DOCSLIB.ORG

Eritrea & Ethiopia

Total Page：16

File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb

Download full-text PDF Read full-text
Eritrea & Ethiopia ERITREA & ETHIOPIA 350 Fifth Ave 34 th Floor New York, N.Y. 10118-3299 http://www.hrw.org (212) 290-4700 Vol. 15, No. 3 (A) – January 2003 B.H. noticed that an agent had marked down her nationality as “Eritrean”—although he had never asked her to state her nationality: I asked him “what was that?” He said “nationality.” “Why don’t you ask me?” I told him. He just laughed. -- Testimony to Human Rights Watch THE HORN OF AFRICA WAR: MASS EXPULSIONS AND THE NATIONALITY ISSUE (June 1998 – April 2002) 1630 Connecticut Ave, N.W., Suite 500 2nd Floor, 2-12 Pentonville Road 15 Rue Van Campenhout Washington, DC 20009 London N1 9HF, UK 1000 Brussels, Belgium TEL (202) 612-4321 TEL: (44 20) 7713 1995 TEL (32 2) 732-2009 FAX (202) 612-4333 FAX: (44 20) 7713 1800 FAX (32 2) 732-0471 E-mail: [email protected] E-mail: [email protected] E-mail: [email protected] January 2003 Vol. 15, No. 3 (A) ERITREA & ETHIOPIA THE HORN OF AFRICA WAR: MASS EXPULSIONS AND THE NATIONALITY ISSUE (June 1998 – April 2002) I. SUMMARY...........................................................................................................................................................3 A Deportee’s Story.................................................................................................................................................3 “Expelled—Never to Return”.................................................................................................................................3 The War’ Staggering Toll.......................................................................................................................................4 The Deportations ....................................................................................................................................................5 The War and the Question of Nationality...............................................................................................................7 Methodology ..........................................................................................................................................................9 II. RECOMMENDATIONS....................................................................................................................................10 To the Governments of Ethiopia and Eritrea:.......................................................................................................10 To the Government of Eritrea: .............................................................................................................................10 To the International Community: .........................................................................................................................10 III. THE CONFLICT BETWEEN ERITREA AND ETHIOPIA............................................................................11 Background to the Conflict ..................................................................................................................................11 The War: The Military Confrontation ..................................................................................................................17 IV. EXPULSIONS BY ETHIOPIA ........................................................................................................................18 Overview of the Expulsion Campaign..................................................................................................................18 Expulsion Campaign Procedures in Urban Areas ................................................................................................21 Individual Stories..................................................................................................................................................26 Expulsion Procedures in Rural Areas...................................................................................................................27 Reception of Expellees.........................................................................................................................................28 Expulsions from Ethiopia After the December 2000 Peace Agreement ..............................................................30 V. EXPULSIONS BY ERITREA ...........................................................................................................................30 The Official Policy Statement ..............................................................................................................................30 Early Exodus and Expulsions (June 1998-February 1999) ..................................................................................31 Internment (February 1999-December 2000).......................................................................................................34 Attacks on Ethiopians...........................................................................................................................................35 Expulsions After June 2000..................................................................................................................................35 Access to Ethiopian POWs and Internees ............................................................................................................36 VI. THE RESPONSES OF THE INTERNATIONAL COMMUNITY...................................................................37 The Joint U.S.-Rwandan Peace Plan: May 1998..................................................................................................38 The Organization of African Unity (OAU) ..........................................................................................................39 United Nations......................................................................................................................................................41 United States.........................................................................................................................................................48 European Union....................................................................................................................................................50 VII. RELEVANT LEGAL STANDARDS .............................................................................................................51 National Security and Non-Derogation ................................................................................................................52 Discrimination ......................................................................................................................................................53 Arbitrary Deprivation of Nationality....................................................................................................................54 The Norm against Statelessness ...........................................................................................................................55 Mass Expulsion ....................................................................................................................................................57 The Separation of Families...................................................................................................................................58 Due Process and Arbitrary Detention...................................................................................................................59 Torture, Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment .......................................................................59 Conclusions ..........................................................................................................................................................60 Human Rights Violations in Eritrea .....................................................................................................................63 2 I. SUMMARY A Deportee’s Story Ethiopian nurse B.H. was working for a humanitarian agency in Addis Ababa when war broke out between Ethiopia and Eritrea in May 1999. Then in her mid-fifties, she had lived in Ethiopia’s capital all of her adult life. She traced her ancestry to Ethiopia’s former province of Eritrea, which won its independence in 1993. She was widowed in 1989 from her Ethiopian husband—who had no Eritrean heritage—after more than twenty years of marriage. She had lived and raised her two children in Ethiopia. In June 1998, Ethiopia authorities set in motion a campaign to round up, strip of all proof of Ethiopian citizenship, and deport Ethiopians of Eritrean origin from the country. Along with as many as 75,000 others, B.H. was taken into custody, denied her Ethiopian nationality, separated from her children, and deported to a purported homeland with which she had only distant ties. In Eritrea, parallel roundups of Ethiopian nationals ensued later in the course of the war. B.H. told Human Rights Watch her story in May 1999 in Asmara, Eritrea’s capital, where she is still a refugee. In September 1998 police sought out B.H. at her work in Addis Ababa and took her to the local police station for questioning by a “processing committee.” As they asked her questions, the members of the committee took down information. B.H. noticed that an agent had marked down her nationality as “Eritrean”—although he had never asked her to state her nationality: I asked him “what was that?” He said “nationality.” “Why don’t you ask me?” I told him. He just laughed.1 B.H. said that during her entire ordeal she never doubted that the whole thing was a “terrible
Load more

Recommended publications
  • An Analysis of the Afar-Somali Conflict in Ethiopia and Djibouti
    Regional Dynamics of Inter-ethnic Conflicts in the Horn of Africa: An Analysis of the Afar-Somali Conflict in Ethiopia and Djibouti DISSERTATION ZUR ERLANGUNG DER GRADES DES DOKTORS DER PHILOSOPHIE DER UNIVERSTÄT HAMBURG VORGELEGT VON YASIN MOHAMMED YASIN from Assab, Ethiopia HAMBURG 2010 ii Regional Dynamics of Inter-ethnic Conflicts in the Horn of Africa: An Analysis of the Afar-Somali Conflict in Ethiopia and Djibouti by Yasin Mohammed Yasin Submitted in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree PHILOSOPHIAE DOCTOR (POLITICAL SCIENCE) in the FACULITY OF BUSINESS, ECONOMICS AND SOCIAL SCIENCES at the UNIVERSITY OF HAMBURG Supervisors Prof. Dr. Cord Jakobeit Prof. Dr. Rainer Tetzlaff HAMBURG 15 December 2010 iii Acknowledgments First and foremost, I would like to thank my doctoral fathers Prof. Dr. Cord Jakobeit and Prof. Dr. Rainer Tetzlaff for their critical comments and kindly encouragement that made it possible for me to complete this PhD project. Particularly, Prof. Jakobeit’s invaluable assistance whenever I needed and his academic follow-up enabled me to carry out the work successfully. I therefore ask Prof. Dr. Cord Jakobeit to accept my sincere thanks. I am also grateful to Prof. Dr. Klaus Mummenhoff and the association, Verein zur Förderung äthiopischer Schüler und Studenten e. V., Osnabruck , for the enthusiastic morale and financial support offered to me in my stay in Hamburg as well as during routine travels between Addis and Hamburg. I also owe much to Dr. Wolbert Smidt for his friendly and academic guidance throughout the research and writing of this dissertation. Special thanks are reserved to the Department of Social Sciences at the University of Hamburg and the German Institute for Global and Area Studies (GIGA) that provided me comfortable environment during my research work in Hamburg.
    [Show full text]
  • The Eastern Front and the Struggle Against Marginalization
    3 The Eastern Front and the Struggle against Marginalization By John Young Copyright The Small Arms Survey Published in Switzerland by the Small Arms Survey The Small Arms Survey is an independent research project located at the Graduate Institute of International Studies in Geneva, Switzerland. It serves © Small Arms Survey, Graduate Institute of International Studies, Geneva 2007 as the principal source of public information on all aspects of small arms and First published in May 2007 as a resource centre for governments, policy-makers, researchers, and activ- ists. All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, without the prior Established in 1999, the project is supported by the Swiss Federal Depart- permission in writing of the Small Arms Survey, or as expressly permitted by ment of Foreign Affairs, and by contributions from the Governments of Bel- law, or under terms agreed with the appropriate reprographics rights organi- gium, Canada, Finland, France, the Netherlands, Norway, Sweden, and the zation. Enquiries concerning reproduction outside the scope of the above should United Kingdom. The Survey is also grateful for past and current project-spe- be sent to the Publications Manager, Small Arms Survey, at the address below. cific support received from Australia, Denmark, and New Zealand. Further Small Arms Survey funding has been provided by the United Nations Development Programme, Graduate Institute of International Studies the United Nations Institute for Disarmament Research, the Geneva 47 Avenue Blanc, 1202 Geneva, Switzerland International Academic Network, and the Geneva International Centre for Humanitarian Demining.
