Date: Mon, 28 Oct 2013 07:59:19 +0100
[image: Inline-Bild 1]
the UN special rapporteur on human rights in Eritrea by Sheila Keetharut
based on lies and fabricated stories !!
http://www.theguardian.com/world/2013/oct/25/eritrea-human-rights-united-nations
Eritrea's human rights record comes under fire at United Nations
East African nation strongly denies 'shoot-to-kill' policy as general
assembly hears over 300,000 have fled in past decade
Associated Press in New York
theguardian.com <http://www.theguardian.com/>, Friday 25 October 2013 04.43
EDT
[image: View of U.N. headquarters during 63rd United Nations General
Assembly in New York]
The claims against Eritrea were made at the UN's gteneral assembly, in New
York. Photograph: Eric Thayer/Reuters
Human rights <http://www.theguardian.com/law/human-rights> abuses in
Eritrea <http://www.theguardian.com/world/eritrea> are forcing 2,000-3,000
people to flee the east African nation every month despite a "shoot-to-kill
policy" targeting those attempting to leave, a UN investigator said on
Thursday.
Sheila Keetharuth, the UN special rapporteur on human rights in Eritrea,
said the UN refugee agency was concerned about 305,723 Eritreans who have
fled over the past decade.
The most serious human rights violations are being committed in Eritrea,
Keetharuth said, including extrajudicial killings, enforced disappearances,
extended incommunicado detention, torture, indefinite national service, and
lack of freedom of expression, assembly, religious belief and movement.
She told the general assembly's human rights committee that "excessive
militarisation" in the country and indefinite national service for all
Eritreans aged 18-50, often without adequate remuneration, "causes
countless Eritreans to desert from their positions and flee the country".
Eritrea, a former Italian colony, gained independence from Ethiopia in 1993
after a 30-year guerrilla war. It has been feuding over its border with
Ethiopia ever since, including a war from 1998-2000 in which about 80,000
people died.
Eritrea has also disputed its border with the tiny port nation of Djibouti.
Eritrea's President Isaias Afwerki has been in power since the country
broke away from Ethiopia in 1991.
Eritrea's ambassador to the UN, Arya Desta, rejected the report and
Keetharuth's portrayal of the country, saying human rights issues were
being used "as a tool of political pressure".
He accused unnamed countries of spearheading the imposition of "unfair and
unjust" sanctions and of holding the entire population "in a state of 'no
war, no peace'." Desta also denied there was a shoot to kill policy for
illegally crossing the border and said youths were not required to stay for
extended military service and were offered wide educational opportunities.
Eritrea has barred Keetharuth, a human rights lawyer from Mauritius, from
visiting the country but she said she spoke to Eritrean refugees in
Ethiopia, Djibouti and elsewhere in preparing her report. Amnesty
International and Human Rights Watch have also issued highly critical
reports of human rights in Eritrea, calling it an oppressive state.
Keetharuth pointed to the number of Eritreans on board the two boats of
migrants that sank off the coasts of Italy and Malta in October. "It
demonstrates the desperation of those who decide to flee, despite the
extreme dangers along escape routes and an unknown future," Keetharuth said.
She said that nearly as many Eritreans – 7,504 – as Syrians – 7,557 – have
arrived in Italy by sea from 1 January to 30 September this year, citing
figures from the UN.
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