United Nations rights investigators accused Eritrean leaders of crimes against humanity including torture, rape and murder on Wednesday and called on the Security Council to impose sanctions and refer the case to the International Criminal Court.
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Officials “at the highest levels of state” ordered and oversaw abuse which could constitute crimes against humanity said the report released on Wednesday by the UN Commission of Inquiry on Human Rights in Eritrea.
The UN has just released a scathing report denouncing Eritrea’s government of committing crimes against humanity over the past 25 years since achieving its independence.
Chief UN investigator Mike Smith gave this data to journalists in Geneva on Wednesday.
Italian police say Mered Yehdego Medhane, a 35-year-old from Eritrea, had been on the run since April 2015, when Palermo prosecutors issued arrest warrants for him and 23 other suspected human smugglers.
Christian Solidarity Worldwide’s Chief Executive Mervyn Thomas said: “CSW applauds the commitment, integrity and dedication of the COIE, which worked meticulously under hard conditions to give a voice to Eritrean victims”.
The central accusation of crimes against humanity was “laughable”, he said, adding that Eritrea was a “low-crime society” with only one or two rapes a year in a population of nearly four million. “This has created a governance and rule of law vacuum, resulting in a climate of impunity for crimes against humanity to be perpetrated”.
“The worldwide community must now take action including referring the situation to the global Criminal Court” to study the matter, Smith said.
Eritrean refugees often cite enslavement through military service as the main reason they risked punishment by the regime and the dangers of the Sahara Desert and Mediterranean Sea to flee the country.
Following its report in June, the commission was flooded with 45,000 written responses, mostly in support of Eritrea’s government.
Refugees from the repressive state have made up one of the largest contingents of people risking the unsafe journey to seek a new life in Europe. “Anyone who has been to Eritrea will tell you that this is the case”, he said.
OHCHR indicated that despite requests to the Government of Eritrea, the Commission was denied access to visit the country, but remains open to visiting Eritrea to present its latest findings and recommendations directly to the Government.
The 1991 split of Eritrea from Ethiopia followed a 30-year war of independence that saw Eritrean rebels fighting against better-equipped Ethiopian troops backed first by Washington and then by the Soviet Union. For example, the country ranks below North Korea as the worst in the world for press freedom, according to Reporters Without Borders.
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With an annual per capita gross national income of $480, Eritrea is one of the world’s poorest nations, according to the World Bank.
