11 - Eritrea: Towards a Transition?

Summary

INTRODUCTION

As we have seen, when the ELPF came to power in 1991 and established itself as a provisional government, hopes were high for a democratic system of governance. Over two decades later these aspirations are nothing but bleak memories. In the intervening years Eritrea has developed into one of the world's most totalitarian and human rights-abusing regimes. This is well established in the wealth of academic literature, reports of international rights groups, interviews with refugees, victims and other stakeholders, as well as decisions of regional and international semi-judicial organs that we have cited extensively throughout this work. For example, at least four major pronouncements were made against the Eritrean government at different times by the African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights and the UN Working Group on Arbitrary Detention, as discussed in Chapter 5. These semi-judicial opinions have made it clear that the practice of the Eritrean government as related to the G-15 and the journalists of the free press, and by implication to all other victims of political persecution, is contrary to the government's commitment emanating from relevant treaty law.

As noted by the UN Special Rapporteur on the Situation of Human Rights in Eritrea, the major problem lies in the fact that ‘the basic tenets of the rule of law are not respected in Eritrea owing to a centralized system of Government where decision-making powers are concentrated in the hands of the President and his close collaborators’ (Special Rapporteur 2013: 8).