Dear Congressman/woman;

 

I am a grateful and legal resident in the United States of America, a nation established under the principle that “all men are created equal” and possess inalienable rights. My country men and women from where I have come, however, are suffering under a regime that is one of the most repressive governments in the world. No news about Eritrea is a good news, but let me try to highlight some of the major human rights abuses that are underway there at this point in history.

 

 

 

Freedom of Religion: the first human right

 

There are currently more than 2,000 Christians, Moslems and other members of minority religious groups like Jehovah’s Witnesses, detained in prisons and makeshift facilities all across Eritrea[1]. Given Eritrea’s small population, this number of prisoners is equivalent to population of Vancouver, WA; half the population of Aurora, CO, almost the entire population of Newport News, VA or half the population of Anaheim, CA. This in reality means that if you are an Eritrean, the chances are that either you or one of your siblings or parents or else your close relatives or friends is in jail. These prisoners are detained solely for their religious beliefs. None have been officially charged or brought before a recognized court of law. They are held for weeks, months and even years in police stations, open air facilities in military camps and ordinary jails. Religious prisoners are routinely tortured and some have died during or as a consequence of it, while others have been permanently disabled.  Religious prisoners are held, either in isolation, or with others in metal shipping containers, in cramped, poorly ventilated cells, in underground cells and even in sealed caves. Many have been subjected to torture, and several who have fallen ill have died after refusing to deny their faith in exchange for appropriate medication. Most recently, Christian Solidarity Worldwide (CSW) reports that in October 2013 Wehazit Berhane Debesai, a Christian woman, had died of pneumonia in an unspecified prison after being denied medication due to a refusal to renounce her faith[2]. In 2012, Open Doors, an international ministry to the persecuted church estimated that 31 Christians died in prison[3].

 

 

 

Forced Labor and military Conscription:

 

 

 

What began as an18-month National Service program in 1993 was officially transformed into open ended and indefinite forced labor conscription under a new label, Warsay Yikealo Development Campaign in May 2002, despite the government’s prior promise in 2000 to demobilize 200,000 soldiers, most of whom are conscripts[4]. To date, every Eritrean, between 18 and 50 years of age, is forced to work in a job and place of which  he has no choice; with a “salary” of less than $30 a month (which cannot pay for a one-room house rental), and with severe consequences if he or she leaves the position. The only exceptions to this rule are people with a proven disability. Human Rights advocates and scholars assert that Eritrea’s Warsay-Yikealo Development Campaign meets the definition of modern time slavery in international law since: (i) the works or services are exacted involuntarily; (ii) the execution of labor or services takes place under the menace of penalty; and (iii) these are used as a means of political coercion[5].

 

Eritrea is currently contracting with international mining companies to extract its natural resources and sell these on the world market. Mining companies carry out significant construction activity during their project development phase. In Eritrea, state-affiliated firms have a monopoly on construction and there is considerable evidence that these firms use conscript labor across their operations​[AM1]​ [6]​[AM2]​ [AM3] .

 

 

 

Freedom of Press and Expression, and access to independent information:

 

There is no freedom of the press and expression in Eritrea. All privately owned newspapers are banned, and the journalists who worked for them are either in incommunicado detention or in exile[7] . Many of them are reportedly dead in prison. Journalists working for the government have also faced detention and harassment.  The country has been ranked last in the Reporters Without Borders press freedom index for the past six years.[8]  Moreover, all of the Non-Governmental Organizations (NGO’s) that could have provided the last window of opportunity to verify the gravity of the Eritrean government’s atrocities have also been banned from operating in the country. The UN Special Rapporteur on the Human Rights Situation in Eritrea has also been denied access to the country[9].

 

 

 

Mass Exodus of Eritrea’s youth:

 

 

 

 As a consequence of the insurmountable atrocities committed by the Eritrean regime against its own people, Eritrea remains the largest refugee generating country on a capita basis.  In 2012, 305,723 Eritreans  fled the country, with between 2,000 and 3,000 leaving every month  despite a government shoot-to-kill border policy, the potential of being held hostage by Bedouin traffickers in the Sinai or being kidnapped from Sudanese refugee camps and facing extreme brutality and extortion, and the possibility of dying in the Sahara or while crossing the Mediterranean in unseaworthy vessels. Worryingly, an increasing number are unaccompanied minors who are extremely vulnerable to abuse[10].Moreover, on October 3, 2013 at least 366 men, women and children, most of them Eritreans, drowned after their boat capsized in the Mediterranean near Lampedusa, Italy. Worse still, many of the survivors reported that they had endured rape and torture in a detention center in Libya, and were forced to pay up to $ 3,500 prior to this fatal journey[11].

 

 

 

Congressman/woman;

 

 Eritrea’s human rights violations and dire situation are comparable only to North Korea, perhaps to put it mildly. Nonetheless, the world seems oblivious of this attention deserving catastrophe. I am therefore appealing to you to use your good offices to bring the issue of Eritrea’s untold story to the floor in Congress and address the following recommendations:

 

·         Immediate and unconditional release of all prisoners of conscience.

 

·         The immediate granting of unlimited and unhindered access to long-term detainees for the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) and/or any other competent international body, to assess their wellbeing and the conditions in which they are held, ensuring that the latter meet with UN minimum standards;

 

·         Access for all detainees to immediate family members, medical treatment and legal representation;

 

·         Ban all US companies, their subsidiaries and affiliates from doing business with any company that is either owned by the Government of Eritrea , whose employees were supplied by the Government of Eritrea or any other company implicated in the use of forced or conscripted labor;

 

·         The implementation of Eritrea’s ratified constitution and the return of all rights enshrined within it, including the freedoms of religion and belief, conscience, expression, opinion, movement, assembly and organisation;

 

·         An end to the indefinite extension of the legally stipulated 18-month term of military service, and the use of military conscripts and detainees as forced labour;

 

·         The demobilisation of those who have served excessive tours of duty within the army;

 

·         The urgent demarcation of the Eritrea-Ethiopia border in line with the international ruling in order to eliminate a justification for continued repression;

 

·         Access for relevant UN special mechanisms and credible human rights organisations to carry out a thorough, independent and impartial investigation into all serious violations of human rights in the country.

 

 

 

 

 

 

[1]​ http://www.bpnews.net/bpnews.asp?ID=40437​

[2] Christian Solidarity Worldwide, Nov 2013, Eritrea: Current Concerns

[3]​ http://www.bpnews.net/bpnews.asp?ID=40437​

[4]  Gaim, K. Forced Labor In Eritrea. J. of Modern African Studies, 47, 1 (2009), pp. 41–72. f 2009 Cambridge University Press

 

[5] Gaim, K. Forced Labor In Eritrea. J. of Modern African Studies, 47, 1 (2009), pp. 41–72. f 2009 Cambridge University Press

[6]​ http://www.hrw.org/node/112281/section/6​

[7] Gaim, K. Forced Labor In Eritrea. J. of Modern African Studies, 47, 1 (2009), pp. 41–72. f 2009 Cambridge University Press

[8]​ http://allafrica.com/stories/201306261148.html​

[9]​ http://www.un.org/News/briefings/docs/2013/131024_Eritrea.doc.htm​

[10]  Christian Solidarity Worldwide, Nov 2013, Eritrea: Current Concerns

[11] Christian Solidarity Worldwide, Nov 2013, Eritrea: Current Concerns

 

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 [AM1]​

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 [AM2]​

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 [AM3]