Category Archives: News

UN rights expert urges the world to keep Eritrea under scrutiny and help people fleeing the country

GENEVA (5 June 2013) – The United Nations Special Rapporteur on Eritrea, Sheila B. Keetharuth, today reiterated her call on the international community to keep monitoring the human rights situation in Eritrea and to protect and support those fleeing the country, in particular the increasing numbers of unaccompanied children.

“I urge the international community to keep Eritrea under close scrutiny until meaningful change is evident,” Ms. Keetharuth said during the presentation of her first report to the UN Human Rights Council. “It will be important to increase efforts to constructively engage with Eritrea and neighbouring countries to improve the situation of human rights in the country.” Continue reading →

Eritrea: Voices of victims call for greater pressure from international and regional mechanisms

Geneva, 6 June 2013: Human Rights Concern – Eritrea with Article 19, Amnesty International, Civicus, Christian Solidarity Worldwide, East and Horn of Africa Human Rights Defenders Network Project, Human Rights Watch and Reporters Without Borders, organised a side event on 5 June 2013, from 14:00 – 16:00, in Room Xll, at the Palais des Nations, under the theme of :

Eritrea: Voices of victims call for greater pressure from international and regional mechanisms

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Eritrean diplomat ordered out of Canada after ‘tax’ on ex-pats

The head of the Eritrean Consulate in Toronto has been ordered to leave Canada in the wake of reports that said Semere Ghebremariam O. Micael has been involved in soliciting a “diaspora tax” from Eritreans in Canada. Foreign Affairs Minister John Baird issued a news release Wednesday that said he has taken steps to expel Micael and he must leave by noon ET on June 5. “Today’s actions speak for themselves,” Baird said. “Canada has repeatedly made clear to Eritrea to respect international sanctions and Canadian law.”

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African Civil Society calls for AU action on Eritrea

To: Ministers of Foreign Affairs in Africa
CC: Permanent Representatives to the African Union;
Permanent Representatives of African States to the UN Human Rights Council
21st May 2013

RE: African Civil Society Call for Action on Human Rights Situation in Eritrea

EXCELLENCIES,

We, the undersigned representatives of African civil society, present our compliments and congratulations on the occasion of the 50th anniversary of the African Union and the Organisation of African Unity. Reflecting the overall theme of 2013 as the year of Pan-Africanism and African Renaissance, we are writing to call on the African Union to take urgent action to respond to the appalling situation of widespread and systematic human rights violations in Eritrea, especially in light of the commemoration’s sub-theme of promoting peace and security in Africa.
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“Keep Eritrea under close scrutiny,” new UN Special Rapporteur urges international community

GENEVA (14 May 2013) – The United Nations Special Rapporteur on the human rights situation in Eritrea, Sheila B. Keetharuth, today called on the international community to keep Eritrea under close scrutiny until meaningful change is evident in the country.

“Blatant disrespect for human rights in Eritrea is unacceptable,” Ms. Keetharuth stressed after a ten-day mission to Ethiopia and Djibouti to collect first-hand information directly from Eritrean refugees on the human rights situation in their country. “Real change would require a fundamental reform process transforming the current culture of rights denial with one anchored in the rule of law, respect for and realization of all human rights and human dignity.”

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We don’t force them: Eritrean diplomat insists consulate is not extorting money from citizens in Canada

The diplomat who represents Eritrea in Canada insisted Monday his office was not extorting money from expatriates but merely providing “information” to those who want to donate to the African regime.
Mr. Micael said the 2% tax was Eritrean law. But he said the consulate in Toronto was no longer collecting the levy or the defence fee. He said those who pay do so voluntarily. “We don’t force them at all,” the consul said.

