The ruling.

"We would like to draw your attention to certain events in Eritrea, which are in violation of rights enshrined in the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights and seriously undermine the respect and enjoyments of human rights. The escalating

events in Eritrea, a State Party to the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights and the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, raised concerns about its human rights situation and compliance with the principles set forth in the African Charter. Eleven of the fifteen senior government officials who had publicly called for reform and unspecified number of journalists are under arrest and held incommunicado without charge since 18 September 2001. And several elderly mediators, Mr. Sunabera Mohammed Debenna, an 83-year old Eritrean, was released from detention on 10th of March 2004 and Mr. Abdurahman A Younis 75 years old, who has been arrested since October 2001, was released on 4th August 2004. Another mediator who had been under house arrest, Mr. Hedad Kerar, passed away in 2003 and Mr. Hassen Kekya, an 78-years old, is still under arrest.

The private press, which has been critical of government policies, has been shut down and banned in its entirety. The implementation of the Constitution of Eritrea, although duly ratified on 23 May 1997, has been effectively blocked from implementation under direct orders of the President. Furthermore, Eritrea failed, as promised, to conduct the first National parliamentary and Presidential elections in December 2001 and indefinitely postponed the implementation of the constitution.

Mussie Eprem & Semere Kesete

The unlawfull action of the regime in response to the demands of the fundamental rights in Eritrea commenced with the arrest of the Asmara University Students’ president Semere Kesete on 31 July 2001. He was held incommunicado until he managed to escape with the assistance of a member of the intelligence office, Mehari Yohannes, on 28 July 2002 exactly one year after his illegal detention. Semere was arrested after he and his union opposed the regime’s forced summer Work Programme (SWP). Students at Asmara University protested against the arrest of their leader. This led to a wave of mass arrests of students. 2500 students were arrested and sent to a work programme in Wia, a desert camp near the Red Sea port of Massawa with a daytime temperature of above 40 degrees Celsius. The regime later acknowledged that two students, namely Yirga Yoseph and Yemane Tekie, died on 14 and 19 August 2001 respectively. The cause of death was given as heatstroke. Police also used batons to disperse regular gatherings of parents demanding the return of their children from the forced work programme.

Perhaps the most high profile of these incidents in Eritrea that we would like to draw your attention to is the arrest of the 11 former officials and parliamentarians of the government of Eritrea. These persons were arrested on 18th and 19th of September 2001. They are Petros Solomon, Ogbe Abraha, Haile Woldetensae, Mahmud Ahmed Sheriffo, Brehane Ghebre-Ghzabiher, Aster Feshation, Saleh Kekya, Hamid Himid, Estifanos Seyoum, Germano Nati and Beraki Ghebreselassie.

The reason of their arrest is that they wrote a letter to the president twice calling for the convening of the delayed regular meetings of the Party’s Central Committee and National Assembly to discuss the affairs of the state. The president refused to respond positively and as a result they choose to write an open letter to all party members calling for respect for the rule of law, justice and democratic reform through peaceful and legal means.

The whereabouts of these eleven is still unknown. They have not been allowed access to their families and have not been permitted the assistance of a legal counsel. There are serious fears about their safety. In Eritrea today there is no respect for the rule of law nor is there an independent judiciary. A striking example has been the establishment by decree in 1996 of the Special Court. Trials before this Special Court are conducted behind closed doors, by untrained personnel, do not provide for an appeal and there is no right for a legal counsel. The special court contradicts the provisions of the Eritrean Constitution, the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights and the Dakar Declaration adopted in November 1999 at the 26th Ordinary Session of the African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights.

The situation described above has led to a communication on an urgent basis and request for provisional measures, submitted to the African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights on the 9th of April 2002, as well as a request for intervention to the Commission’s Special Rapporteur on Prisons and Conditions of Detention in Africa on 26th November 2001.

Despite numerous condemnation from human rights groups, governments, European Union, parliaments, various NGOs and the landmark verdict of the African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights on this matter, the regime is yet to officially charge them with any crimes and refuses to set a date for their arraignment. On the contrary, the regime has gone out of its way to incriminate them and accuse them of various crimes, the most serious of which was that of treason, on the state media daily thus making free and fair trial almost impossible."