    [Show full text]
  • Chad1 Djibouti Eritrea Ethiopia Kenya Somalia Sudan Uganda
    East and Hornof Africa Chad1 Djibouti Eritrea Ethiopia Kenya Somalia Sudan Uganda 1As of January 2011, Chad will be included in the East and Horn of Africa subregion. 58 UNHCR Global Appeal 2011 Update Refugees who have been displaced by the recent escalation in conflict in Somalia wait to be registered at Ifo camp in Kenya. Working environment The significant outflow of Eritreans into Ethiopia and Sudan—estimated at some 3,000 a month—continues to present The working environment in the East and Horn of Africa region, challenges. Moreover, Eritreans and Somalis en route to Europe including Chad and Sudan, continues to be influenced by the or the Middle East in growing mixed migration movements ever-deteriorating situation in Somalia, the ongoing population often fall victim to traffickers. movement from Eritrea and the uncertainty surrounding the outcome of the forthcoming referendum scheduled to take place Strategy in 2011 inSudaninJanuary2011. With armed groups in south and central Somalia becoming UNHCR will monitor early warning signs in order to adapt to increasingly radicalized and the Transitional Federal the changing environment, and will regularly update the Government in Mogadishu weakened by internal power contingency plans it has developed in 2010 for Somalia and struggles, no peaceful solution appears to be in sight for Somalia. Sudan. In Somalia, the Office will increase its presence in The bomb attacks in Kampala, Uganda, in July 2010, for which “Puntland” and “Somaliland” as well as the southern and the Al Shabaab militia has claimed responsibility,were intended to central parts of the country. Efforts to strictly monitor the use persuade the Ugandan Government to withdraw its troops from of humanitarian assistance in the Somalia context will Somalia.
    [Show full text]
  • Post-Colonial Journeys: Historical Roots of Immigration Andintegration
    Post-Colonial Journeys: Historical Roots of Immigration andIntegration DYLAN RILEY AND REBECCA JEAN EMIGH* ABSTRACT The effect ofItalian colonialismon migration to Italy differedaccording to the pre-colonialsocial structure, afactor previouslyneglected byimmigration theories. In Eritrea,pre- colonialChristianity, sharp class distinctions,and a strong state promotedinteraction between colonizers andcolonized. Eritrean nationalismemerged against Ethiopia; thus, nosharp breakbetween Eritreans andItalians emerged.Two outgrowths ofcolonialism, the Eritrean nationalmovement andreligious ties,facilitate immigration and integration. In contrast, in Somalia,there was nostrong state, few class differences, the dominantreligion was Islam, andnationalists opposed Italian rule.Consequently, Somali developed few institutionalties to colonialauthorities and few institutionsprovided resources to immigrants.Thus, Somaliimmigrants are few andare not well integratedinto Italian society. * Direct allcorrespondence to Rebecca Jean Emigh, Department ofSociology, 264 HainesHall, Box 951551,Los Angeles, CA 90095-1551;e-mail: [email protected]. ucla.edu.We would like to thank Caroline Brettell, RogerWaldinger, and Roy Pateman for their helpfulcomments. ChaseLangford made the map.A versionof this paperwas presentedat the Tenth International Conference ofEuropeanists,March 1996.Grants from the Center forGerman andEuropean Studies at the University ofCalifornia,Berkeley and the UCLA FacultySenate supported this research. ComparativeSociology, Volume 1,issue 2
    [Show full text]
  • 519 Ethiopia Report With
    Minority Rights Group International R E P O R Ethiopia: A New Start? T • ETHIOPIA: A NEW START? AN MRG INTERNATIONAL REPORT AN MRG INTERNATIONAL BY KJETIL TRONVOLL ETHIOPIA: A NEW START? Acknowledgements Minority Rights Group International (MRG) gratefully © Minority Rights Group 2000 acknowledges the support of Bilance, Community Aid All rights reserved Abroad, Dan Church Aid, Government of Norway, ICCO Material from this publication may be reproduced for teaching or other non- and all other organizations and individuals who gave commercial purposes. No part of it may be reproduced in any form for com- financial and other assistance for this Report. mercial purposes without the prior express permission of the copyright holders. For further information please