead while attempting to flee the country the Eritrean youth are fleeing the country without proper knowledge where they are going and what their rights are. Unfortunately, some went to host countries such as Malta, Libya and Egypt, where they were forcibly returned to Eritrea without any legal process and upon arrival back to Eritrea they were detained incommunicado and tortured; some were shot dead and others died in prison due to harsh conditions. Despite international community call to the governments of Libya and Egypt to stop the ill-treatment of Eritrean asylum seekers both countries are still holding thousands of Eritrean asylum seekers in their prison facilities without access to human rights organizations such as the United Nations Higher Commission for Refugees (UNHCR). Therefore, we are seeking your assistance to urge the Libyan and Egyptian authorities to bring about unconditional release of all Eritrean asylum seekers and give unlimited and immediate access to the UNHCR in Libya and Egypt to assess their asylum claims, and if possible to give them an opportunity to be relocated to a third country.
Your Excellency:
Last but not least, we would like to kindly ask the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights among other things to provide Eritrean refugee camps in Ethiopia and Sudan with proper sanitation facilities and vocational training schools.
We look forward to hearing back from you regarding your progress on these important matters, as we look forward to a time when all Eritreans can freely exercise the basic human rights to which they are entitled. We thank you in advance for your cooperation in and attention to this matter.
Sincerely yours
Administrators and members of "Eritrean Room for Strong and United Opposition" in Paltalk
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Copy to:
- The Honorable Ban Ki-Moon
Secretary General
760 United Nations Plaza
United Nations
New York, NY 10017
Fax: 212 963-4475
- Mr Antonio Guterres
United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees
Palais des Nations
CH-1211 Geneva 10, Switzerland - Email: This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it
- Eritrean political organizations and civic societies
- Eritrean cyber communities Internet websites
