Category: General

A report submitted to the U.N. Human Rights Council accuses the Eritrean government of involvement in Ethiopia’s conflict in the Tigray region and of committing serious human rights violations against Eritreans who have sought asylum in Tigray.

The special rapporteur on the human rights situation in Eritrea, Mohamed Abdelsalam Babiker, is new to the job, although in 2017 he was part of a U.N. monitoring team whose findings resulted in the imposition of sanctions on the country.

In this, his first report since he started his mandate in November, he pulled no punches. He presented a grim picture of a government that perpetrates gross human rights violations with impunity both at home and abroad.

“There are no tangible signs of progress or concrete evidence of improvement in the internal human rights situation in Eritrea. In addition, Eritrea extended its human rights violations extra-territorially or beyond its borders during this mandate and committed heinous human rights violations in the Tigray region of Ethiopia,” he said.

Babiker said he has received allegations that Eritrean troops in Tigray carried out deliberate attacks against civilians, summary executions, sexual and gender-based violence.

He said they also allegedly took part in the abduction and disappearance of Eritrean refugees and asylum seekers.

Babiker expressed particular concern about the reported destruction by Eritrean troops of two refugee camps in Hitsats and Shimelba in northern Tigray, which hosted more than 25,000 Eritrean refugees. The refugee camps are located near the two countries’ borders.

“I call on the Eritrean authorities to withdraw their forces from Tigray, to provide information about the whereabouts of the missing Eritrean refugees and to release any Eritrean refugees held in detention,” he said.

Turning to the situation inside Eritrea, Babiker said the only positive news he has to report is of the release of more than 100 Muslims, Orthodox Christians, and Jehovah’s Witnesses who were detained without charges and trial, some for over 20 years.

He urged the government to release all political prisoners and prisoners of conscience who have been held incommunicado for indefinite periods under inhumane conditions.

In his response to Babiker, Ambassador Tesfamicael Gerahtu of Eritrea’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs made no reference to an Eritrean troop presence in Ethiopia. He rejected the report, calling it politicized. He also called into question the legitimacy of the Special Rapporteur’s mandate and told the Council it should be abolished.

Source: Voice of America

June 20, Eritrea’s Martyrs Day was commemorated by nationals inside the country and abroad with patriotic zeal.

President Isaias Afwerki laid a wreath at Asmara’s Patriots Cemetery in the early morning hours today in Commemoration of Martyrs Day and in tribute to Eritrea’s best sons and daughters who paid the ultimate price to assert and defend Eritrea’s national independence and sovereignty.

Similarly, Martyrs Day was commemorated in all regions of the country by putting wreaths at their respective Martyrs Cemeteries. The commemoration events were conducted within the confines of COVID-19 Guidelines.

The event was also highlighted by tree-planting popular campaigns as well as cultural performances depicting the glorious legacy of the Martyrs and the steadfastness of the Eritrean people.

Exactly at 1:00 o’clock, a minute of silence in memory of the fallen heroes and heroines was observed by nationals inside the country and abroad in their homes.

On 19 June nationals inside the country and abroad also commemorated Martyrs Day with candle vigil inside their home.

Source: Ministry of Information Eritrea

Eritrean Martyrs Day Commemorated Throughout United Kingdom

Eritrean communities in the UK commemorated martyrs day in their respective localities. The official commemoration was broadcasted virtually live from Embassy Media studio on the 19th of June. The event was presided in the presence of the UK organising committee, martyr’s families and representatives of those undertaking sporting activities to mark the remembrance of Eritrean Martyrs.

During the virtual ceremony H.E. Estifanos Habtemariam, the Ambassador of the State of Eritrea to the UK and Ireland gave an opening speech and various other programmes, which reflected the event including interviews, artistic works, poems and songs by children were also presented .

On June 20th communities in 4 different locations of London (East, West, North & South) also commemorated the event. Communities Newcastle, Leicester, Manchester, Middlesbrough, Liverpool, Leeds, Sheffield, Coventry, Nottingham, Birmingham also commemorated the event.

Communities in Birmingham in particular on the 19th of June also commemorated the event in a unique manner in city centre. Eng Mulugeta Gebreab created lighting design which represents Eritrean Martyrs.

