Country Briefing

Area:	117,600 km²
Capital:	Asmara
Population:	approx. 6.3 million
Official languages:	Tigrinya, Arabic, English
Currency:	Nakfa [1]

1. Brief overview on Eritrea

From 1890 to 1941, the area that is now Eritrea was under Italian colonial rule. During the Second World War, it was conquered by Great Britain and was under British military administration. From 1952 there was a federation with Ethiopia, but Eritrea was annexed by the Ethiopian Emperor Haile Selassie in 1962. In the early 1960s, the Eritrean Liberation Front (ELF) began a war of independence, with the Eritrean People's Liberation Front (EPLF) splitting from the ELF in the 1970s.[2] The 30-year conflict ended in 1991 after Eritrean fighters defeated the government forces.[3] In a referendum in April 1993, the overwhelming majority of Eritreans voted in favour of independence. In May 1993, Isaias Afwerki, the Secretary General of the EPLF, was appointed President of a transitional government and the official independence of Eritrea was proclaimed.[4] The EPLF was renamed the People's Front for Democracy and Justice in 1994.[5]

The border war with Ethiopia (1998-2000) was followed by a comprehensive militarisation of society, accompanied by a restriction of the private sector in favour of state-controlled companies.[6] Up to Ethiopia's unexpected diplomatic move in 2018 that formally ended the state of war between the two nations, tensions on the closed and heavily militarised border with Ethiopia remained high.[7]

Eritrea is a one-party state with a society that is millitarised to a high degree [8] and there is no constitution in force, nor is there any separation of powers (see also Law Guide on Eritrea). Basic civil rights are severely restricted.[9] Since Eritrea's independence, Isaias Afwerki has served as the country's only president. His rule, especially since 2001, has been characterised by a highly autocratic and repressive approach.[10] According to HRW, Eritrea has no legislature, no independent civil society organisations or media and no independent judiciary, and elections have never been held since the country's independence in 1993.[11] Ongoing conflicts and severe droughts have affected Eritrea's agricultural economy and the country remains one of the poorest in Africa. According to United Nations estimates, hundreds of thousands of Eritreans have fled the country in recent years, travelling across the Sahara and the Mediterranean to Europe.[12]

2. Military service

All citizens between the ages of 18 and 50 are required by law to complete 18 months of national service, although there are limited exceptions. The duration of national service can be extended indefinitely in times of emergency, which the country has officially been in since the start of the 1998 war with Ethiopia..[13] Eritrea has an indefinite national service policy that consists of both mandatory military service and civilian service.[14] Eritreans, primarily men and single women, were still being forced into low-paying military or civil service with no choice in their occupation or place of employment by the government. [15] For all men who are not in the military, including many who have been released from national service, had previously been excused from military service, or are older, there is also an obligatory militia (see also SEM, December 17, 2019). There are no alternatives offered by law to those who are willing to complete national service but refuse to take part in military or militia actions, nor does it allow for conscientious objection based on religious beliefs.[16] Deserters and conscientious objectors continued to be subjected to arbitrary detention under the most severe penalties, enforced disappearance and torture, according to the May 2023 report of the UN Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in Eritrea.[17] (-> ecoi.net search on military and national service)

3. Forced conscription and forced labour

The UN Special Rapporteur mentions in his May 2023 report an increase in forced conscription between mid and late 2022. Coercive measures were used on an increasing scale to mobilise the population and coerce individuals to participate in military operations in Ethiopia (in the Tigray region)[18] The Eritrean army carried out large-scale conscription operations in the entire country and reportedly heavy crackdowns (referred to as 'giffa' in Tigrinya) escalated in August 2022.[19] The increase in widespread and indiscriminate raids led to a significant number of school-age children being taken out of school and conscripted into the military. To avoid conscription, children drop out of school to go into hiding and/or escape the country at an increasingly young age. In addition to the threat of punishment against the conscripts themselves, their families were also threatened with severe punishments. In some cases, families were forcibly evicted from their homes.[20]

