The Governing Council of the Inter-Parliamentary Union,

Referring to the case of the above-mentioned parliamentarians, former members of Eritrea’s National Assembly, and to the resolution adopted at its 190th session (April 2012),

Taking into account the information provided by a family member of two of the parliamentarians concerned to the Committee during the 129th Assembly (Geneva, October 2013),

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 legitimate 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, but that the Eritrean side refused to discuss individual cases during the September 2010 session of political dialogue on human rights,

Considering resolution 23/21 of the Human Rights Council on the situation of human rights in Eritrea, which calls upon the Government of Eritrea, without delay, to account for and release all political prisoners, including members of the G11, that resolution being adopted by the Council on 25 June 2013 upon presentation of the first report of the United Nations Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in Eritrea, wherein the Special Rapporteur highlights the gravity of the human rights situation in Eritrea, refers to the 11 members of parliament arrested in 2001 as being among the most prominent cases of enforced disappearances and incommunicado detentions, states that the Government has refused to provide any information on their fate and points out that "The basic tenets of the rule of law are not respected in Eritrea owing to a centralized system of Government where decision-making powers are concentrated in the hands of the President and his close collaborators", that "The separation of powers among the various arms of the State is inexistent", "Legislative functions accorded to the National Assembly by the unimplemented Constitution have been assumed entirely by the Government", "The National Assembly has not been convened since 2002" and "the court system is weak and prone to interference",

Taking into account that the lives of relatives of the G11 prisoners have been deeply affected by this situation, that their children have all fled Eritrea and grown up without their parents and that families continue to demand to know the truth about the fate of their loved ones,

1. Deplores the Eritrean authorities’ continued contempt for the most basic human rights of 11 former parliamentarians by keeping them incommunicado for the last 12 years because they exercised their right to freedom of expression by calling for democratic reform;

2. Is appalled by the persistent silence of the authorities and considers that the absence of all information about the fate of the former parliamentarians is an affront not only to the former parliamentarians’ human dignity but also to their relatives’ right to know what befell them;

3. Remains deeply concerned about 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, in particular the recent report of the United Nations Special Rapporteur on the human rights situation in Eritrea;

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

5. Considers that the international community, including the global parliamentary community, cannot remain silent in the face of these violations, invites all IPU members to exert insistent pressure on Eritrean authorities for the release of the persons concerned, including by making representations to the diplomatic missions of Eritrea in their countries and raising the case publicly, and appeals to the African Union, the Pan-African Parliament and the European Union to do everything in their power to achieve this objective;

6. Requests the Secretary General to convey this resolution to the parliamentary authorities and to the sources for their observations, and to continue making every effort to draw international attention to this case;

7. Requests the Committee to continue examining this case.

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