Human rights in Eritrea
[1][2] Eritrea is a one-party state in which national legislative elections have been repeatedly postponed,[3] the judiciary is weak, and constitutional provisions protecting individual freedom have yet to be fully implemented.
[1][4][5] Some Western countries, particularly the United States, accuse the government of Eritrea of arbitrary arrest and detentions and of detaining an unknown number of people without charge for their political activism.
Additionally, Eritrean citizens, both men and women, are forcibly conscripted into the military with an indefinite length of service and used as forced labour.
[7] As an attempt at reform, Eritrean government officials and NGO representatives have participated in numerous public meetings and dialogues.
[8] A new movement called Citizens for Democratic Rights in Eritrea, which aimed at bringing about dialogue between the government and opposition, was formed in early 2009.
[9] Eritrea is a one-party state in which national legislative elections have been repeatedly postponed,[3][5] and its human rights record is considered among the worst in the world.
Those that practice "unregistered" religions, try to flee the nation, or escape military duty are arrested and put into prison.
National identification cards permit citizens to participate in everyday life, as well as in transactions with the government or any financial institution.
It is normal for the government to make followers recant their faith: "The detainees were usually pressured under torture or ill-treatment, with the threat of indefinite detention, to sign a document agreeing to certain conditions of release, such as not to attend religious meetings.
[1][17] The Guardian cited the reports catalogue of 'a litany of human rights violations "on a scope and scale seldom witnessed elsewhere"'.
[18] The Eritrean Foreign Ministry responded by describing the commission's report as "wild allegations" which were "totally unfounded and devoid of all merit".
At a drafting meeting, U.S. diplomat Eric Richardson said the Eritrea paper did not have "the same level of sophistication and precision" as the report on North Korea and the United States could not support the language of the text without revisions.
Those who practice "unregistered" religions, try to flee the nation, or escape military duty are arrested and put into prison.
[33] Eritrea's national service requires lengthy, indefinite conscription periods, which some Eritreans leave the country in order to avoid.
[33][34][35] An August 2019 Human Rights Watch report claimed that the Eritrean secondary education forces students into indefinite military or government jobs and many flee from the country because of this.
The organization described the Eritrean education system as a conscription machine that subjects students to systematic abuse, including torture, harsh working conditions and insufficient pay to support their families.
[37] On August 7, 2023, a U.N. report by investigator Mohamed Babiker exposed instances of torture, abuse, and forced labor endured by Eritrean refugees and asylum-seekers during indefinite national service.
The report shed light on President Isaias Afwerki's authoritarian rule and emphasized how the national service program drives emigration, in the wake of disruptive protests at a Sweden-based Eritrea-themed festival.
The nation has also been accused of human rights violations in the Tigray region and implication in the Ethiopian conflict.
