Observation (CEACR) - adopted 2017, published 107th ILC session (2018)

Abolition of Forced Labour Convention, 1957 (No. 105) - Eritrea (Ratification: 2000)

Article 1(a) of the Convention. Penal sanctions involving compulsory labour as a punishment for holding or expressing political views or views ideologically opposed to the established political, social or economic system. In its previous comments, the Committee requested the Government to take the necessary measures to ensure that no prison sentences (under the terms of which compulsory labour may be required) are imposed on persons who, without having recourse to violence, express political opinions or views opposed to the established political, social or economic system. In this respect, it noted that several provisions of Press Proclamation No. 90/1996 establish restrictions on printing and publishing (concerning the printing or reprinting of an Eritrean newspaper or publication without a permit; printing or disseminating a foreign newspaper or publication prohibited from entering Eritrea; publishing inaccurate news or information disturbing public order (Article 15(3), (4) and (10))), which are punishable with penalties of imprisonment. Under the terms of Article 110 of the Transitional Penal Code of 1991, persons convicted to imprisonment are subject to the obligation to work in prison. The Committee noted in this regard that, in her May 2014 report, the United Nations Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in Eritrea indicated that violations of rights, such as infringements of freedom of expression and opinion, assembly, association and religious belief, were still as numerous.

The Committee notes the Government’s indication in its report that it is well known that expressing a political opinion or belief is not a crime in Eritrea. Since independence, no citizen has been detained for expressing his or her opinion or for criticizing the Government. The only restrictions on freedom of expression are related to the rights of others, morality, sovereignty and national security. The Government refers to the 1997 Constitution which not only protects fundamental freedoms, such as freedom of expression and opinion, assembly, association and religious belief, but also provides judicial and administrative remedies in case of violation. With regard to religious freedom, the Government refers to Proclamation No. 73/1995 respecting religious institutions and activities and indicates that no interference is allowed in the exercise of the rights of any religion or creed on condition that they are not used for political purposes and are not prejudicial to public order or morality. The Committee also notes the Government’s view that the situation described in the report of the United Nations Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in Eritrea is misrepresented and that several of the allegations contained in the report, to which the Committee referred, are untrue.

The Committee notes that, in its latest resolution on the situation of human rights in Eritrea, adopted in June 2017, the United Nations Human Rights Council expresses its “deep concern at the severe restrictions on the right to freedom to hold opinions without interference, freedom of expression, including the freedom to seek, receive and impart information, liberty of movement, freedom of thought, conscience and religion, and freedom of peaceful assembly and association, and at the detention of journalists, human rights defenders, political actors, religious leaders and practitioners in Eritrea” (A/HRC/RES/35/35). The Committee also notes that, in the context of the Working Group on the Universal Periodic Review, the Government accepted the recommendations of certain countries encouraging it to “reform legislation in the area of the right to freedom of conscience and religion”; ensure that “the rights of all its people to freedom of expression, religion, and peaceful assembly are respected”; and take the “necessary measures to ensure respect for human rights, including the rights of women, political rights, the rights of persons in detention and the right of freedom of expression as it pertains to the press and other media” (A/HRC/26/13/Add.1).

The Committee recalls that the Convention protects persons who hold or express political views or views ideologically opposed to the established political, social or economic system by prohibiting the imposition of penalties which may involve compulsory labour, including sentences of imprisonment including compulsory labour. Freedom of opinion, belief and expression are exercised through various rights, such as the right of assembly and association and freedom of the press. The exercise of these rights enables citizens to secure the dissemination and acceptance of their views, or to practice their religion. While recognizing that certain limitations made be imposed on these rights as a safeguard for public order to protect society, such limitations must be strictly within the framework of the law. In light of these considerations, the Committee expresses the firm hope that the Government will take all the necessary measures to ensure that the legislation that is currently in force, as well as any legislation that is being prepared concerning the exercise of the rights and freedoms referred to above, does not contain any provision which could be used to punish the expression of political opinions or views ideologically opposed to the established political, social or economic system, or the practice of a religion, through the imposition of a sentence of imprisonment under which labour could be imposed (as is the case for sentences of imprisonment in Eritrea). In this regard, the Committee requests the Government to provide information on any sentences of imprisonment imposed for violations of the provisions of the Press Proclamation (No. 90/1996) or Proclamation No. 73/1995 respecting religious institutions and activities, with an indication of the acts which gave rise to conviction to such penalties.

Article 1(b). Compulsory national service for purposes of economic development. The Committee refers to its observation concerning the Forced Labour Convention, 1930 (No. 29), in relation to the broad range of types of work exacted from the population as a whole in the context of compulsory national service, as set out in the Proclamation on National Service No. 82 of 1995 and the 2002 Declaration on the “Warsai Yakaalo” Development Campaign. The Committee expresses deep concern at the absence of progress in law and practice to circumscribe the obligation of service within the limits authorized by the two forced labour Conventions. It recalls that this national service obligation, to which all citizens between the ages of 18 and 40 years are subject for an indeterminate period of time, has the objectives of the reconstruction of the country, action to combat poverty and the reinforcement of the national economy and, consequently, is in blatant contradiction with the objective of this Convention which, in Article 1(b), prohibits recourse to compulsory labour “as a method of mobilising and using labour for purposes of economic development”. The Committee therefore strongly urges the Government to take the necessary measures without delay for the elimination in law and practice of any possibility of using compulsory labour in the context of national service as a method of mobilizing labour for the purposes of economic development.

The Committee is raising other matters in a request addressed directly to the Government.

[The Government is asked to reply in full to the present comments in 2018.]