NGOs oral statement to the Human Rights Council 32nd ordinary session the report of UN Inquiry commission into human rights in Eritrea
21st June 2016
Mr. President, I deliver this statement on behalf of the Centre for Global Nonkilling and Release Eritrea.
The COI has uncovered heinous crimes against humanity being committed in detention facilities, military facilities and other locations inside Eritrea since 1991. The catalogue of crimes include: enslavement, imprisonment, enforced disappearance, persecution, rape, murder, torture, and other inhumane acts.
Amongst other findings, the report cites extrajudicial mass executions carried out by the regime against disabled veterans in 1994, Muslim teachers in 1997, conscripts in Adi Abeito Prison in 2004, and killings in Wia military training camp in 2005.
These crimes have been committed in a persistent, widespread and systematic manner, as part of the government’s policy to instill fear and maintain control over the civilian population and in the context of the absence of independent judiciary, national assembly, and other democratic institutions; creating a context of lawlessness and an associated culture of impunity.
Mr President, Despite the abject nature of these crimes the response from the regime has been total dismissal, we therefore support the recommendations of the COI. On the recommendation of referral to the ICC, it should be taken into consideration that from our perspectives, the essence here is to ensure accountability for the violations taking place by ending the culture of impunity and consequently improving respect for human rights in Eritrea.