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TITLE: ERITREA HUMAN RIGHTS PRACTICES, 1993
DATE: JANUARY 31, 1994
AUTHOR: U.S. DEPARTMENT OF STATE
ERITREA
Following a U.N.-supervised referendum in April--in which
Eritreans voted overwhelmingly for independence from
Ethiopia--Eritrea became an independent State on May 24 with a
single party. The dominating political and military force in
the long struggle for independence and in the Government is
President Isaias Afwerki and the Eritrean People's Liberation
Front (EPLF). The Government, formerly known as the
Provisional Government of Eritrea, has actually been in de
facto control of the country since May 24, 1991, when EPLF
forces entered Asmara in the culminating battle against the
Ethiopian army of then dictator Colonel Mengistu.
The EPLF Government has announced that it intends to introduce
a democratic, multiparty system, embodied in a new
constitution, in approximately 4 years. It has begun to
develop interim institutions, including a National Legislative
Assembly (see Section 3). In 1993 it held local elections in
all provinces--involving multiple candidates but no parties,
established local legislative bodies based on those elections,
and in October formed a commission to begin work on preparing a
new constitution. There is no interim constitution.
The EPLF forces, which in 1992 comprised over 100,000 regulars,
continued to serve as the main internal security force in 1993
and also served as the recruiting ground for the new police
force being organized. A striking feature in 1993 was the
virtual absence of security forces in the main cities. There
were no reports of human rights abuses by these forces.
The Eritrean economy, decimated by years of war, is based on
subsistence agriculture, in which 95 percent of the population
is engaged. Poor rains and insect infestation produced a
notably bad harvest in 1993. The commercial (wage) sector is
small and largely centered in Asmara, the capital, and the Red
Sea ports of Massawa and Assab, through which most of Ethiopian
imports and exports pass. With donor assistance, one of the
Government's major reconstruction efforts is to rebuild the
port of Massawa, which was badly damaged by Mengistu's air
force in the war. As Ethiopia is now landlocked, the
Government assured--as part of an understanding with the
Transitional Government of Ethiopia--that it would not impede
Ethiopian access to these ports.
The Government generally respected human rights in 1993. The
April referendum process was free and fair. During the year,
the Government began to release many of the persons it had been
holding for months for alleged human rights violations
committed during the Mengistu period. In September it
amnestied 260 prisoners in this category and reduced sentences
for others. At the end of the year, it continued to hold
approximately 137 persons for alleged past violations. It also
held in detention about 50 persons who were being investigated
for association with radical Islamic political elements or
terrorist organizations.
RESPECT FOR HUMAN RIGHTS
Section 1 Respect for the Integrity of the Person, Including
Freedom from:
a. Political and Other Extrajudicial Killing
There were no reports of political or extrajudicial killings.
b. Disappearance
There were no reports of disappearances in 1993. However,
there was international concern for the whereabouts of several
officials of the armed opposition Eritrean Liberation
Front-Revolutionary Council (ELF-RC) who were alleged to have
been abducted from Sudan in April 1992 and secretly detained in
Eritrea.
c. Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman, or Degrading
Treatment or Punishment
There have been no reports of torture and other cruel, inhuman,
or degrading treatment, including in prisons, where physical
conditions appear to be acceptable, and families have good
access to prisoners. As far as is known, the political
detainees mentioned in Section 1.d. were not mistreated.
d. Arbitrary Arrest, Detention, or Exile
The Criminal Code presently in force is the Code used by
previous governments of Ethiopia. Criminals are generally held
without bail until their cases are heard, which usually is
within 60 days of arrest.
Since its advent to power in 1991, the EPLF has detained,
without charge or trial, several categories of people: Those
associated with the past Mengistu regime in Eritrea who are
suspected of human rights violations; persons associated with
Muslim fundamentalism; and non-Eritreans who have been detained
by internal security forces for association with political or
terrorist organizations. There was very little information
available on the latter category.
In the first category, the Government initiated in September an
amnesty program, releasing over 260 persons suspected of
violations during the Mengistu regime in Eritrea. At the end
of the year, the Government still held approximately 137
persons for past violations and gave no indication when these
persons would be brought to trial. According to credible
reports, the Government released some ELF-RC members. Although
it is possible that additional ELF-RC members are being held,
none of those released reported the names of others being held,
nor did they report physical abuse.
The Government is carefully balanced to reflect the virtually
even composition of the population between Muslims and
Christians and is sensitive to outside efforts to influence
this even division. For most of 1993, it detained without
charge three Eritreans who returned from neighboring countries
sponsored by religious or political entities in those countries
to propagate political Islam. These persons were still
detained at year's end.
e. Denial of Fair Public Trial
The current civil law system, borrowed from Ethiopia, is
derived from the Napoleonic Code. Serious crimes are brought
before a panel of three judges in a public trial, where
defendants have access to legal counsel. If the defendant is
found guilty and wishes to appeal, he or she may appeal to the
next highest court, the Court of Appeals. This Court, from
which there is no further appeal, is composed of five judges.
Crimes committed by members of the military are handled by
military courts. Security cases, of which there are few, were
not brought to trial.
