Eritrean refugees and asylum-seekers report that during compulsory national service they experienced torture, inhumane or degrading treatment, sexual and gender-based violence, forced labor and abusive conditions, a U.N. independent investigator on human rights said in a report circulated Monday. Mohamed Babiker said Eritrea has a policy of indefinite national service, including a civil service component and a military service component. He said it has ignored numerous calls from human rights bodies to ensure legal limits for the duration of such service and to protect the human rights of all participants. The special investigator said his interviews with Eritrean asylum-seekers and refugees point to indefinite national service as the main driver of people leaving Eritrea. Eritrea has been accused of widespread human rights violations in neighboring Ethiopia’s northern Tigray region.

Source: Ethiopian News August 08, 2023 12:54 UTC