The Governing Council of the Inter-Parliamentary Union,

Referring to the case of the parliamentarians listed above, former members of the Parliament of Eritrea who have been held incommunicado since 18 September 2001, as outlined in the report of the Committee on the Human Rights of Parliamentarians (CL/185/11(b)-R.1), and to the resolution adopted at its 184th session (April 2009),

Recalling its persistent concern that their incommunicado detention, which the African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights already unequivocally condemned in 2003, amounts to severe physical and mental torture and causes their families unbearable anguish; considering recurring rumours that some or even all of the persons concerned may have died in the meantime,

Recalling that since September 2004, when the Ambassador of Eritrea to the European Union, Belgium, Luxembourg, Portugal and Spain reported that he did not know whether "anyone from the outside or a member of their family had recently visited them and observed their conditions of detention", no further reply to any request for information has been received from the Eritrean authorities, and that no other source has been able to provide any information on the current situation of the former parliamentarians; noting also that on different occasions the Ambassador cancelled a previously scheduled meeting with a member of the Committee, Senator Philippe Mahoux,

Bearing in mind that scant official information is available on the human rights situation in Eritrea and that the Eritrean authorities have constantly failed to report to the United Nations human rights mechanisms on respect for human rights and fundamental freedoms in their country; however, many human rights organizations have reported extensive and serious human rights concerns in Eritrea, including the harsh treatment of prisoners,

1. Is appalled by the continued silence of the Eritrean authorities to its persistent pleas to end the prolonged incommunicado detention of the former parliamentarians in flagrant breach of their fundamental rights under the Constitution of Eritrea and under the African Charter on Human and Peoples' Rights;

2. Urges the authorities once again to put an end to this shocking situation, which is an utter affront to human dignity, by releasing the former parliamentarians forthwith;

3. Is deeply concerned that, in the past five years, there has been no official information about the physical state of the 11 former parliamentarians, and that repeated attempts to establish a dialogue with the Eritrean authorities, including through Committee member Senator Mahoux and the Eritrean Ambassador, have failed, the Ambassador cancelling scheduled meetings at the last minute; fears that this situation may lend some credibility to rumours that the persons concerned are in fact no longer alive, and earnestly hopes that a meeting between the Eritrean Ambassador and Senator Mahoux can be arranged as early as possible for the sake of clarity in this respect;

4. Reaffirms that the international community, and more specifically parliaments and their members, can and must do much more by exerting pressure to this end on the Eritrean authorities; appeals again particularly in this respect to the authorities of the African Union, the African Parliamentary Union and the Pan-African Parliament to do their utmost to ensure that the State of Eritrea respects the authority of the African Commission and the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights in this case; also calls on the competent United Nations mechanisms to make every effort to ascertain the well-being and whereabouts of the persons concerned and to obtain their immediate release;

5. Requests the Secretary General to inform the authorities and other interested parties accordingly;

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 122nd IPU Assembly (March-April 2010).

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