There are magistrate courts in the major cities. There are no
special courts. The system suffers from a lack of trained
personnel, legal resources, and infrastructure. The judiciary
appears to be independent of the Government in most regular
civil and criminal cases.
Since the population is largely rural, traditional "courts"
play a major role in the life of the citizens. Many local
issues, e.g., property disputes, and most petty crimes are
adjudicated by local elders according to custom or, in the case
of Muslims, the Koran. These traditional courts have not given
sentences involving physical punishment.
f. Arbitrary Interference with Privacy, Family, Home, or
Correspondence
Under the Criminal Code, warrants are required to monitor mail,
telephones, or other means of communication. While this
restriction in the past has often been imperfectly observed,
there were no reports in 1993 of such surveillance or of
entering of homes to conduct searches. Technical limitations
on security services and lack of necessity for such operations
also contribute to the absence of surveillance activities.
Section 2 Respect for Civil Liberties, Including:
a. Freedom of Speech and Press
People spoke freely in 1993, and, in open public meetings with
President Isaias, persons expressed concern over various
issues, including increased taxes, bureaucratic slowness, and
return of refugees from Sudan. The President responded
verbally at that time and in print over a period of weeks
thereafter.
The small press, consisting of a biweekly newspaper (in
Tigrinya and Arabic), is government financed and controlled and
covers such subjects as government policies and the return of
property confiscated by the former regime. It does not
criticize the President or his Government. At the end of the
year, the Government was still preparing a press law in concert
with the drafting of the constitution. The question of a
privately owned, independent newspaper did not arise in 1993,
largely because it was not yet commercially feasible. Foreign
newspapers and publications entered the country without
hindrance.
b. Freedom of Peaceful Assembly and Association
No permits are required for public meetings or demonstrations.
There appear to be no restrictions on the formation of
nongovernmental organizations, although the Government's
permission is required, and there are long bureaucratic delays
in granting these permits.
c. Freedom of Religion
There is religious freedom throughout Eritrea. All
denominations and faiths are permitted to practice. There is
no state religion, and no religion is supported over another.
Religious groups may train clergy and children of the laity and
may and do produce their own religious periodicals in their own
language.
Previous regimes did not allow the Jehovah's Witnesses to
practice publicly. However, under the present Government, they
are allowed full freedom of worship. There is still some
animosity between members of the population and Jehovah's
Witnesses over the latter's refusal to recognize certain state
symbols and functions. This animosity surfaced in May after
Witnesses publicly stated that, on religious grounds, they
would not vote in the independence referendum. In several
incidents, small crowds verbally attacked and stoned Jehovah's
Witnesses.
d. Freedom of Movement Within the Country, Foreign
Travel, Emigration, and Repatriation
By law, all persons, Eritrean and foreign, may travel freely
within Eritrea and abroad without interference or permit.
However, in practice, the Government maintained a restrictive
policy concerning the return of up to 400,000 Eritrean refugees
from Sudan, based on its asserted need for large-scale donor
assistance to facilitate organized repatriation. The
Government claims that some tens of thousands of such refugees
have returned spontaneously. By year's end, it appeared the
Government was considering a pilot repatriation and
reintegration project for some 10,000 refugees in Sudan, using
funds pledged at a July donor's conference.
Section 3 Respect for Political Rights: The Right of Citizens
to Change Their Government
While the Government has promised to introduce multiparty
democracy within 4 years, citizens did not have this right in
1993. Under President Isaias, the EPLF controls the
Government, and in 1993 it began to develop interim political
institutions. To this end, the Government held local
elections--involving multiple candidates but no parties--in all
10 provinces each for local legislatures. In turn, the
provincial legislatures sent three members, one of whom had to
be a woman, to the National Legislative Assembly. Those
elected in the provinces were, in general, elders and notables
from the region. Voting in all provincial elections was by
secret ballot. Senior government officials expressed
disappointment regarding the lack of women and young candidates
and the low voter turnout of approximately 55 percent.
The National Legislative Assembly is composed of approximately
137 members and met for the first time in September. In
addition to the female members of the regional delegations, 10
additional places for women are reserved in the National
Assembly, thus assuring 20 seats for women (see also Section
5.a.). To date President Isaias and the EPLF wield full power,
although the National Assembly ostensibly is to be responsible
ultimately for the passage of laws.
The Government is almost equally divided between Muslim and
Christian with Muslims holding at year's end seven Ministries,
including that of Foreign Affairs, and many sensitive
provincial governor positions. In addition to the positions in
the new legislative bodies, women hold senior positions in the
Government, including in the Ministry of Justice, as well as
certain senior positions in the military.
Section 4 Governmental Attitude Regarding International and
Nongovernmental Investigation of Alleged Violations
of Human Rights
There is a local human rights organization, the Regional
Committee for Human Rights Development, which was in the
process of obtaining recognition at the end of 1993. This
organization is independent from the Government, but it was too
early to tell how effective it would be in publicizing human
rights abuses. The Ministries of Foreign Affairs and Interior
handle human rights inquiries.
