Answer of the Federal Government to the Minor Interpellation submitted by Members of the Bundestag Luise Amtsberg, Omid Nouripour, Tom Koenigs, KorduIa Schulz-Asche, Dr Frithjof Schmidt, Claudia Roth, Volker Beck, Annalena Baerbock, Marieluise Beck, Dr Franziska Brantner, Agnieszka Brugger, Uwe Kekeritz, Dr Tobias Lindner, Cem Özdemir, Manuel Sarrazin, Jürgen Trittin, Doris Wagner and the Alliance 90/The Greens parliamentary group - Bundestag printed paper no.: 18-4505 of 26.03.2015 - Human rights situation in Eritrea Preliminary remarks of the questioners The human rights situation in Eritrea continues to give major cause for concern. Reports persist of arbitrary arrests, forced labour, torture and extrajudicial killings. Freedom of expression in the country is heavily restricted as independent media is not tolerated and journalists critical of the government are persecuted. Eritrea occupies last place in the press freedom index of the “Reporters without borders” organisation. The report published on 13 May 2014 by the UN Special Rapporteur on Human Rights in Eritrea, Sheila B. Keetharuth, confirmed this appalling situation (UN document A/HRC/26/45). In response to this, on 27 June 2014 the UN Human Rights Council established a one-year Commission of Inquiry on Eritrea (UN Human Rights Council Resolution A/HRC/RES/26/45). An exact picture of the human rights situation is being rendered more difficult, however, by the fact that the Eritrean government has allowed neither the UN Special Rapporteur nor the Committee of Inquiry established by the UN Human Rights Council to enter the country (Oral Update by Mike Smith, Chairman of the Commission of Inquiry to the UN Human Rights Council (16 March 15)). The repressive measures taken by the government of Isaias Afwerki against its own population and the precarious economic situation in the country mean that increasing numbers of people are leaving the country. The Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) estimates that more than 5% of the Eritrean population have now fled the country. 2000 people are reported to be fleeing every month; in July 2014 a total of 357406 Eritreans were in the process of fleeing. Most of them end up in refugee camps in Sudan or Ethiopia. According to UNHCR information, between January and November 2014 almost 37000 Eritreans sought asylum in Europe. According to the German Federal Office for Migration and Refugees, in 2014 a total of 13253 applications for asylum were lodged by Eritrean nationals in Germany, 13198 of which were first- time applications. The current wave of refugees can be traced back to the introduction of indefinite military service in 2002. The numbers of refugees have risen constantly ever since. According to human rights organisations, initially the authorities responded to attempts to flee with orders to shoot at the border. Relatives of those who had fled were forced to pay fines. Thereafter, the practice developed of high-ranking military representatives cooperating inter alia with nomadic clans to extort ransoms, sometimes even abducting young people themselves or pocketing bribes to transport those seeking to flee. The smuggling and trafficking of humans has since developed into a lucrative business in the Horn of Africa, involving security staff, members of the government and various criminal groups in various different countries. The EU drafted a Strategic Framework on the Horn of Africa (EU Council Document 16858/11) in 2011, which unfortunately has not produced many real results thus far. In 2011, the European Commission and the UNHCR jointly established a Regional Protection Programme, RPP for the Horn of Africa. The Justice and Home Affairs Council decided to develop a new and more in-depth protection programme in October 2014, which is also - with regard to the Horn of Africa – to have a development policy component (Regional Development and Protection Programme, RDPP). In addition to this, on 28 November 2014, the Federal Government and its European partners and the countries of origin and transit of refugees in the Horn of Africa signed the Khartoum Declaration. In this document the signatory states agreed on a common approach to combat human trafficking and smuggling (Answer of the Federal Government to Written Question 7 of Member of the Bundestag Luise Amtsberg, in Bundestag printed paper 18/3960). The example of Egypt illustrates, however, that there are blatant shortcomings in the protection of refugee rights in the signatory states. Whilst it is true that Egypt has taken first steps to counter human traffickers in recent months, at the same time it continues to systematically infringe the agreement on the protection of refugees and victims of human trafficking through its incarceration and deportation practices (report by Human Rights Watch: “I Wanted to Lie Down and Die — Trafficking and Torture of Eritreans in Sudan and Egypt”, 2014). The government of Eritrea is internationally isolated. The