The Erosion of the Rule of Law in Eritrea: Silencing Freedom of Expression

Authors Centre For Human Rights, University Of Pretoria, Un Mandated University For Peace, St Jose, Costa Rica

Description

This report contains an in depth analysis of the muted right to freedom of expression in Eritrea. The number and forms of human rights violations related to the curtailing of free speech have been and continue to be well documented across the globe. This discourse identifies the right to free reception of information and expression as the bedrock to realising and maintaining the rule of law. Investigated herein is the historical background to the political evolution of the small African state and the social impact of the prevailing human rights violations.This report contains a compilation of human rights violations as determined by international treaty bodies, interviews with Eritrean witnesses and diaspora in exile and civil society reports on the human rights situation. It is argued in the report that the absence of the rule of law in Eritrea is directly attributed to the collapse of free expression as political forces see this right as a threat to their power base – a form of suppression that has nullified all human rights and freedoms and might well damage its people beyond repair.

Sujets

• Economie
• développement
• Politics
• Relations internationales
• Développement
• Géopolitique

Informations

• Publié par: PULP (Pretoria University Law Press)
• Date de parution: 01 janvier 2015
• Nombre de lectures: 0
• EAN13: 9781920538378
• Langue: English

Extrait

This report contains an in depth analysis of the muted right to freedom of expression in Eritrea. The number and forms of human rights violations related to the curtailing of free speech have been and continue to be well documented across the globe. This discourse identiIes the right to free reception of information and expression as the bedrock to realising and maintaining the rule of law. Investigated herein is the his- torical background to the political evolution of the small African state and the social impact of the prevailing human rights violations.

This report contains a compilation of human rights violations as determined by in- ternational treaty bodies, interviews with Eritrean witnesses and diaspora in exile and civil society reports on the human rights situation. It is argued in the report that the absence of the rule of law in Eritrea is directly attributed to the collapse of free ex- pression as political forces see this right as a threat to their power base – a form of suppression that has nulliIed all human rights and freedoms and might well damage its people beyond repair.

Pre to ria Unive rsity La w Pre ss PULP www.p ulp .up .a c .za

ISBN: 9781920538378

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THE EROSION OF THE RULE OF LAW IN ERITREA: SILENCING FREEDOM OF EXPRESSION

Centre for Human Rights, University of Pretoria

UN Mandated University for Peace, St Jose, Costa Rica

2015

The Erosion of the Rule of Law in Eritrea: Silencing Freedom of Expression

Published by: Pretoria University Law Press (PULP) The Pretoria University Law Press (PULP) is a publisher at the Faculty of Law, University of Pretoria, South Africa. PULP endeavours to publish and make available innovative, high-quality scholarly texts on law in Africa. PULP also publishes a series of collections of legal documents related to public law in Africa, as well as text books from African countries other than South Africa. This book was peer reviewed prior to publication.

For more information on PULP, see www.pulp.up.ac.za

Printed and bound by: BusinessPrint, Pretoria

To order, contact: PULP Faculty of Law University of Pretoria South Africa 0002 Tel: [phone] Fax: [phone] [e-mail] www.pulp.up.ac.za

ISBN: 978-1-920538-37-8

© 2015

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Preface........................................................................................... iv List of abbreviations..................................................................... vii List of Eritrean print and electronic media................................... viii Acknowledgments......................................................................... ix Executive summary English............................................................ x Executive summary French...........................................................xvi Executive summary Tigrinya...................................................... xxiii Executive summary Arabic.........................................................xxix Introduction.................................................................................... 1 Contextualising the rule of law in Eritrea....................................... 4 Eritrea’s human rights obligations and rule of law.........................12 Non-Implementation of the Eritrean Constitution .............................. 12 Suppression of free expression as an attack on the rule of law in Eritrea...............................................................................19 Prelude to dictatorship: Human rights before September 2001............. 19 The Crackdown of September 2001.................................................... 23 Free expression in Eritrea today: Effects of widespread reprisals...26 Closure of non-state media houses ..................................................... 26 Collapse of the journalistic profession in Eritrea ................................. 27 Internet censorship ............................................................................ 33 From arbitrary arrests to subtle control of the message..................35 Pervasive editorial spin ...................................................................... 36 The ‘03’ rumour system ..................................................................... 38 Suppression of foreign and diaspora media......................................... 38 Reporting the work of the courts ........................................................ 39 Eritrea’s international relations .......................................................... 40 Awareness of the dangers of refugee flight .......................................... 40 Rebirth of independent journalism ..................................................... 41 Recommendations..........................................................................42 Annex I: Compilation of recorded human rights violations related to free speech.............................................................45 Arbitrary arrest and detention ............................................................ 45 Torture and other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment ............................................................................. 49 Death in custody ............................................................................... 50 Annex II: Report of the Working Group on the Universal Periodic Review: Eritrea.......................................................53 I. Recommendations accepted ........................................................... 53 II. Recommendations that do not enjoy the support of Eritrea ............ 59

