Eritrea rejects UN Commission of Inquiry report on human rights

ESAT News (June 8, 2016)

Eritrea on Wednesday rejected the COI report on human rights situations in the country saying it is politically motivated and groundless.

“Eritrea rejects the politically motivated and groundless accusations and the destructive recommendations of the COI. It believes they are an unwarranted attack not only against Eritrea, but also Africa and developing nations,” the statement by the Permanent Mission of the State of Eritrea in Geneva said on Wednesday.

The COI said in a report that it “has reasonable grounds to believe that crimes against humanity have been committed in Eritrea since 1991.” Eritrea responded saying the COI “has no solid evidence or firm legal basis to support its extreme and unfounded charges.”

The Permanent Mission further said the report by the COI “fails to meet the principles of impartiality, objectivity and non-selectivity as laid out in the guidelines of the United Nations. It also lacks the minimum standards of rigor and professionalism. The methodology the COI followed in its work is so deeply flawed as to seriously compromise its findings and render its conclusions null and void.”

The COI said in its report that crimes against humanity, enslavement, torture, rape and other inhuman act were committed in Eritrea, which the State of Eritrea categorically denies. In fact, Eritrea says “the COI ignored Eritrea’s significant achievement in political and civic rights.”