contact MRG. This Report has been commissioned and is published by A CIP catalogue record for this publication is available from the British Library. MRG as a contribution to public understanding of the ISBN 1 897 693 33 8 issue which forms its subject. The text and views of the ISSN 0305 6252 author do not necessarily represent, in every detail and in Published April 2000 all its aspects, the collective view of MRG. Typset by Texture Printed in the UK on bleach-free paper. MRG is grateful to all the staff and independent expert readers who contributed to this Report, in particular Tadesse Tafesse (Programme Coordinator) and Katrina Payne (Reports Editor). THE AUTHOR KJETIL TRONVOLL is a Research Fellow and Horn of Ethiopian elections for the Constituent Assembly in 1994, Africa Programme Director at the Norwegian Institute of and the Federal and Regional Assemblies in 1995.
    [Show full text]
  • Starving Tigray
    Starving Tigray How Armed Conflict and Mass Atrocities Have Destroyed an Ethiopian Region’s Economy and Food System and Are Threatening Famine Foreword by Helen Clark April 6, 2021 ABOUT The World Peace Foundation, an operating foundation affiliated solely with the Fletcher School at Tufts University, aims to provide intellectual leadership on issues of peace, justice and security. We believe that innovative research and teaching are critical to the challenges of making peace around the world, and should go hand-in- hand with advocacy and practical engagement with the toughest issues. To respond to organized violence today, we not only need new instruments and tools—we need a new vision of peace. Our challenge is to reinvent peace. This report has benefited from the research, analysis and review of a number of individuals, most of whom preferred to remain anonymous. For that reason, we are attributing authorship solely to the World Peace Foundation. World Peace Foundation at the Fletcher School Tufts University 169 Holland Street, Suite 209 Somerville, MA 02144 ph: (617) 627-2255 worldpeacefoundation.org © 2021 by the World Peace Foundation. All rights reserved. Cover photo: A Tigrayan child at the refugee registration center near Kassala, Sudan Starving Tigray | I FOREWORD The calamitous humanitarian dimensions of the conflict in Tigray are becoming painfully clear. The international community must respond quickly and effectively now to save many hundreds of thou- sands of lives. The human tragedy which has unfolded in Tigray is a man-made disaster. Reports of mass atrocities there are heart breaking, as are those of starvation crimes.
    [Show full text]
  • ERITREA Mahmoud Ahmed Chehem (M), Aged 21, Army Soldier Estifanos Solomon (M), Army Driver Two Male Army Officers (Names Not Known)
    PUBLIC AI Index: AFR 64/001/2005 07 January 2005 UA 03/05 Forcible return / Fear of torture or ill-treatment / Detention without charge or trial ERITREA Mahmoud Ahmed Chehem (m), aged 21, army soldier Estifanos Solomon (m), army driver Two male army officers (names not known) Mahmoud Ahmed Chehem, Estifanos Solomon and two army officers were reportedly forcibly returned from Djibouti to Eritrea on 28 December 2004. They are being detained without charge at an unknown location and are at risk of torture or ill-treatment. Mahmoud Ahmed Chehem is a member of the Afar ethnic group which inhabits areas in both Djibouti and Eritrea. He was born in Djibouti, although his family live in Eritrea. On 26 December he and the three other men drove from the southwest Eritrean town of Assab to Obock town in Djibouti, where they were detained by the Djiboutian army. Mahmoud Ahmed Chehem was refused permission to stay in Djibouti, despite being a Djiboutian citizen. The three other men reportedly requested asylum in Djibouti but were summarily handed over to Eritrean military officers on 28 December, who forcibly returned them to Eritrea the same day. The three were denied the right to have their asylum application properly determined or to contact the UN High Commission for Refugees (UNHCR) office in Djibouti. Mahmoud Ahmed Chehem was unlawfully conscripted into the Eritrean army as a child soldier in 1997 when he was 14 years old. He had unsuccessfully applied recently to be demobilized on medical grounds after receiving eye injuries and shrapnel wounds during the 1998-2000 war with Ethiopia.