iii

PREFACE

The right to receive information, on the one part, and to express and disseminate opinions, on the other, constitute the right to freedom of expression, as guaranteed by article 9 of the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights (African Charter). The enjoyment of these freedoms nourishes the political, social and economic life of the community from the grassroots to the national and international levels. Through the exchange of lawful ideas – opinions which sow hatred, incite violence or discrimination cannot possibly enjoy legal protection – societies build robust bodies politic, exercise their right to participate in government, learn, and better themselves, as individuals and as communities.

This balance of free speech with legitimate restrictions is the basis of many deliberations by judicial and quasi-judicial bodies charged with interpreting and enforcing human rights law at the national, regional and international level.

On its part, the African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights (African Commission) in the Declaration of Principles on Freedom of Expression adopted in 2002, to elaborate on the scope and content of article 9 of the African Charter, notes in Principle 2(2) that ‘any restrictions on freedom of expression shall be provided by law, serve a legitimate aim and be necessary in a democratic society.’

In September 2001, the authorities in Eritrea arrested 11 high- ranking government officials for writing an open letter to the government, criticising it for acting in an ‘illegal and unconstitutional manner’. In the same month, the government of Eritrea banned all private media and arrested 18 journalists accused of having ‘been recruited into the illegal network organised for the purpose of ousting the Government through illegal and unconstitutional means’. These two groups of detainees continue to be held incommunicado, despite the African Commission’s conclusion in two separate Complaints on this issue before it, finding Eritrea in violation of article 9 of the African Charter and urging the immediate release of the 11 political detainees, as well as the unbanning of the press and release or speedy trial of the 18 arrested journalists. The African Commission has also adopted several resolutions, calling on Eritrea to ‘fulfil its obligations

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under the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights, the Constitutive Act of the African Union and other relevant human i rights instruments to which Eritrea is a party’.

As Special Rapporteur, I have, as empowered by my mandate, sent several letters of appeal to the government of Eritrea urging the ii release from incommunicado detention, and also expressed concern iii about the reports of deaths of some of the detainees. In September 2011, in marking ten years of the continued incommunicado detention of these former government officials and journalists, I transmitted a letter of appeal to President Isaias Afewerki of Eritrea, recalling my earlier appeals of 2007, 2009, as well as my appeal through the Chairperson of the African Commission in May 2011 on iv these issues. To date, I have received no response from the government of Eritrea to any of these letters of appeal.

It is with the above in mind that I welcome the publication of this report on theThe Erosion of the Rule of Law in Eritrea: Silencing Freedom of Expression. It serves as a reminder of the situation in Eritrea and more so, of the continuing non-implementation of findings by the African Commission of duly determined violations of the right to free

i

ii

iii

iv

ACHPR Resolution on the General Human Rights Situation in Africa, 25 November 2009, http://www.achpr.org/sessions/46th/resolutions/157/; ACHPR Resolution on the General Human Rights Situation in Africa, 5 November 2011, http://www.achpr.org/sessions/50th/resolutions/207/ (accessed 5 February 2014). See also, Pansy Tlakula, ‘Activity Report of the Special Rapporteur on Freedom of Expression and Access to Information in Africa,’ presented to the 46th Ordinary Session of the African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights, Nov 2009, http://www.achpr.org/sessions/46th/intersession-activity-reports/ faith-pansy-tla kula/(accessed 5 February 2014); African Commission Resolution on the Human Rights Situation in Eritrea, 5 November 2005, http:// www.achpr.org/sessions/38th/resolutions/91/ (accessed 5 February 2014). ‘Activity Report of the Special Rapporteur on Freedom of Expression and Access to Information in Africa’ presented to the 44th Ordinary Session of the African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights, November 2008, http:// www.achpr.org/sessions/44th/intersession-activity-reports/faith-pansy-tlakula/ (accessed 5 February 2014). ‘Activity report of the Special Rapporteur on Freedom of Expression and Access to Information in Africa’ presented during the 50th Ordinary Session of the African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights, October 2011, para 48, http://www.achpr.org/sessions/50th/intersession-activity-reports/faith-pansy- tla kula/ (accessed 5 February 2014).

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expression in Eritrea.

