Interactive Dialogue with Special Rapporteur on the Human Rights Situation in Eritrea Mohamed Abdelsalam Babiker
Statement As Delivered by Ambassador Michèle Taylor
Delegation of the United States of America
Human Rights Council – 49th Session
March 4, 2022
The United States strongly condemns Eritrea’s military involvement in Ethiopia and its documented involvement in human rights abuses including killings, gender-based violence, violence against civilians including children, the targeting of refugees, and the damaging of civilian infrastructure.
The continued presence of Eritrean forces in northern Ethiopia is exacerbating the conflict, impeding peace efforts, and destabilizing the region. It is also making an already dire humanitarian situation worse: almost one million Ethiopians are living in near-famine conditions, which have already claimed countless lives.
We call on Eritrea to meaningfully engage with international human rights mechanisms, including investigations into human rights abuses and violations of international humanitarian law by Eritrean troops, and to institute domestic accountability mechanisms.
We also condemn Eritrea’s documented human rights violations and abuses against its own citizens, including torture and arbitrary detention, for exercising freedoms of expression and religion or belief, and the indefinite national service system.
Question: Will the Government of Eritrea withdraw from Ethiopia and commit to seeking accountability for human rights abuses committed by its forces?
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