Patrick Grady – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Patrick Grady on 2016-10-20.

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what steps his Department plans to take to support the mandate of the Special Rapporteur in implementing the recommendations put forward by the UN Commission of Inquiry on Human Rights in Eritrea.

Mr Tobias Ellwood

The Government shares the concerns of the UN Commission of Inquiry regarding human rights in Eritrea, in particular shortcomings in the rule of law and indefinite national service.

We have made clear to the Eritrean Government the tangible improvements we want to see, including amending its national service system and fully implementing its own constitution. We are also urging the Government of Eritrea to increase further its engagement with international human rights bodies, such as the UN Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights, which recently visited Eritrea and was allowed access for the first time to a place of detention. We are supporting UN and EU programmes set up to address recommendations made by the Universal Periodic Review on human rights, and are funding a programme on strengthening the rule of law implemented by the Slynn Foundation.

The mechanism of the Special Rapporteur is an important tool for the international community to strengthen its engagement with Eritrea. The UK Statement to the Human Rights Council on 21 June called on both the Special Rapporteur and the Government of Eritrea to consider ways that they might work together constructively to enhance the progress Eritrea has begun to make in its human rights observance.