| Eritrea: Repression Creating Human Rights Crisis |
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Eritrea's extensive detention and torture of its citizens and its policy of prolonged military conscription are creating a human rights crisis and prompting increasing numbers of Eritreans to flee the country, Human Rights Watch said in a report released today. Based on more than 50 interviews with Eritrean victims and eyewitnesses of abuses in three countries, the report documents the Eritrean government's responsibility for serious human rights violations, including arbitrary arrests and detentions, torture and forced labour, as well as rigid restrictions on freedom of movement and expression. It also analyses abuses related to the practise of indefinite conscription into national and military service, religious persecution and the risks facing refugees even after they flee. "Eritrea's human rights crisis is worsening and making the Horn of Africa ever more volatile," said Georgette Gagnon, Africa director at Human Rights Watch. "The US, European, and other governments need to coordinate their policies on the Horn to defuse regional tensions, and make human rights progress an essential benchmark for engagement with Eritrea." The EU recently approved a €122 million assistance package to Eritrea despite concerns that development projects in Eritrea are carried out by conscript or prison labour in violation of international law. Source:  |
