Amnesty International Report 2020/21: The State of the World’s Human Rights

Page 155

people and sex workers, and included a ban on gay pride events. The draft legislation also included a provision requiring the government to establish a “social reintegration” policy for LGBTI people who voluntarily abandoned their homosexuality.

ERITREA State of Eritrea Head of state and government: Isaias Afwerki

The whereabouts of government critics and pro-democracy leaders who had been arbitrarily detained since 2001 remained unknown. The authorities continued to violate the rights to freedom of expression, religion and freedom of movement. Prisoners were denied their rights to health. Thousands continued to flee abroad as the repression and indefinite military conscription continued, even after Eritrea restored relations with its former archenemy Ethiopia.

FREEDOM OF EXPRESSION There continued to be no independent press since the authorities banned all non-state media in 2001. In 2020, the Committee to Protect Journalists found Eritrea was the most censored country in the world and had more journalists in prison than any other country.

ARBITRARY DETENTION AND ENFORCED DISAPPEARANCES Hundreds of politicians, religious leaders, journalists and other government critics – some held for more than a decade without charge or trial – remained in arbitrary detention and continued to be denied access to their families and lawyers. The whereabouts and fate of 11 high-profile politicians and 17 journalists who criticized President Afwerki’s rule in 2001 remained unknown at the end of the year. Former Finance Minister Berhane Abrehe remained in prison since his arrest in the

Amnesty International Report 2020/21

capital Asmara in 2018. No charges had been brought against him by the end of the year. He was arrested after he had published a book calling for democratic reform and was subjected to enforced disappearance.

RIGHT TO HEALTH Prisons and detention centres Prisons and detention centres remained chronically overcrowded with unsanitary living conditions.1 Adi Abeto prison, north of Asmara, held about 2,500 inmates despite having capacity for only 800. The Mai Serwa Asmara Flowers detention camp near Asmara, where many Jehovah’s Witnesses were held, had no toilets for an estimated 700 detainees, and men and women inmates had to relieve themselves in the open. The Mai Serwa Maximum Security prison, close to Asmara, had only 20 toilets for 500 detainees. Prisons and detention facilities did not provide detainees with adequate water, food and hygiene products such as soap. Many detainees in Mai Serwa Maximum Security prison, Mai Serwa Asmara Flowers detention facility and the all-male Ala prison, near Asmara, relied on their families for supplementing the meagre food that was provided to them. On 2 April, the authorities imposed a lockdown on prisons to prevent the spread of COVID-19 and other diseases. No visitors were allowed in, cutting off necessary supplies from relatives, and putting detainees at even greater risk of malnutrition and disease.

FORCED LABOUR Conscripts to the mandatary national service programme continued to be forced to serve for indefinite periods extending far beyond the legal limit of 18 months. There was no provision for conscientious objection and thousands remained in open-ended conscription, many of them having already served for decades. The government continued to send final-year high-school students to Sawa Defence Training Centre and made no commitment to release them

155


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Slovakia

2min
page 319

Slovenia

5min
pages 320-321

Singapore

2min
page 318

Serbia

10min
pages 314-317

Senegal

2min
page 313

Rwanda

16min
pages 307-312

Portugal

2min
page 296

Qatar

8min
pages 298-300

Romania

15min
pages 301-306

Puerto Rico

2min
page 297

Poland

8min
pages 293-295

Philippines

5min
pages 291-292

Pakistan

8min
pages 279-281

Peru

5min
pages 289-290

Paraguay

5min
pages 287-288

Palestine (State of

13min
pages 282-286

Oman

5min
pages 277-278

Norway

2min
page 276

North Macedonia

2min
page 275

North Korea

5min
pages 273-274

Nigeria

14min
pages 268-272

New Zealand

2min
page 263

Niger

5min
pages 266-267

Nepal

5min
pages 260-261

Myanmar

8min
pages 257-259

Nicaragua

5min
pages 264-265

Netherlands

2min
page 262

Mozambique

5min
pages 255-256

Morocco/Western Sahara

10min
pages 251-254

Montenegro

2min
page 250

Mongolia

2min
page 249

Moldova

5min
pages 247-248

Mexico

11min
pages 243-246

Mali

5min
pages 239-240

Malta

5min
pages 241-242

Malaysia

5min
pages 237-238

Madagascar

7min
pages 233-235

Libya

11min
pages 228-231

Malawi

2min
page 236

Lesotho

5min
pages 226-227

Lithuania

2min
page 232

Lebanon

8min
pages 223-225

Latvia

2min
page 222

Kyrgyzstan

5min
pages 220-221

Kosovo

2min
page 217

Kuwait

5min
pages 218-219

Kazakhstan

5min
pages 212-213

Japan

5min
pages 207-208

Jordan

8min
pages 209-211

Kenya

8min
pages 214-216

Italy

8min
pages 204-206

Palestinian Territories

10min
pages 200-203

Ireland

2min
page 199

Iraq

11min
pages 195-198

Indonesia

11min
pages 186-189

Hungary

5min
pages 180-181

India

11min
pages 182-185

Honduras

5min
pages 178-179

Iran

13min
pages 190-194

Guinea

5min
pages 176-177

Greece

5min
pages 172-173

Guatemala

5min
pages 174-175

France

8min
pages 163-165

Germany

5min
pages 168-169

Ghana

5min
pages 170-171

Georgia

5min
pages 166-167

Finland

2min
page 162

Fiji

2min
page 161

Ethiopia

8min
pages 158-160

Eswatini

2min
page 157

Eritrea

2min
page 155

Estonia

2min
page 156

Equatorial Guinea

5min
pages 153-154

El Salvador

5min
pages 151-152

Egypt

13min
pages 146-150

Ecuador

2min
page 145

Dominican Republic

5min
pages 143-144

Denmark

2min
page 142

Côte d'Ivoire

5min
pages 131-132

Cyprus

5min
pages 136-137

Cuba

5min
pages 134-135

Croatia

2min
page 133

Colombia

16min
pages 125-130

Congo

11min
pages 138-141

Chile

5min
pages 117-118

China

17min
pages 119-124

Canada

13min
pages 110-114

Chad

5min
pages 115-116

Cameroon

5min
pages 108-109

Cambodia

5min
pages 106-107

Burundi

8min
pages 103-105

Burkina Faso

5min
pages 101-102

Brazil

14min
pages 94-98

Bulgaria

5min
pages 99-100

Bosnia and Herzegovina

5min
pages 91-92

Botswana

2min
page 93

Bolivia

5min
pages 89-90

Benin

5min
pages 87-88

Belarus

10min
pages 82-85

Belgium

2min
page 86

Austria

2min
page 73

Bangladesh

8min
pages 79-81

Bahrain

8min
pages 76-78

Azerbaijan

5min
pages 74-75

Australia

2min
page 72

Angola

8min
pages 65-67

Armenia

5min
pages 70-71

Argentina

5min
pages 68-69

regional overview

21min
pages 49-57

Albania

2min
page 61

Algeria

8min
pages 62-64

Afghanistan

8min
pages 58-60

overview

20min
pages 41-48
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