Eritrea
Eritrea performs at a low level across all four categories of the Global State of Democracy’s framework, falling among the bottom 25 per cent of the world with regard to all factors except Basic Welfare and Absence of Corruption. Over the past five years, it has shown improvement in Access to Justice, but the score remains at an extremely low level. Eritrea is a low-income country, heavily dependent on rain-fed agriculture and mining, two sectors vulnerable to drought and market volatility, respectively. Poverty is thought to be widespread but the lack of data makes it difficult to measure. Despite the difficulty of obtaining exit visas, many Eritreans have emigrated or fled as refugees, largely as a result of poverty and malnutrition, high levels of corruption, and an indefinite military conscription program.
The coastal land that is today Eritrea was long important in both the arrival of Christianity and Islam to the African continent as well as the sale of gold, coffee, and slaves. Eritrea was an Italian colony from the 1880s until World War II, and in 1952 it became part of Ethiopia. Disillusionment with Ethiopian rule led to a thirty-year War of Independence that ended in 1991; Eritrea gained full legal independence two years later. Since then, the country has been a highly repressive state with a very poor human rights record.
Eritrea is the only African country that has never held national elections. National policy is driven entirely by President Isaias Afwerki—who has been in power continuously since 1993—and a close circle of his advisers. The president maintains power through a combination of repression of dissent and some level of genuine support among some Eritreans, which is based on his role as the country’s independence leader. Independent media is banned in Eritrea, and journalists are frequently jailed or killed.
Relations with the Tigray region of Ethiopia have long been a primary driver of politics in Eritrea, as evidenced by the recent Tigray War, in which Eritrea sided with the Ethiopian government against this region. Once allies, the Eritrean EPLF and Tigrayan TPLF saw their relations strained after 1991 as a result of growing power struggles, which eventually led to the 1998-2000 Eritrean-Ethiopian War. A conscription program that is seen as tantamount to slavery was established during this period (and still exists to this day), which deprives Eritreans of freedom for years and even conscripts children. Initially created in order to enlist personnel for the war effort, it is now seen as an effort to entrench the regime’s authoritarian control over all social activities. While women gained some agency during the war with Ethiopia, when they comprised one-third of the military, they have suffered from cultural gender inequities in recent years. Gender gaps exist in several areas, including labour force participation and political representation, and female genital mutilation still takes place in some rural areas, despite a ban on the practice.
Looking ahead, the key indicators of democratic performance are likely to remain stagnant. Eritrea has made no measurable progress towards democracy in recent years and has faced myriad crises. The likelihood of continued extreme malnutrition as a result of famine could provoke additional out-migration and human rights challenges in the beleaguered nation.
Last updated: June 2024
https://www.idea.int/democracytracker/
June 2023
UN report describes deteriorating human rights situation in Eritrea
In a report delivered to the United Nations Human Rights Council on 20 June, the Special Rapporteur on the human rights situation in Eritrea described a deterioration in freedom of religion in the country. The report, which covered the period between April 2022 and April 2023, detailed ‘renewed waves of arrests’ of adherents of denominations not recognised by the state and of religious leaders critical of the country’s human rights record. It estimated that at the end of the reporting period over 400 Christians were being arbitrarily detained. Elsewhere, the report described an upsurge in forced conscriptions into the military between mid- and late 2022, which was carried out using increasingly coercive methods, including the torture and forced eviction of families of draft dodgers. The upsurge was driven by Eritrea’s involvement in the war in Ethiopia’s Tigray province that was formally ended by a peace deal signed in November 2022.
Sources: United Nations (1), United Nations (2)
October 2022
UN: Eritrea’s human rights situation has deteriorated since Ethiopian war
A report from the UN Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in Eritrea to the UN General Assembly, found that the country’s involvement in the war in Tigray, Ethiopia, has negatively impacted its human rights situation. It noted in particular that the increased militarization of the country has prompted a rise in forced conscriptions. Amongst the forced recruits are growing numbers of children and Eritrean refugees kidnapped from Ethiopia. The Special Rapporteur also reported that the arrest of at least 47 Christians has reversed a positive trend in freedom of religion. Civic and democratic space remains tightly closed, with Eritreans unable to express dissent or participate in decision-making and hundreds subject to prolonged and arbitrary detention. According to the report, no attempts had been made by the government to tackle impunity and victims of human rights abuses continue to be denied access to justice.
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