    [Show full text]
  • Mixed Migration in the Horn of Africa and Yemen
    MIXED MIGRATION Member agency data inventory (2-4 pages max) SuggestedIN HORN ‘template’ approach: OF AFRICA AND YEMEN Reflection:October Identify 2012the key areas of expertise that your agency specifically deals with that intersect with mixed migration issues. (if you need to be sure about mixed migration go to www.regionalmms.com to learn more) Egypt 'Secondary movement': Some migrants go through the Gulf into the Middle East and Europe, working along the way. If they can afford it Saudi Arabia: Saudi Arabia appears to have an Towards Egypt: Eritreans, Somalis and Ethiopians and have sufficient contacts / documentation migrants always prefer to ambivalent attitude to irregular migrants. While it (and other migrants) use the 'northern' route into fly. claims to be intolerant and strict, officially, in practice, Egypt where Cairo is a destination or a transit point many thousands of Ethiopians, Somalis, Kenyans and to pass into the Sinai region and into Israel. During others live and work in Saudi Arabia. Yemenis also the month of October security forces in Egypt Saudia Arabia Abuse: Most of the Ethiopians cross into KSA irregularly in large numbers. Many arrested 10 undocumented African migrants who arriving in Yemen are enroute migrants (economic) are detained and deported back were trying to enter Israel illegally through the Sinai to Saudi Arabia. They normally into Yemen. border. travel along the eastern side with smugglers (benign or violent) up to Haradh area in order to cross into KSA. The Trafficking of women: . incidences of kidnapping, There are reports of torture, rape and extorion of women being separated Red Sea new arrivals is very high.
    [Show full text]
  • OSAC Country Security Report Ethiopia
    OSAC Country Security Report Ethiopia Last Updated: August 4, 2021 Travel Advisory The current U.S. Department of State Travel Advisory at the date of this report’s publication indicates that travelers should exercise increased caution in Ethiopia due to COVID-19, civil unrest, and communication disruptions. The Department of State assesses the following regions of Ethiopia at higher risk levels: • Do not travel to Tigray Region and the border with Eritrea due to armed conflict, civil unrest, and crime; the border area with Somalia due to potential for terrorism, kidnapping, and landmines; the border areas with Sudan and South Sudan due to crime, kidnapping, armed conflict, and civil unrest; the border areas with Kenya due to potential for terrorism and ethnic conflict; and Amhara Region districts (woredas) that border Tigray Region due to armed conflict and civil unrest. • Reconsider travel to Somali Region due to potential for terrorism and internal border unrest with Afar Region; Southern Nations, Nationalities, and People's Region (SNNPR) due to armed conflict and civil unrest; the East Hararge zone area and the Guji zone of Oromia Region due to armed conflict and civil unrest; and Benishangul Gumuz and the western part of Oromia Region due to armed conflict and civil unrest. Review OSAC’s report, Understanding the Consular Travel Advisory System. The Institute for Economics & Peace Global Peace Index 2021 ranks Ethiopia 139 out of 163 worldwide, rating the country as being at a Low state of peace. Crime Environment The U.S. Department of State has assessed Addis Ababa as being a CRITICAL-threat location for crime directed at or affecting official U.S.
    [Show full text]
  • Ethiopia and Eritrea: Border War Sandra F
    View metadata, citation and similar papers at core.ac.uk brought to you by CORE provided by University of Richmond University of Richmond UR Scholarship Repository Political Science Faculty Publications Political Science 2000 Ethiopia and Eritrea: Border War Sandra F. Joireman University of Richmond, [email protected] Follow this and additional works at: http://scholarship.richmond.edu/polisci-faculty-publications Part of the African Studies Commons, and the International Relations Commons Recommended Citation Joireman, Sandra F. "Ethiopia and Eritrea: Border War." In History Behind the Headlines: The Origins of Conflicts Worldwide, edited by Sonia G. Benson, Nancy Matuszak, and Meghan Appel O'Meara, 1-11. Vol. 1. Detroit: Gale Group, 2001. This Book Chapter is brought to you for free and open access by the Political Science at UR Scholarship Repository. It has been accepted for inclusion in Political Science Faculty Publications by an authorized administrator of UR Scholarship Repository. For more information, please contact [email protected]. Ethiopia and Eritrea: Border War History Behind the Headlines, 2001 The Conflict The war between Ethiopia and Eritrea—two of the poorest countries in the world— began in 1998. Eritrea was once part of the Ethiopian empire, but it was colonized by Italy from 1869 to 1941. Following Italy's defeat in World War II, the United Nations determined that Eritrea would become part of Ethiopia, though Eritrea would maintain a great deal of autonomy. In 1961 Ethiopia removed Eritrea's independence, and Eritrea became just another Ethiopian province. In 1991 following a revolution in Ethiopia, Eritrea gained its independence. However, the borders between Ethiopia and Eritrea had never been clearly marked.