The design was very inspiring and captivating to kids. In what seems to be the first of its kind, they provided gifts to the children attending the event. As all other Eritreans in the UK, the community in Birmingham also commemorated the event on June 20th. In the sphere of sports, a 10k run also aimed at commemorating the event was also conducted by various individuals in London.

Mr Teame Tesfamariam, Mr Goitom Seyoum and others who ran along them today had also previously taken such initiatives in the past during COVID19 lock down. Mr Teame had last year run with his two sons to raise funds for Martyr’s families. Similarly, Mr Goitom also ran throughout the month of February for the Fenkil run challenge to raise funds to the Eritrean National War Disabled Veteran Association.

Similarly, the London cycling team which has been commemorating the event for the past 6 years, has also managed to cover yet again another 100 kms cycling ride to commemorate and raise awareness along their route. They have managed to successfully find many business sponsors and individuals who have contributed for their fundraising initiative. Notably they got a £500 donation form a non-Eritrean friend who had heard of their resourcefulness to raising funds for the cause.

Source: Dehai Eritrea Online

Nearly 6,000 people who fled jihadist violence in 2015 have returned home to the town of Baroua in southeast Niger’s troubled Diffa region, local authorities said Monday.

They are the first group to go home as part of a operation to return people to 19 towns and villages in the region, which has been ravaged by jihadists from neighboring Nigeria.

“It is a voluntary return of 1,187 households totaling 5,935 people” who returned on Sunday to Baroua, a town of some 15,000 near Lake Chad, said Yahaya Godi, a top official in the Diffa region.

Between 8,000 and 10,000 people are expected to return to Baroua in total.

State television showed images of around 20 trucks loaded with food, water, beds and building materials, with the returnees perched on top, arriving in Baroua.

Diffa is home to 300,000 refugees and internally displaced people (IDPs) who have fled attacks by the Nigeria-based jihadist group Boko Haram and its breakaway faction Islamic State West Africa Province (ISWAP), according to the UN.

Niger’s government gave the go-ahead for the return of IDPs “given positive changes in the (security) situation on the ground,” said Diffa regional governor Issa Lemine, who was in Baroua to welcome the returnees.

Niger’s security forces are working to ramp up protection for returning residents, he added.

Most of the IDPs had fled to other parts of the region, notably the city of Diffa itself.

Some 120,000 refugees from jihadist attacks in northeastern Nigeria are housed in camps around the Diffa region.

ISWAP has become a dominant threat in Nigeria, attacking soldiers and bases while killing and kidnapping civilians.

Baroua “is in ruins and we will have to start from scratch,” a local elected official told AFP.

Health clinics, drinking water distribution facilities, schools and mosques are “all run down”, he added.

Godi said people who are still reluctant to return will be encouraged by the stepped-up security as well as rebuilt infrastructure.

And the government will hire returnees to work on rebuilding projects in Baroua.

Niger’s President Mohamed Bazoum, elected in February, campaigned on a promise to return all refugees and displaced people to their homes by the end of 2021.

The former French colony, which by the yardstick of the UN’s Human Development Index is the poorest country in the world, also houses nearly 60,000 people who fled after the jihadist insurgency erupted in neighboring Mali in 2012.

Source: Voice of America

Somalia, Congo, Afghanistan and Syria top the list of the most dangerous conflict zones for children, the United Nations said Monday, accounting for nearly 60% of all violations among the entries on its annual blacklist of countries where children suffer grave abuses.

“Children can no longer be the last priority of the international agenda nor the least protected group of individuals on the planet,” Virginia Gamba, U.N. special representative for children in armed conflict, told reporters Monday at the report’s launch. “We need to give children an alternative to violence and abuse. We need peace, respect for children’s rights, and democracy.”

Gamba said the most widespread violations in 2020 were the recruitment and use of children by security forces and armed groups and the killing and maiming of children.

“We are extremely alarmed at the increase in the abduction of children by 90% compared to previous years, as well as the increase in rape and other forms of sexual violence, registering an increase of 70% compared to previous years,” she added.

More than 3,200 children were confirmed abducted in conflict situations in 2020, and at least 1,268 were victims of sexual violence, the report said.