UN Security Council adopted sanctions against Eritrea in 2009 and 2011 by passing resolutions UNSC 1907(2009) and UNSC 2023(2011). The reasons cited for these were inter alia the continued support provided to armed foreign groups by the Eritrean government, including the Al-Shabab militia in Somalia. At European level the sanctions against Eritrea were decided on in EU Council Decision (2010/127/CFSP) as of 1 March 2010. The latest report by the UN Monitoring Group for Somalia and Sudan describes how the Eritrean government continues to be involved in the arms smuggling in the region in spite of these sanctions. In light of this, the fact that the Eritrean government signed the UN Convention against Torture on 24 September 2014 appears to be an attempt to improve Eritrea’s image on the world stage. Relations between Eritrea and its neighbouring countries have been heavily and negatively affected by territorial conflicts. In the period from 1961 to 1991, Eritrea waged a battle for independence against Ethiopia, which ended in de facto independence for Eritrea. The borders drawn between the two states at that time continue to form the basis for conflicts to this very day, leading to a new war from 1998 to 2000, for instance. Eritrea demands that Ethiopia observe the steps set forth in the Algiers Agreement in 2000 to resolve the territorial conflict. In this document, Ethiopia had declared its willingness inter alia to respect the decision of a UN boundary commission regarding the demarcation of borders. Ethiopia continues to ignore the 2002 decision by the Eritrea-Ethiopia Boundary Commission (EEBC) to this very day and refuses to cede the territories awarded to Eritrea. Whilst no new fighting has broken out between Eritrea and Ethiopia since 2000, the relationship between the two countries remains extremely tense. Relations reached a new low in 2011 when the UN Somalia and Eritrea Monitoring Group accused the Eritrean government of having planned an attack during a meeting of the African Union in Addis Ababa (Security Council Report S/2012/545). We ask the Federal Government: Human rights situation 1. In what way is the Federal Government supporting the work of the Commission of Inquiry on Eritrea established by the UN Human Rights Council , and what measures does it hold to be suitable to stop the Eritrean government blocking the Commission of Inquiry? The Federal Government has supported the establishment of the Commission of Inquiry by the United Nations Human Rights Council from the very outset and continues to do so, for instance with its statements on the Human Rights Council and by the voluntary contribution made to the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights. It has also hosted members of the Commission of Inquiry for consultations in Germany and in bilateral talks encouraged other states to follow suit. In its dealings with Eritrea it also advocates that the Commission of Inquiry be allowed to enter the country. 2. On the UN Human Rights Council is the Federal Government advocating a continuation of the mandate of the UN Special Rapporteur on human rights in Eritrea, Sheila B. Keetharuth, and how is it supporting her work? A decision will be taken on the extension of the mandate of the Special Rapporteur, Sheila B. Keetharuth, at the 29th session of the United Nations Human Rights Council (June - July 2015). The Commission of Inquiry’s report on Eritrea is also scheduled to be presented at the same time. At this time, the Federal Government will advocate the continuation of a suitable UN mechanism for Eritrea. It is also simultaneously supporting the mandate of Ms Keetharuth, has invited her to consultations in Germany and encouraged other states to invite her, too. 3. What knowledge does the Federal Government have of the plans for constitutional reform announced by President Isaias, which according to him a committee has already been tasked with (see www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2014-12-31/eritreas-president-pledges- constitution-totackle-inequalie), and how does it view the chances for reform? President Isaias Afewerki already announced plans for a revision of the constitution during the celebrations surrounding Independence Day in May 2014 and repeated this in the New Year’s interview cited. At no point in time has he provided more specific information on the process or the composition of the committee entrusted with this task. He merely stated that every citizen was invited to submit proposals and that the draft constitution that he finalised in 1997 but which never entered into force needed revising. 4. What is the Federal Government’s assessment of the human rights situation in Eritrea? a) What knowledge does the Federal Government have of the detention conditions in Eritrean prisons (UN Document A/HRC/26/45, p.15-16)? The Federal Government assumes that the descriptions of the conditions of detention contained in UN Document A/HRC/26/45 are correct.