Amnesty International Report 2000 - Eritrea

Head of state and government: Issayas Afewerki
Capital: Asmara
Population: 3.6 million
Official languages: English, Arabic, Tigrinya
Death penalty: retentionist
1999 treaty ratifications/signatures: African Charter on Human and Peoples' Rights; African Charter on the Rights and Welfare of the Child

1999 was dominated by the border war with Ethiopia which broke out in May 1998. Each side accused the other of human rights abuses and breaches of the Geneva Conventions, but many allegations were difficult to substantiate or verify independently. There were huge casualties on both sides and other disastrous effects on civilians and the economy. Intensive international and regional mediation efforts to obtain a lasting cease-fire and a peace agreement were continually frustrated. Information on human rights violations in Eritrea was difficult to obtain. The government claimed that there were no political detainees and continued to deny allegations of "disappearances" of political opponents.

Background

War with Ethiopia

Heavy fighting between Ethiopia and Eritrea resumed after a three-month lull in February 1999, when Eritrean troops lost the Badme area they had earlier occupied. There was intermittent further fighting in later months on several fronts along the disputed border. More than 250,000 Eritrean troops were deployed. Most were conscripted for national service, which applied to men and women aged between 18 and 45, with no provision for conscientious objection. Tens of thousands of troops on both sides were reported to have been killed, and hundreds captured. Several civilians were killed too, mainly in air strikes which breached a 1998 moratorium, and more than 200,000 Eritreans were displaced from their homes. Eritrea refused to provide details of the prisoners of war it was holding and it denied the International Committee of the Red Cross access to them.

There were numerous unsuccessful mediation attempts by the international community. In July, both sides accepted an Organization of African Unity peace plan and cease-fire, which provided for deployment of peacekeepers and neutral demarcation of the border. However, in December Ethiopia rejected the implementation terms.

Constitutional processes

The processes set up after Eritrea's independence from Ethiopia in 1993 towards creating a constituent assembly, holding elections and creating some form of multi-party democracy were postponed indefinitely because of the war. President Issayas Afewerki's ruling People's Front for Democracy and Justice continued to be the sole permitted party. A revised penal code was still being drafted.

Eritrean armed opposition

The government continued to face sporadic armed opposition from the Sudan-based Islamic Salvation Movement (formerly known as the Eritrean Islamic Jihad Movement), the Eritrean Liberation Front (ELF) and other Eritrean exile opposition groups. Allegations of arbitrary detentions and extrajudicial executions of suspected rebel supporters in the conflict areas bordering Sudan were impossible to verify.

International treaties

Eritrea continued to refuse to ratify the Geneva Conventions. In 1999 Eritrea ratified the African Charter on Human and Peoples' Rights and the African Charter on the Rights and Welfare of the Child.

Ethiopian nationals in Eritrea

More than 3,000 Ethiopians resident in Eritrea returned to Ethiopia in early 1999 through pressure of unemployment or homelessness as a consequence of the war. They did not appear to have been expelled by the government or as a result of government policy. This brought to more than 25,000 the total number of Ethiopians who returned during the war. The Ethiopian government repeatedly accused the Eritrean government of forced expulsions, detentions, torture and extrajudicial executions. In January the government admitted holding six Ethiopians for investigation into alleged espionage, but otherwise AI could not find evidence to substantiate most of Ethiopia's claims.

Detention without trial

Allegations that the authorities had arbitrarily detained government opponents or critics, some accused of links with exiled opposition groups, were difficult to substantiate. Abdulrahim Mohamed Ahmed, a pilot and former ELF activist, was reportedly detained secretly in January. A former ambassador, Ermias Debessai, was reportedly detained in early 1999 for possible trial in a special court dealing mainly with corruption cases. More than 450 people were detained during 1999 for eventual trial by this court, which holds secret trials with no right to legal defence representation or appeal, and where normal judicial procedures are shortened, in contravention of international fair trial standards.

Updates

More than 120 Eritrean officials of the former Ethiopian administration and ruling party, held since 1991 when the Eritrean People's Liberation Front took power, were still serving prison sentences of up to 15 years imposed for human rights abuses. Their trials were secret and unfair.

The government continued to deny responsibility for the "disappearance" of three officials of the Eritrean Liberation Front-Revolutionary Council abducted in Sudan in 1992, and a former Eritrean member of the Ethiopian parliament, Ali Higo.

AI country report and visit

Report

• Ethiopia and Eritrea: Human rights issues in a year of armed conflict (AI Index: AFR 04/003/99)

Visit

In January an AI delegation visited Eritrea for the first time since 1991. It met government ministers and officials, the Committee for Peace in Eritrea (a non-governmental association documenting the deportations of Eritreans from Ethiopia), and others.