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Letter to King Abdalla Bib Abdulaziz Ale Saud, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia

To: The Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques

King Abdalla Bib Abdulaziz Ale Saud, May God protect him

Kingdom of Saudi Arabia

Your Majesty,

Re: Eritreans who are on their way to be deported to their country

As Eritreans, whose country is related to the beloved Kingdom of Saudi Arabia by geographical, historical, cultural and social proximity, we proudly say that we hold you with high esteem and that you are very close to the hearts of the Eritrean people whom you supported during the long national struggle for the Eritrean independence, covering the period from early 1960s to early 1990s. At the same time, we admire your role in promoting peace, stability and interfaith dialogue at regional and international levels, showing very noble positions with which your great name is always associated. Continue reading →

Eritrean Refugees and POWs in Djibouti – 2nd Visit

Following her October 2012 visit, Elizabeth Chyrum, the Director of Human Rights Concern – Eritrea visited Djibouti between 24 March to 01 April 2013 .

Her second visit was more focused on addressing the suffering of the Eritrean refugees at Negad detention centre from Tuberculosis (TB), and other serious illnesses, and the lack of medical attention to address such dangerous and contagious diseases.

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Eritrean Refugees in Libya: Forced to Clear Land Mines

Human Rights Concern – Eritrea has received several disturbing reports from Libya concerning the abusive treatment of Eritrean refugees in that country:

1) 76 Eritrean refugees in Libya are being used to clear land mines in Sirte, the home town of the late Gaddafi. The refugees are forced all day to clear land mines. These are not trained professionals. This is not humanitarian de-mining. This is a callous, inhuman treatment of humans as if they were disposable pieces of equipment. It amounts to nothing less than murder. Continue reading →

Elizabeth Chyrum, Director of HRCE, meets His Excellency Mr Joachim Gauck, President of the Federal Republic of Germany, in Geneva

Ms Chyrum was one of five Human Rights defenders who attended a meeting with the German President. The others were representatives from Sri Lanka, Tunisia, Kazakhstan and North Korea who had gathered to discuss the human rights situations in their respective countries with Mr Gauck, himself a staunch defender of human rights. Continue reading →

Sudan Blames Foreigners For Human-Trafficking Proliferation

The controversy over human trafficking in eastern Sudan has escalated, raising concerns with the state and throughout society. A minister accused “a mafia” from an Arab tribe and Yemeni and Egyptian individuals of being involved in the trafficking. Unrelatedly, the security situation in some areas in Darfur deteriorated and the United Nations-African Union Mission in the Darfur region (UNAMID) accused the authorities of restricting its activities in observing ongoing violence and clashes there. Continue reading →

Eritreans Risk Organ Harvesting and Death to be Free

I heard Elsa Chyrum, founder of Human Rights Concern Eritrea (HRCE) in London, speak at the Eritrean Community Center in Boston on January 19, 2013 about the human trafficking of Eritrean refugees in Africa and the Middle East. Horrifying. This is a transcription of Ms. Chyrum’s speech:

Elsa Chyrum and Suzette Standring at the Eritrean Community Center in Boston

“Thank you for coming this afternoon and it is an honor for me to be here with you today. As Dan [Author and Professor Dan Connell of Simmons College] has covered most of the politics and horror stories of our people in Eritrea and Egypt, I would like to extend it a little bit farther and talk about the human trafficking, which starts inside Eritrea and ends just with a question mark. Continue reading →

Speech by Elsa Chyrum at Dr Martin Luther King’s Birthday Celebration

Dear brothers and sisters,

We have come here today to celebrate and remember the life of a fine Minster, a leader in America’s civil rights movement, a symbol of protest for racial justice, a husband, a father and a Nobel Peace Prize winner, Dr Martin Luther King Jr. If he were alive, he would have celebrated his 84th birthday on the 15th of January 2013. More than four decades after his assassination, his noble work, legacy and remarkable speeches resonate around the world and he lives with us daily. His non-violent resistance to injustices is followed by many civil rights activists around the world. Continue reading →

