The Committee of Eritrean Unity for Justice welcomes the report from The Commission of Inquiry Report on Human Rights in Eritrea (June 8, 2016). This re-affirms what we Eritreans have known and endured such human rights violations including rape, forced disappearances, torture, and forced labour. These forms of violations have, for the first time, been documented and the recommendations of the COI report is to refer the Eritrean regime to the International Criminal Court (ICC) or other international bodies so that the perpetrators could be tried for crimes against humanity.

We the Committee Eritrean Unity for Justice are seriously concerned about the ongoing violations that are taking place inside Eritrea away for the eyes of the International Community. We are anxious that if the current trends are not reversed, the misery of the Eritrean people will deteriorate further. We, therefore, call upon the United Nations and the International Community:

• To do its utmost to influence the Eritrean regime to stop the rampant human rights violations perpetrated against the Eritrean people as a matter of urgency.
• To ensure the rescue of Eritrean refugees in desperate situations in Libya and Egypt’s Sinai.
• To ensure an independent body is created that can investigate and monitor all human rights abuses inside Eritrea.
• To ensure that legal mechanisms are in place to deal with all allegations of human rights violations.
• To ensure that all Eritrean refugees are given protection in compliance with the UN Convention of Human Rights 1951, and are not forcibly returned to Eritrea as done by Libya, The Sudan, Egypt and Malta.
• To support vulnerable refugees who have been victims of abduction and human trafficking.
• To ensure that all victims of torture, sexual violence and other forms of degrading treatment are provided with adequate support that includes rehabilitation and therapeutic input such as counselling, and for victims to be compensated to redress the damage inflicted upon them.
• To ensure that all those who have committed crimes against humanity are brought to justice to account for the crimes that they have committed.
• To ensure that Eritreans in Eritrea are provided with immediate humanitarian and medical assistance.

Committee of Eritrean Unity for Justice UK

20 June 2016