Sudan (In Swedeish)

När jag besökte Sudan första gången 2004 och senare även 2005, fick jag intrycket, efter att jag hade besökt landets olika delar och informerat mig om hur långt fredsprocessen mellan Sudanesiska folkets befrielsearmé och regeringen hade kommit, att Khartoum andades framtidsoptimism.

Efter fredsuppgörelsen mellan Sudanesiska folkets befrielsearmé (SPLA) och regeringen i Khartoum började människor prata om en ny era för Sudan, ett land som sedan landets självständighet 1956 varit plågat av fem olika statskupper och kronisk underutveckling efter 37 år av krig. Det fanns till och med förväntningar på stora ekonomiska investeringar från USA och att dess sanktion mot Sudan som lanserades 1997 skulle hävas.

Den optimism som fanns byggde på den USA-sanktionerade fredsprocessen mellan SPLA och regeringen i Khartoum. Den kom att avslutade det 21-åriga kriget i södra Sudan, men det man då inte visste om, eller glömde bort, var konflikten i den västra regionen av Darfur och östra Sudan.

Den massmediala och diplomatiska uppmärksamheten kring fredsprocessen mellan regeringen och SPLA försvann direkt till konflikten i Darfur. Den har lett till att ca två miljoner människor blivit hemlösa och hundratusentals människor har dött på grund av hunger.

Konflikten i Darfur har raserat den optimism som fanns i landet. Regeringen hade hoppats på att, efter fredsuppgörelsen mellan SPLA, kunna återrestaurera landets diplomatiska anseende. Men nu utsätts regeringen för både interna och externa politiska påtryckningarna.

Konflikten i Darfur och östra Sudan har sin upprinnelse i de stora sociala klyftor som finns i landet. Dessutom har landets enorma resurser fördelas orättvist mellan olika landsdelar.

I östra Sudan finns en rebellgrupp som kallas Beja Kongressen, de är allierade med rebellerna Rättvisa och jämlikhetsrörelsen (JEM) och den Sudanesiska befrielserörelsen (SLM) från Darfur. Beja Kongressens rebeller och rebellerna i Darfur stöds av bland annat regimen i Eritrea.

Rebellerna i Beja Kongressen har sporadiskt stridit mot regeringen sedan 1990-talet. De är ute efter utveckling och en rättvis fördelning av Sudans resurser för landets östra delar. Liknande krav återfinns hos rebellerna i Darfur.

När det gäller östra delen av Sudan pågår det fredsförhandlingar mellan Beja rebellerna och regeringen i Khartoum. Det sker i den Eritreanska huvudstaden Asmara under ledning av eritreanerna. Om dessa fredsförhandlingar kollapsar kommer rebellerna att återuppta den beväpnade kampen. De kommer då att utgöra ett allvarligt hot mot regeringen genom att huvudsakligen angripa motorvägen som länkar Khartoum till Hamnstaden Port Sudan.

Utveckling i Sudan är mycket oroande. När det gäller konflikten i Darfurregionen vill den sudanesiska regeringen i Khartoum under inga omständigheter ha en fredsbevarande styrka från FN in i landet. Regeringen motiverar sin hårdföra politik med att detta kommer att ge legitimitet för de islamiska krafterna i landet. Regeringen i Sudan har fått stöd för sin linje av den Afrikanska Unionen och Arabförbundet.

De nya konflikterna i Darfur och i östra delen av Sudan har lett till att regeringen i Khartoum är mycket svag.

Risken är att internationella samfundets hårda påtryckningar gentemot regeringen kan stärka de hårdföra krafterna i landet, vilket i sin tur kan få negativa konsekvenser. Det finns människor, bland annat inom regeringen, som menar att fredsprocessen mellan regeringen och SPLA gick för långt. Dessa kommer att använda en eventuell konfrontation mellan regeringen och det internationella samfundet om Darfur som skäl att riva upp fredsavtalet med SPLA.

Western Sahara

El- Aioun (one of the refuge camp I visited November 2006).

The international community has to deliver a final solution of the occupation of the Western Sahara by the Kingdom of Morocco. It is indeed the responsibility of the international community to end the inhuman conditions of the Saharawi people at the refuge camps. The international community has spent a lot of economical and human capital with out a final solution of the Western Sahara sovereignty which remains unresolved. If no comprehensive solution is delivered as son at it is possible the legitimacy and credibility of the UN system will be even more harmed.