Pansy Tlakula Special Rapporteur on Freedom of Expression and Access to Information in Africa African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights

vi

LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS

ADB AI AU BBC CEDAW

CIA CPJ EPLF GoSE HRW ICCPR ICESCR

PFDJ PoW ROL RSF TPCE TPLF TV UDHR UK UN SR FoE

UNHCR

UNHRC UPR US WGAD WGEID

African Development Bank Amnesty International African Union British Broadcasting Corporation Convention on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women Central Intelligence Agency (of the United States) Committee to Protect Journalists Eritrean People’s Liberation Front Government of the State of Eritrea Human Rights Watch International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights International Covenant on Economic, and Cultural Social Rights People’s Front for Democracy and Justice Prisoner of War rule of law Reporters without Borders Transitional Penal Code for Eritrea Tigrinya Peoples Liberation Front television Universal Declaration of Human Rights United Kingdom UN Special Rapporteur on Freedom of Opinion and Expression Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees United Nations Human Rights Council Universal Periodic Review United States Working Group on Arbitrary Detention Working Group on Enforced and Involuntary Disappearance

vii

LIST OF ERITREAN PRINT AND ELECTRONIC MEDIA

State-owned

Eritrea al-Haditha -Arabic newspaper Eritrea Profile, English Eritrean News Service (EriNA) Eri-TV Hadas Eritrea– Tigré newspaper Radio Bana– shut down in February 2009 RadioDimtsi Hafash– (Voice of the Masses radio), broadcasting in six languages Radio Numa– entertainment FM channel Radio Zara– entertainment FM channel Shabait.com – official website of the Ministry of Information Shaebia.org – PFDJ’s official website

Private

Admas –private, shut down September 2001 Keste Debena –private, shut down September 2001 Mana –private, shut down September 2001 Meqaleh –private, shut down September 2001 Meqaleh Forto– private, established in September 2013 Setit –private, shut down September 2001 Tsigenay –private, shut down September 2001 Wintana –private, shut down September 2001 Zemen –private, shut down September 2001

viii

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

This report is the result of contributions of many people across the globe. First and greatest thanks go to the Eritreans in exile interviewed for this report. Their bravery in speaking out is indispensable in the defence of human rights in Eritrea.

We would like to thank the University for Peace students, Pimsiri Petchnamrob, Annie Seay, Louise Geraldino Dumas and Humphrey Sipalla, who in 2013 worked to prepare the first background paper that inspired this report, and to Dr Julia Hoffmann and Prof. Juan Carlos Sainz-Borgo for their institutional and intellectual support.

We equally thank the researchers and staff at the Centre for Human Rights, University of Pretoria, Lola Shyllon, Kevashinee Pillay, Claire Waterhouse and Thato Motaung who helped organise and review the various drafts of the report.

We salute the work of the NGOs who have dedicated themselves to documenting the contemporaneous events in Eritrea and giving voice to the many who would have otherwise suffered in silence. As noted earlier, the cumulative work of these NGOs, cited as sources, provides the background against which this report is prepared.

This report is by no the means the ‘last word’ on Eritrea. It focuses on one crucial aspect – free expression. As the recently adopted Concluding Observations of the UN Committee on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW/C/ERI/ CO/3, 6 March 2015) show, there are a plethora of concerns abouth the situation in Eritrea. These concerns include the effect of indefinite national services, forced marriages and sexual violence on the rights of women in Eritrea.

Prof Frans Viljoen Director, Centre for Human Rights, University of Pretoria

ix

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

Findings

Going by macro-economic indicators from leading analysts such as the African Development Bank (ADB), Eritrea’s economy is growing impressively and is expected to continue doing so for the foreseeable future. Against the backdrop of poverty and underdevelopment in Africa, such news should be a cause for celebration as more Africans are ostensibly pulled out of poverty and into a life where they rightfully enjoy their freedoms and fruits of citizenship.

Eritrea itself, in its submission to the UN Human Rights Council for its 2014 Universal Periodic Review (UPR), describes how human rights issues are of cardinal importance. It stresses the gearing of national priorities towards the broadest possible exercise of fundamental rights.

On paper, all seems to be on track for Eritrea. Like many other resource constrained African countries, Eritrea juggles urgent and competing priorities with a view to ensuring the widest possible enjoyment of human rights for its people. But even a cursory reading of human rights sources, from the dialogue of intervening states at Eritrea’s 2014 UPR, official documents of the UN, universal and African human rights bodies and their rapporteurs, through to civil society reports and the witness of Eritreans in exile, shows quite a different picture. The stark mismatch of descriptions of Eritrea can be accounted for by considering the application of the principles of rule of law.

The UN affirms the systemic nature of the rule of law. It is not simply the presence of good laws but their fair and just application to all by independent competent institutions of state. When realised in a society, the rule of law ensures equality before the law and guarantees to all, equal protection of the law.

Most African countries, indeed, most countries worldwide, struggle with the maintenance of the rule of law in some form or another. Eritrea, however, is a unique case of the breakdown of rule of law, both in the extremity of the situation and the central role the

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