Eritreans have to perform forced labour as part of the compulsory national service, the citizen's militia and public construction projects. Most people were not demobilised from state labour units after their compulsory service, but were forced to serve indefinitely under threat of imprisonment, torture or reprisals against their families. In addition, the government pursued a policy that maintained the mobilisation of children for forced labour, usually in agriculture during the summer work programme for schoolchildren (Maetot).[21]

4. Freedom of expression

The UN Special Rapporteur claims that there is no room in Eritrea for critical viewpoints to be expressed, political opposition in any form to be articulated, or for the free interchange of ideas.[22] According to Reporters Without Borders (RSF), freedom of expression is non-existent in Eritrea and journalism is practically prohibited.[23] Public or private criticism of the government is severely restricted by intimidation from the national security forces. The law prohibits private radio and television stations as well as foreign ownership of the media.[24] In 2001, Isaias Afwerki ordered the closure of all independent newspapers.[25]

16 journalists have been subjected to enforced disappearance for more than 20 years, which makes them the longest-detained journalists in the world. Among them is the Swedish-Eritrean journalist and poet Dawit Isaak.[26] Eritrea ranks 174th out of 180 on RSF's Press Freedom Index in 2023.[27] All domestic media, which includes a newspaper published in four languages, three radion stations and 2 TV stations, are contolled by the government. The law stipulates that journalists must have a licence. The law restricts the printing and publication of material by those who do not have a licence, and bans the printing or distribution of banned foreign publications.[28] (-> ecoi.net search on freedom of expression)

5. Arbitrary detention

The authorities deliberately target actual or alleged government critics and opponents and detain them without due process. According to the UN Special Rapporteur, arbitrary detentions of journalists, political opponents or activists, artists, people of faith, draft evaders and returned asylum seekers, often over prolonged periods of time, continued.[29] According to the US State Department's 2022 Human Rights Report, in some cases authorities detained individuals whose papers were not in order and held them until they could prove their militia status or demobilisation from national service.[30] Countless prisoners within the country's extensive formal and informal prison network are held in overcrowded detention centres with insufficient access to food, water and medical care.[31] (-> ecoi.net search on arbitrary arrests)

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Footnotes

[1] CIA - Central Intelligence Agency: The World Fact Book - Eritrea, last updated on 9 January 2024, https://www.cia.gov/the-world-factbook/countries/eritrea/

[2] BpB - Federal Agency for Civic Education: Der lange Arm des Regimes – Eritrea und seine Diaspora, 16 April 2023, https://www.bpb.de/themen/migration-integration/laenderprofile/ostafrika/304246/der-lange-arm-des-regimes-eritrea-und-seine-diaspora/?global=true&global-format-main=all&global-year=all&cc-license=all&term=Der%20lange%20Arm%20des%20Regimes%20%E2%80%93%20Eritrea%20und%20seine%20Diaspora#footnote-target-1

[3] CIA - Central Intelligence Agency: The World Fact Book - Eritrea, last updated on 9 January 2024, https://www.cia.gov/the-world-factbook/countries/eritrea/

[4] Encyclopaedia Britannica: Eritrea - History, last updated 11 January 2024, https://www.britannica.com/place/Eritrea/Federation-with-Ethiopia

[5] Encyclopaedia Britannica: Eritrea - Government and society, last updated 11 January 2024, https://www.britannica.com/place/Eritrea/Transportation#ref37660

[6] Federal Foreign Office (Germany): Eritrea: Politisches Porträt, 18 September 2023, https://www.auswaertiges-amt.de/de/service/laender/eritrea-node/politisches-portraet/226210

[7] BBC News: Eritrea country profile, 18 April 2023, https://www.bbc.com/news/world-africa-13349078

[8] BBC News: Eritrea country profile, 18 April 2023, https://www.bbc.com/news/world-africa-13349078

[9] Federal Foreign Office (Germany): Eritrea: Politisches Porträt, 18 September 2023, https://www.auswaertiges-amt.de/de/service/laender/eritrea-node/politisches-portraet/226210

[10] CIA - Central Intelligence Agency: The World Fact Book - Eritrea, last updated on 9 January 2024, https://www.cia.gov/the-world-factbook/countries/eritrea/

