Baroness Kinnock of Holyhead – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Baroness Kinnock of Holyhead on 2015-11-02.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government what is their assessment of the recent UN Commission of Inquiry report on human rights abuses in Eritrea under President Isaias Afwerki.

Baroness Anelay of St Johns

We recognise the important work of the UN Commission of Inquiry and are concerned by their findings on human rights in Eritrea, in particular reports of arbitrary detention, and shortcomings in the rule of law and respect for fundamental freedoms. At the Human Rights Council in July, we supported an extension of the Commission’s mandate so that it can continue its work.

We regret that the Commission has been unable to visit Eritrea and therefore had to rely on witnesses who are outside of Eritrea and whose testimony may have been based on first-hand experience of Eritrea some time ago. We have made clear to the Government of Eritrea that it must improve respect for human rights and honour its international obligations, including allowing the Commission access.