UNITED NATIONS HUMAN RIGHTS COUNCIL

59^th session

Interactive Dialogue on Eritrea with the Special Representative on the situation of human rights in Eritrea

16 June 2025

EU statement

Mr (Vice) President,

The EU thanks the Special Rapporteur and reaffirms its support to his mandate. We continue to call on Eritrea to engage constructively with the Special Rapporteur and grant him full and unhindered access.

We welcome some progress made in the sphere of social rights in Eritrea as reported by the UN Country Team, notably in the areas of health and education, female genital mutilation, sexual and gender-based violence, and Water, Sanitation and Hygiene, and collection of data about child protection. While progress remains insufficient, we strongly encourage Eritrea to continue strengthening its partnership with the United Nations. The EU welcomes recent bilateral discussions on a number of issues, including on human rights, during the visit of Senior Officials in April 2025.

We have welcomed Eritrea’s ratification of the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities in January 2025, and stand ready to support its swift implementation. We encourage Eritrea to further address the findings of the UN Child Rights Committee issued in February 2025, and to take action on the recommendations.

Nevertheless, we remain gravely concerned by the human rights situation in the country, as reported by the Special Rapporteur. The lack of progress on the situation of the human rights only highlights the necessity to maintain the utmost attention on the persistent human rights violations in the country and continue the mandate of the Special Rapporteur.

We call on Eritrea to end the suppression of civil and political rights, including arbitrary detention, enforced disappearance and torture, to ensure humane prison conditions, to create and maintain a safe and enabling civic space, to establish independent and transparent institutions and to ensure respect for the rule of law as a major precondition for human and economic development, and to combat persisting impunity. The whereabouts of those disappeared in the past decades must be revealed and those held arbitrarily detained must be released immediately. We are also particularly concerned by transnational repression, including targeting human rights defenders and government critics, as reported by the Special Rapporteur, which must stop.

The EU reiterates its call for Eritrea to end the continued practise of indefinite national service and arbitrary conscription, including the concerning alleged conscription of children, gender based violence and forced labour, and respect the right to conscientious objection. As pointed out in the Special Rapporteur’s report, the practice has wide ranging negative impacts including on Eritreans’ economic and social rights, such as education, employment and family life.

We call on the Government of Eritrea to guarantee freedom of expression and opinion and freedom of peaceful assembly and association, in line with its international human rights obligations. 

In line with OHCHR recommendations, we call on the Government of Eritrea to carry out credible, independent investigations into alleged violations and abuses of human rights and violations of international humanitarian law committed during and after the war in Tigray region of Ethiopia in order to provide justice to all victims, including Eritreans who had found refuge in Ethiopia. 

The EU stands ready to continue its engagement with Eritrea and its people on the basis of a comprehensive, constructive and long-term approach, including dialogue on the recommendations in the UPR.

Mr Special Rapporteur, could you elaborate more on the situation of children, and women and girls’ rights in Eritrea, including the impact of the national service?

Thank you.