Eritrea's Crimes Against Humanity Referred to UN Security Council; Special Rapporteur's Mandate Extended
2016-07-01 21:38:54 Written by EPDP Information Office Published in EPDP News Read 3579 times-
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The 47-Member UN Human Rights Council decided to send the reports and recommendations of the UN Commission of Inquiry for "consideration and appropriate action" through suitable "criminal justice mechanism" on those Eritrean authorities held accountable for crimes against humanity in Eritrea since 1991. The mandate of the Special Rapporteur for Human Rights in Eritrea was also extended for one year.
The resolution condemned in "the strongest terms the reported systematic, widespread and gross human rights violations that have been and are being committed by the government of Eritrea in a climate of generalized impunity".
Drafted and submitted by Somalia and other 11 delegations, the resolution was adopted without vote. Only five countries registered their reservation on a paragraph demanding the reference of the Eritrean case to all relevant bodies of the UN like the Security Council. The five were: Bolivia, China, Cuba, Ecuador and Russia.
The delegate of the Netherlands, speaking on behalf of the European Union, commended the presenters of the draft who made extensive approaches to other delegations, including the Eritrean delegation who through compromises on the draft had to drop its own draft resolution. The EU statement did not hide that the African delegations were not that helpful in making the resolution more robust.
The Eritrean regime delegate, Yemane Ghebreab, condemned the resolution calling "a grave injustice against Eritrea".