Eritrea: Mining Investors Risk Use of Forced Labor

(Toronto) – International mining firms rushing to invest in Eritrea’s burgeoning minerals sector risk involvement in serious abuses unless they take strong preventive measures. The failure of the Vancouver-based company Nevsun Resources to ensure that forced labor would not be used during construction of its Eritrea mine, and its limited ability to deal with forced labor allegations when they arose, highlight the risk. Continue reading →

Hear No Evil: Forced Labor and Corporate Responsibility in Eritrea’s Mining Sector

Summary

Eritrea is a pariah state. Its government has pursued a path of crushing political repression at home and a belligerent foreign policy, earning few friends. The country has been under United Nations sanctions since 2009 because its government has supported Islamist fighters in Somalia.

Eritrea’s impoverished economy has suffered greatly because of the government’s political and diplomatic isolation. But in recent years the government has actively courted international investors attracted by the country’s vast and largely untapped mineral reserves. Those efforts have met with some success. The country’s first modern mine, a joint venture between the government and Canadian firm Nevsun Resources, declared production in 2011 and has already produced hundreds of millions of dollars’ worth of gold. A handful of companies—from Canada, Australia, and China—are on the verge of developing other projects, and exploration firms are examining other potential sites throughout the country. Continue reading →

Elizabeth (Elsa) Chyrum: A woman of the year 2012

We, at asmarino.com, would like to emphasize what a difference Elsa Chyrum has made this yea as a Human Rights Activist, to the cause of Eritrea’s human rights situation. Elsa has done a lot in helping refugees stranded in nowhere; in highlighting the lawlessness of the mining companies in Eritrea; in helping Eritreans in detention centers outside the country, the latest one being in Djibouti; and generally in bringing the humanitarian plight of Eritrea inside and outside the country. But the one that has made us chose her as “a woman of the year 2012″ has to do is what was in news lately, and that is what will be the focus of this posting. Continue reading →

Eritrean Website Honours An Eritrean Human Rights Activist

Elsa Chyrum, Director of Human Rights Concern- Eritrea, and a prominent human rights activist and advocate for Eritrean refugees all over the world, has been chosen as Woman of the Year 2012 by one of the main Eritrean websites, asmarino.com. The website notes that she has done much to help refugees stranded in the middle of nowhere; highlighted the lawlessness of mining companies and their use of forced labour in Eritrea; helped Eritreans in detention centersoutside the country; and generally brought to light the humanitarian plight of Eritreans inside and outside the country. Continue reading →

Eritrean Refugees and POWs in Djibouti

Elizabeth Chyrum & Mr Hassan Darar Houffaneh, Djibouti’s Minister of the Interior.

Elizabeth Chyrum, on behalf of Human Rights Concern Eritrea, visited Djibouti between 8th and 12th October 2012. While there, on 11th October, she was able to visit Eritrean detainees, refugees and prisoners of war with the assistance of Mr Ibrahim Rayaleh, Secretaire Executive of ONARS, a national organization that assists refugees and two UNHCR members. She also met Mr Ismail Ibrahim Houmed, the Minister of the Interior. Continue reading →

PERSEVERANCE, NOT PROPAGANDA

First of all, let me say how overjoyed I am by the United Nations’ Human Rights Council’s decision at the Twentieth Session on July 6th to adopt the resolution A/HRC/20/L.19, which, amongst other things, provides for the establishment of a Special Rapporteur to Eritrea for the first time, and officially condemns all the human rights abuses committed by the Eritrean authorities. Continue reading →

Eritrea: Text of Resolution 2023 (2011) as adopted by the Security council Dec 5, 2011

The Security Council,Recalling its previous resolutions and statements of its President concerning the situation in Somalia and the border dispute between Djibouti and Eritrea, in particular its resolutions 751 (1992), 1844 (2008), 1862 (2009), 1907 (2009), 1916 (2009), 1998 (2011), and 2002 (2011), and its statement s of 18 May 2009 (S/PRST/2009/15), 9 July 2009 (S/PRST/2009/19), 12 June 2008 (S/PRST/2008/20),
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