    [Show full text]
  • Abbysinia/Ethiopia: State Formation and National State-Building Project
    Abbysinia/Ethiopia: State Formation and National State-Building Project Comparative Approach Daniel Gemtessa Oct, 2014 Department of Political Sience University of Oslo TABLE OF CONTENTS No.s Pages Part I 1 1 Chapter I Introduction 1 1.1 Problem Presentation – Ethiopia 1 1.2 Concept Clarification 3 1.2.1 Ethiopia 3 1.2.2 Abyssinia Functional Differentiation 4 1.2.3 Religion 6 1.2.4 Language 6 1.2.5 Economic Foundation 6 1.2.6 Law and Culture 7 1.2.7 End of Zemanamesafint (Era of the Princes) 8 1.2.8 Oromos, Functional Differentiation 9 1.2.9 Religion and Culture 10 1.2.10 Law 10 1.2.11 Economy 10 1.3 Method and Evaluation of Data Materials 11 1.4 Evaluation of Data Materials 13 1.4.1 Observation 13 1.4.2 Copyright Provision 13 1.4.3 Interpretation 14 1.4.4 Usability, Usefulness, Fitness 14 1.4.5 The Layout of This Work 14 Chapter II Theoretical Background 15 2.1 Introduction 15 2.2 A Short Presentation of Rokkan’s Model as a Point of Departure for 17 the Overall Problem Presentation 2.3 Theoretical Analysis in Four Chapters 18 2.3.1 Territorial Control 18 2.3.2 Cultural Standardization 18 2.3.3 Political Participation 19 2.3.4 Redistribution 19 2.3.5 Summary of the Theory 19 Part II State Formation 20 Chapter III 3 Phase I: Penetration or State Formation Process 20 3.0.1 First: A Short Definition of Nation 20 3.0.2 Abyssinian/Ethiopian State Formation Process/Territorial Control? 21 3.1 Menelik (1889 – 1913) Emperor 21 3.1.1 Introduction 21 3.1.2 The Colonization of Oromo People 21 3.2 Empire State Under Haile Selassie, 1916 – 1974 37
    [Show full text]
  • Eritrea: Researched and Compiled by the Refugee Documentation Centre of Ireland on 25 March 2009
    Eritrea: Researched and compiled by the Refugee Documentation Centre of Ireland on 25 March 2009 Is there any evidence that since 1998 all males in Eritrea (apart from the elderly and sick) have been permanently contracted by the army and that they have continuously worked for the ministry of defence since 1998 to this day with only a small holiday of about 10 days every year? Are those drafted to the Eritrean Army paid a salary? If so, how much do they receive per month approximately? According to a report from War Resisters International taken from the Broken Rifle it refers to national service being extended indefinitely and notes: “Thousands of young men and women fled Eritrea and sought asylum in neighbouring countries like The Sudan, Libya, Ethiopia and other countries in Europe and the United States. This even increased after Eritrea's war with Ethiopia from 1998 to 2000 and the open repressive acts of the present government in Eritrea. Such massive running away of young men and women is part of an effort to avoid conscription or necessary after deserting from the army. According to a proclaimed regulation, national service, compulsory for all men and women aged between 18 and 40, has been extended indefinitely from the original 18 month term instituted in 1994. Besides excessive violations of the human right of draftees, national service consists of military service and labour on army-related construction projects. The right to conscientious objection to military service is not recognised by the Eritrean authorities. There are frequent round-ups to catch evaders and deserters.
    [Show full text]