Of the worst offenders, Gamba said Somalia had the “most violations by far,” primarily perpetrated by al-Shabab terrorists. In Afghanistan, she said the Taliban was responsible for two-thirds of violations, and the government and pro-government militias the rest.

Myanmar also ranked high on the list of grave violations, including for the highest numbers of children recruited and used, while Yemen has among the highest figures for children killed or maimed.

Attacks on schools and hospitals remained high last year at 856, mostly in Afghanistan, Congo, Syria and Burkina Faso.

“Education against girls was particularly targeted,” Gamba said.

As with everything else in 2020, the COVID-19 pandemic only complicated matters.

The report found, for example, that the use of schools by militaries rose last year. Many schools were closed temporarily because of the pandemic, making them easy targets for military occupation and use.

New to the list are Cameroon, Burkina Faso and the Lake Chad Basin region.

The report contained some good news. Due to advocacy efforts, armed groups and security forces released 12,643 children. And the number of actors engaging with Gamba’s office, signing on to action plans and making new commitments toward children is growing.

However, human rights groups have criticized the report over the years, saying that double standards apply to the creation of the blacklist and that some countries escape accountability.

“We strongly urge the (U.N.) Secretary-General to reconsider his decision and hold parties to conflict all over the world to the same standard,” Inger Ashing, CEO of Save the Children International, said in a statement.

“Secretary-General (Antonio) Guterres is letting warring parties implicated in the deaths and maiming of children off the hook by leaving Israel, the Saudi-led coalition (in Yemen) and other violators off his ‘list of shame,'” said Jo Becker, children’s rights advocacy director at Human Rights Watch. “His repeated failure to base his list on the U.N.’s own evidence betrays children and fuels impunity.”

Responding to the criticism, Gamba said that regarding Israel, violations carried out during the recent fighting in Gaza would be examined in next year’s report.

She added that she did not experience any political pressure from parties in terms of who would be listed.

Source: Voice of America

Shire, Ethiopia, a historical commercial city in the northern Tigray region has been overwhelmed with displaced families since war broke out last November. For VOA, Yan Boechat takes a closer look at some of the many camps created to house the region’s roughly 2 million displaced people.

Source: Voice of America

Countries accused of abusing their peoples’ human rights will come under the lens of the U.N. Human Rights Council over the next three weeks. Dozens of thematic issues and country reports on topics including the COVID-19 pandemic will be addressed during the session, which begins Monday.

The U.N. high commissioner for human rights, Michelle Bachelet, will present an oral update on the human rights crisis unfolding in Myanmar since the military coup there on February 1. Her report is likely to reflect condemnation of the military leaders’ violent crackdown on the civilian population and, what she sees as a looming threat of civil war in the country.

The council also will hear updates on the human rights situation in other countries, including Eritrea, Iran, Nicaragua, South Sudan, and Syria. Separately, observers view events in northern Ethiopia’s Tigray region as one of the most serious human rights issues around.

The executive director of Human Rights Watch, Kenneth Roth, says reports of imminent famine, summary executions, rape and other atrocities perpetrated in Tigray warrant action by the Human Rights Council. He is calling for the adoption of a resolution condemning these practices at this session.

“A resolution should clearly name the governments,” he said. “We know that Ethiopian government forces have been major perpetrators of these crimes along with, as you mentioned, the Eritrean forces. It is important to recognize the Eritrean forces did not invade Tigray. They were invited in by the Ethiopian government.”

Violence erupted in Tigray in November when forces of the Tigrayan People’s Liberation front attacked federal military bases in the region. The Ethiopian government responded with the use of military force.

High Commissioner Bachelet also will present a report on police violence and systemic racism against people of African descent. The death of African American George Floyd while in police custody in the United States last year triggered a special council session one year ago.

Roth says he believes the report should have a strong focus on the United States. He adds, however, that systemic racism is a global problem and should be treated as such.

“Our concern is really that the council creates some kind of mechanism to continue this. It is not just a one-off report, but there is a more systematic effort to address root causes and to push for accountability…I do not say that at all to try to minimize the situation in the U.S. The U.S. should be a critical focus of those efforts,” he said.

The council’s last session in February focused on efforts to combat COVID-19-related violations. Bachelet will present a report on how states are responding to the pandemic. COVID-19 also will feature as a sub-theme into reports and panel discussions this session.

Source: Voice of America