The Case for Crimes Against Humanity in Eritrea: Assessing the First Report of the UN Inquiry Commission

Abstract

In June 2015, a commission of inquiry mandated by the Human Rights Council of the United Nations (UN) published the most critical report of its type on the situation of human rights in Eritrea. The commission says some of the violations taking place in Eritrea may constitute crimes against humanity, thus sending serious messages both to the international community and to high-ranking government officials in Eritrea. The report of the commission comes in the footsteps of other two ground-breaking reports that were produced by the UN Special Rapporteur on the Situation of Human Rights in Eritrea (Ms. Sheila B. Keetharuth), appointed in July 2012. In the last four years, the Human Rights Council has also adopted a number of resolutions in which it strongly condemned continued widespread and systematic violations of human rights and fundamental freedoms committed by the Eritrean authorities. By assessing the content of these different reports and official documents produced by the designated UN human rights entities, mainly that of the inquiry commission, this article asserts that there is actually a prima facie situation of crimes against humanity, thus requiring urgent action on the part of the international community.