[11] HRW - Human Rights Watch: World Report 2023 - Eritrea, 12 January 2023, https://www.ecoi.net/de/dokument/2085412.html

[12] BBC News: Eritrea country profile, 18 April 2023, https://www.bbc.com/news/world-africa-13349078

[13] USDOS - US Department of State: 2022 Report on International Religious Freedom: Eritrea, 15 May 2023, https://www.ecoi.net/de/dokument/2091856.html

[14] HRC - UN Human Rights Council: Situation of human rights in Eritrea; Report of the Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in Eritrea, Mohamed Abdelsalam Babiker, 9 May 2023, https://www.ecoi.net/en/file/local/2093254/G2309208.pdf, p. 7

[15] HRW - Human Rights Watch: World Report 2023 - Eritrea, 12 January 2023, https://www.ecoi.net/de/dokument/2085412.html

[16] USDOS - US Department of State: 2022 Report on International Religious Freedom: Eritrea, 15 May 2023, https://www.ecoi.net/de/dokument/2091856.html

[17] HRC - UN Human Rights Council: Situation of human rights in Eritrea; Report of the Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in Eritrea, Mohamed Abdelsalam Babiker, 9 May 2023, https://www.ecoi.net/en/file/local/2093254/G2309208.pdf, p. 7

[18] See: Deutschlandfunk: Der Krieg in der Region Tigray, 11 December 2022, https://www.deutschlandfunk.de/aethiopien-tigray-konflikt-100.html

[19] HRC - UN Human Rights Council: Situation of human rights in Eritrea; Report of the Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in Eritrea, Mohamed Abdelsalam Babiker, 9 May 2023, https://www.ecoi.net/en/file/local/2093254/G2309208.pdf, pp. 7-8

[20] HRC - UN Human Rights Council: Situation of human rights in Eritrea; Report of the Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in Eritrea, Mohamed Abdelsalam Babiker, 9 May 2023, https://www.ecoi.net/en/file/local/2093254/G2309208.pdf, p. 8

[21] USDOS - US Department of State: 2023 Trafficking in Persons Report: Eritrea, 15 June 2023, https://www.ecoi.net/de/dokument/2093603.html

[22] HRC - UN Human Rights Council: Situation of human rights in Eritrea; Report of the Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in Eritrea, Mohamed Abdelsalam Babiker, 9 May 2023, https://www.ecoi.net/en/file/local/2093254/G2309208.pdf, p. 10

[23] RSF - Reporters Without Borders: Africa, Eritrea, undated, https://rsf.org/en/country/eritrea

[24] USDOS - US Department of State: 2022 Country Report on Human Rights Practices: Eritrea, 20 March 2023, https://www.ecoi.net/de/dokument/2089067.html, Section 2a

[25] HRW - Human Rights Watch: World Report 2023 - Eritrea, 12 January 2023, https://www.ecoi.net/de/dokument/2085412.html

[26] HRC - UN Human Rights Council: Situation of human rights in Eritrea; Report of the Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in Eritrea, Mohamed Abdelsalam Babiker, 9 May 2023, https://www.ecoi.net/en/file/local/2093254/G2309208.pdf, p. 10

[27] RSF - Reporters Without Borders: Africa, Eritrea, undated, https://rsf.org/en/country/eritrea

[28] USDOS - US Department of State: 2022 Country Report on Human Rights Practices: Eritrea, 20 March 2023, https://www.ecoi.net/de/dokument/2089067.html, Section 2a

[29] HRC - UN Human Rights Council: Situation of human rights in Eritrea; Report of the Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in Eritrea, Mohamed Abdelsalam Babiker, 9 May 2023, https://www.ecoi.net/en/file/local/2093254/G2309208.pdf, p. 10

[30] USDOS - US Department of State: 2022 Country Report on Human Rights Practices: Eritrea, 20 March 2023, https://www.ecoi.net/de/dokument/2089067.html, section 1d

[31] HRW - Human Rights Watch: World Report 2023 - Eritrea, 12 January 2023, https://www.ecoi.net/de/dokument/2085412.html