ERITREA: Joint submission for the UPR
Today, PEN International jointly with PEN Eritrea in Exile and the Committee to Protect Journalists made a submission in the framework of Eritrea's upcoming Universal Periodic Review.
Among other things, the coalition calls on the Eritrean government to:
Clarify the fate and whereabouts of all disappeared journalists and other writers, and provide all of those still alive with independent medical assessments and access to adequate medical treatment;
Return the bodies of any detained writers and journalists who have died in custody to their families;
Release immediately and unconditionally all disappeared journalists and other writers, and politicians arbitrarily detained;
Re-establish an independent media without constraints or interference and allow international media unfettered access to the country;
Encourage literary, artistic and cultural production;
Implement the 1997 Constitution and the rights it enshrines, including freedom of expression, freedom of the press and access to information;
Fully cooperate with the special procedures mandate holders, in particular the Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in Eritrea.
Implement all constitutional provisions and international obligations relating to the right to life, liberty and security of person, including by unconditionally releasing all political prisoners, civil society activists and journalists;
Guarantee the physical integrity of all prisoners, improve conditions of detention in accordance with international standards and allow unhindered access by international monitors to all detention facilities;
Take all necessary steps to fully implement the principles of CAT in particular the duty to investigate allegations of torture and the right to redress;
Implement the 1997 Constitution and the rights it enshrines, including freedom of expression, freedom of the press and access to information;
Fully cooperate with the special procedures mandate holders, in particular the Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in Eritrea.