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ERITREA
CASE No. ERI/01 - OGBE ABRAHA
CASE No. ERI/02 - ASTER FISSEHATSION
CASE No. ERI/03 - BERHANE GEBREGZIABEHER
CASE No. ERI/04 - BERAKI GEBRESELASSIE
CASE No. ERI/05 - HAMAD HAMID HAMAD
CASE No. ERI/06 - SALEH KEKIYA
CASE No. ERI/07 - GERMANO NATI
CASE No. ERI/08 - ESTIFANOS SEYOUM
CASE No. ERI/09 - MAHMOUD AHMED SHERIFFO
CASE No. ERI/10 - PETROS SOLOMON
CASE No. ERI/11 - HAILE WOLDETENSAE

Resolution adopted by consensus by the IPU Governing Council at its 179th session
(Geneva, 18 October 2006)


The Governing Council of the Inter-Parliamentary Union,

Referring to the case of the parliamentarians listed above, former members of the Parliament of Eritrea, as outlined in the report of the Committee on the Human Rights of Parliamentarians (CL/179/11(a)-R.1), and to the resolution adopted at its 178th session (May 2006),

Recalling the following: the former parliamentarians concerned have been held incommunicado since their arrest on 18 September 2001 and have been neither officially charged nor brought before a judge; their arrest followed the publication of an open letter in which they called for democratic reforms; the African Commission on Human and Peoples' Rights (ACHPR), at its thirty-fourth session (November 2003), adopted a decision on this case and found the State of Eritrea to be in breach of Articles 2 (entitlement without discrimination to the enjoyment of human rights enshrined in the Charter), 6 (right to liberty and security of person), 7(1) (right to fair trial) and 9(2) (right to freedom of expression) of the African Charter on Human and Peoples' Rights; the ACHPR urged the Government of Eritrea to order the immediate release of the 11 detainees and recommended that they be granted compensation; as part of the ACHPR 17th annual activity report, the decision was endorsed by the Assembly of the Heads of Staten and Government of the African Union at the Abuja summit in January 2005,

Noting that the Ambassador of Eritrea to the European Union was unavailable for meetings requested by the Secretary General and the substitute member of the Committee, Senator Marie-José Laloy, in May and June 2006,

  1. Deplores the lack of any cooperation from the Eritrean authorities;

  2. Condemns the continuing incommunicado detention of the former parliamentarians concerned as it constitutes a gross violation of their fundamental rights under the Constitution of Eritrea and under the African Charter on Human and Peoples' Rights, to which Eritrea is a party;

  3. Reaffirms that no argument whatsoever can justify such violations; and urges the authorities to release the former parliamentarians concerned forthwith in keeping with the decision of the African Commission on Human and Peoples' Rights;

  4. Appeals once again to the authorities of the African Union and to the African Parliamentary Union to do everything in their power to ensure compliance with the decision of the ACHPR in this case;

  5. Reiterates its wish to conduct an on-site visit since it remains convinced that such a visit would contribute to settlement of this case; and requests the Secretary General to continue his steps to this end;

  6. Requests the Committee to continue examining this case and report to it at its next session, to be held on the occasion of the 116th Assembly (April-May 2007).
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