On SCHR 2008 Report on the

Press Release:
On SCHR 2008 Report on the
State of Human Rights in Eritrea

The Suwera Centre for Human Rights (SCHR) is pleased to release today (21/7/2009 ) its Report on the State of Human Rights in Eritrea for the year 2008 which stresses the following themes:

• Continuation of the banning of political and trade unionist activities;
• Increased tightening of restrictions on religious and press freedoms;
• Continuation of arbitrary arrests and torture of political opponents;
• Escalation of violence and discrimination against women.

The report includes an introduction followed by five sections and concludes with recommendations directed to different concerned national and international bodies.
Section One: Dealing with the political and civil rights, this section includes five subdivisions which are: (a) freedom of practicing political and trade unionist activities, (b) religious freedoms, (c) freedom of expression and press, (d) the right to fair trial, (e) the right of privacy; the right to free mobility, and (f) reports on violations related to the implementation of the National Service Programme.
Section Two: It deals with the violence and the discrimination committed against women. This section demonstrated the decrease of the rate of female enrollment in the different stages of education; the escalation of violence against women and the decrease in their rate of employment.
Section Three: Dealing with the cases of arbitrary arrest and torture, the section attempts to list the names of those persons who were arbitrarily arrested since independence and whose arrest was verified by the Suwera Center for Human Rights (SCHR) through its trusted sources and references. The section describes the conditions of their detention as well as the means of torture practiced in Eritrean prisons.
Section Four: Dealing with the situations of Eritrean refugees, the section reviews their situations in key regions where Eritrean refugees are found. It also narrates cases of refugee deportations during 2007 and 2008.
Section Five: This deals with the responses and positions of the international community to the human rights violations of the Eritrean government to its own citizens.

The 2008 Report is concluded by recommendations urging all parties concerned with the protection and promotion human rights to redouble their efforts in addressing and confronting the gross human rights violations meted out by the Eritrean government.

At this very moment of releasing its report for the year 2008, the SCHR hopes that the question of human rights in Eritrea will draw a much greater attention that it deserves from the international community. Needless to say, the political, civil and human rights violations committed by the Eritrean government are the worst conditions prevailing in time of relative peace. The situation in Eritrea is a challenge to the international community and its ability to put into effect the values and international conventions regarding human rights.


The Suwera Centre for Human Rights