The Government responds quickly to international inquiries
about alleged human rights abuses, maintaining that it has not
committed such abuses. During a trip to Eritrea in August,
former President Carter presented the Government with a list of
names of alleged detainees. The Government responded the next
day.
Section 5 Discrimination Based on Race, Sex, Religion,
Disability, Language, or Social Status
There were no reported instances of official discrimination
against any Eritrean because of race, religion, sex,
disability, or social status.
Women
The Government has taken a consistently strong stand in favor
of improving the status of women and including them in the
political process (see Section 3). In part, this stems from
the important role Eritrean women played in the war (one-third
of the EPLF fighters were women). In 1991 the then Provisional
EPLF Government codified a broad range of rights for women,
including guarantees of equal educational opportunity, land
ownership, equal pay for equal work, legal sanctions against
domestic violence, and other economic and legal rights. A part
of the EPLF, the National Union of Eritrean Women, has been in
the vanguard in campaigns against such traditional practices as
female genital mutilation (see Children below).
Despite the strong policy positions of the Government, there
are some elements of traditional discrimination against women
in Eritrean culture. Women perform significant amounts of farm
labor and almost all child-rearing. In schools, females are
less obvious in lower grades than are males. This disparity is
even more visible in predominantly rural Muslim areas.
Notwithstanding strong pressure from Muslim clergy, the
Government supports school attendance by Muslim females. Exact
figures are not available, but a countrywide ratio of two boys
in class for each girl is approximately correct.
Domestic violence is not widespread. Wife-beating is the
exception, not the rule, according to health officials and
doctors. Police rarely intervene in such instances, and formal
court cases are rare. Incidents of domestic violence are
usually resolved through traditional processes at village level.
Children
There is little formal government commitment to children's
human rights and welfare, as expressed in laws or established
programs. Child welfare is not generally looked on as a
serious social problem. There are few government funds devoted
to this issue.
The Government has taken a strong stand against female genital
mutilation (circumcision) which is condemned by international
health experts as damaging to both physical and psychological
health. Nevertheless, it continues to be practiced in Eritrea
and is usually performed at an early age. Health officials
suggest that the experiences of the civil war, in which many
young women left their families to serve in the Eritrean
forces, have contributed to educating women against this
practice. (Before the separation of Eritrea, an internatiional
health expert estimated that 90 percent of the girls/women in
Ethiopia had undergone this procedure.)
People with Disabilities
As a result of the recent extremely bloody civil war, there are
thousands of disabled male and female former fighters. The
Government expends large amounts for their care. Most
physically disadvantaged Eritreans are viewed as heroes and are
widely assisted by other citizens, as are those disabled for
other reasons. There are no laws mandating access for the
disabled to public buildings, although assistance is generally
provided for those who need it. There is no discrimination in
employment or education against people with disabilities.
Section 6 Worker Rights
a. The Right of Association
Under Proclamation Number 8 of the transitional labor laws of
Eritrea, workers have the legal right to form unions. There
are no government restrictions on this right, and indeed the
Government encourages labor association, but worker
organization is only in its earliest stages. Approximately 95
percent of the population is involved in subsistence
agriculture, and only a minuscule number of people work in
commercial or government enterprises. The Government is the
largest employer, including in the few state-owned
enterprises. There have been few pressures for unionization,
given the heavy competition among the large number of
unemployed and still larger number of underemployed workers for
the few wage jobs available.
The most important "union" in Eritrea is a government-dominated
union which seeks to represent worker rights in such areas as
illegal firings and nonpayment of wages. It does not generally
become involved in such traditional labor union issues as wage
negotiations and working conditions.
There were no strikes in 1993. The proposed new labor code
will allow strikes.
Eritrea became a member of the International Labor Organization
(ILO) in 1993.
In view of the limited state of worker organization, the
question of Eritrean labor affiliation with international labor
organizations has not yet arisen. None of the Eritrean unions
has joined the Organization of African Trade Union Unity.
b. The Right To Organize and Bargain Collectively
While labor has the theoretical right--but not yet the legal
right--to organize and bargain collectively, such collective
bargaining does not take place as a practical matter. The
Government sets wages and working conditions. Because of the
relative weakness of the organized labor movement and the high
rate of unemployment, collective bargaining and similar legal
protections, such as protection against antiunion
discrimination, have yet to be established.
There are no export processing zones.
c. Prohibition of Forced or Compulsory Labor
While there is no legal prohibition in place, there is no
forced or compulsory labor in Eritrea.
d. Minimum Age for Employment of Children
The legal minimum age for employment is 18, although
apprentices may be hired at age 14. While the Commission on
Social Welfare is responsible for enforcement, there is no
random inspection of factories and shops for compliance. The
number of children under 18 years old working in commercial
enterprises is small, given the high rate of adult
unemployment. However, children at an early age help on family
farms, and there are a few children selling small wares on the
street, such as cigarettes.
e. Acceptable Conditions of Work
The free market determines the level of wages, and there is no
legal minimum wage in Eritrea. While there is no legal
provision, all employees receive at least 1 day of rest per
week, and most receive 1 1/2 days of rest per week. There are
no occupational health and safety laws or standards currently
in force.
[end of document]
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