The Governing Council of the Inter-Parliamentary Union,

Referring to the case of the above-mentioned parliamentarians, former members of Eritrea’s National Assembly, as outlined in the report of the Committee on the Human Rights of Parliamentarians (CL/189/11(b)-R.1), and to the resolution adopted at its 188th session (April 2011),

Recalling the following:

• The parliamentarians concerned (often referred to as the "G11") were arrested on 18 September 2001 after publishing an open letter calling for democratic reform, and have been held incommunicado ever since, accused of conspiracy and attempting to overthrow the legal government, without ever being formally charged or tried;

• In November 2003, upon examination of a complaint concerning their situation, the African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights found that the State of Eritrea had violated Articles 2, 6, 7(1) and 9(2) of the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights, which address the right to liberty and security of person, the right to a fair trial and the right to freedom of expression, and urged the State of Eritrea to order the immediate release of the former parliamentarians and to pay them compensation; the Eritrean authorities have rejected that decision,

Recalling that this information is unconfirmed and that, according to one of the sources, no concrete evidence exists to support the prison guard’s statements; recalling also that the European Commission regularly raises the case of the former parliamentarians concerned with the Eritrean authorities, particularly in the framework of political dialogue; that, however, during the September 2010 session of political dialogue on human rights, the Eritrean side refused to discuss individual cases,

Considering that the report of 18 September 2009 (A/HRC/WG.6/6/ERI/2) prepared by the Office of United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights for the Universal Periodic Review of the human rights situation in Eritrea, summarizes relevant information contained in the reports of treaty bodies, special procedures and other relevant official United Nations documents; that the report paints a gloomy picture of respect for human rights in the country, where human rights violations by members of the security forces are reportedly committed with total impunity,

1. Recalls that 10 years ago the President of Eritrea and Speaker of its Parliament ordered the arrest of the 11 persons concerned, who had been engaged alongside him in the Eritrean People’s Liberation Front and became members of the National Assembly; since then, the Eritrean authorities have been flouting their most basic human rights, by holding them incommunicado on account of having exercised their freedom of expression by calling for democratic reform;

2. Deeply regrets that for the last seven years the authorities have not only ignored its persistent pleas to end their prolonged incommunicado detention, which is in flagrant breach of the Constitution of Eritrea and the African Charter on Human and Peoples' Rights, but have also not seen fit to provide any information about their state of health; considers that the absence of any information about their fate is an affront not only to their human dignity but also to their relatives’ right to know what befell them;

3. Remains deeply concerned at the allegation that only two of the 11 former parliamentarians may still be alive, and believes that this allegation must be taken seriously in the light of the very critical reports on the human rights situation in Eritrea;

4. Urges once more the Eritrean authorities to provide information on the fate of the G11 prisoners and to release them forthwith;

5. Considers that, on the 10th anniversary of their arbitrary arrest and incommunicado detention, the international community, in particular the parliamentary global community, cannot remain silent in the face of their situation, and requests the Secretary General to continue making every effort to draw international attention to this case; invites in particular those parliaments in the region having strong ties with Eritrea to intervene with a view to securing the release of the persons concerned;

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 126th IPU Assembly (March/April 2012).

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