Eritrea

The East African nation of Eritrea is amongst the highest refugee-producing countries in the world. There are a number of reasons for this. People flee from 'national service', or as it could be called, 'a campaign of forced labour or slavery'. Or, they leave because of the lack of freedom of expression - the imprisonment of journalists, government Ministers and Generals in 2001 in particular made Eritreans lose their confidence in their ruling party.

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I was born on 27 November 1987 in Asmara and grew up with my four siblings. My mother died in 1996. In the same year, my father was arrested and imprisoned without explanation. After my mother had died, my grandmother on the mother's side took care of us and I had to help her. After she also died in 2001, my grandmother on the father's side came to us. She comes from a village. So I had to assist her and could not go to school. In 2003 I had to interrupt schooling.

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Eritrea is located in the Horn of Africa, and won its independence from Ethiopia after 30 years of a bitter, bloody and costly armed struggle. The war of independence started in 1961 and Eritrea formally declared independence on 24 May 1993, after an overwhelming yes vote in a referendum overseen by the United Nations.

Yosief Ghebrehiwet

The gold rush in Eritrea has attracted many Western companies, among them Canada’s Nevsun Resources Ltd. and Sunridge Gold; Britain’s Andiamo Exploration and London Africa; and Australia’s South Boulder, Sub Sahara Resources, Chalice Gold Mines Ltd. and Gippsland Ltd. And this doesn’t tell all that there is to the involvement of Western companies, for there are many subcontracted companies rushing to get in too, such as AMEC of Canada doing engineering study and Capital Drilling and Geo Drilling of Australia and Boart Longey of Canada doing drilling. But among the stories of the mining boom in Eritrea and the mining companies’ stocks going up and down, the dirtiest secret that has remained untold is the extensive use of slave labor in these mining projects.

A /HRC/13/2/Add.1

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26. NATIONAL SERVICE, UNDER-AGE MILITARY CONSCRIPTION, AND TORTURE (Recommendations 62-63; 67-71) Rejected:

A/HRC/13/2

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II. CONCLUSIONS AND/OR RECOMMENDATIONS

79. In the course of the discussion, the following recommendations were made to Eritrea. These recommendations will be examined by Eritrea, which will provide responses in due time. The response of Eritrea to these recommendations will be included in the outcome report to be adopted by the Human Rights Council at its thirteenth session:

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Human Rights Watch and the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) both released extensive reports on the human rights situation in Eritrea recently, requesting from other countries not to deport Eritrean asylum seekers fleeing military service. Human Rights Watch writes: "Enforced indefinite national service is an increasingly important element of Eritrea’s human rights crisis. Conscripts undergo military training, in itself not illegal. However, they are subjected to cruel military punishments and torture (...).

On 16 April 2009, Human Rights Watch produced a 95-page report - Service for Life - which includes a detailed description of human rights abuses involved in the practice of conscription in Eritrea, not only against the conscripts themselves but also their families, and not only during the period of military service but in forced labour afterwards.

The report in full is available here.

This submission focusses on the treatment of conscientious objectors and
others who seek to avoid military service in Eritrea.

Four male teenagers were caught and killed by Eritrean soldiers
after their attempt to cross the border to Ethiopia illegally. This was
reported by the Eritrean People's Party (EPP) on 11 February 2009.

Report of the Special Rapporteur on freedom of religion or belief,
Asma Jahangir

Addendum
Summary of cases transmitted to Governments and replies received

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Eritrea
Communication sent on 11 October 2007 jointly with the Special Rapporteur on the question of torture

Report of the Special Rapporteur on freedom of religion or belief,
Asma Jahangir

Addendum
Summary of cases transmitted to Governments and replies received

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Libya
Urgent appeal sent on 13 February 2007 jointly with the Special Rapporteur on the human rights of migrants and the Special Rapporteur on the question of torture