The United Nations Human Rights Council rejected Eritrea’s attempt to terminate the mandate of the UN Special Rapporteur investigating alleged human rights violations in the country. The motion, seen as an unusual and bold attempt to escape international scrutiny, was overwhelmingly defeated with only four member states supporting it, 25 voting against, and 18 abstaining.
The bid, spearheaded by Eritrea, surprised many observers and raised alarm among Western diplomats who feared it could set a troubling precedent for countries under similar scrutiny. Had it succeeded, it would have been a rare case of a nation under investigation successfully halting the UN’s human rights mechanisms.
A counter-resolution introduced by the European Union to renew the mandate of the Special Rapporteur for another year passed comfortably. The EU delegation warned that ending the mandate would have emboldened repression and deepened impunity “in silence.”
The current UN expert on Eritrea, Sudanese human rights lawyer Mohamed Abdelsalam Babiker, recently described the situation in the country as “critical,” citing arbitrary detentions, enforced disappearances, and indefinite military conscription — a practice widely blamed for fueling mass migration from the Horn of Africa nation.
The mandate’s extension was welcomed by rights groups, including DefendDefenders, which emphasized the UN expert’s importance for both the victims of human rights abuses in Eritrea and the global Eritrean diaspora.
However, Eritrea’s chargé d’affaires, Habtom Zerai Ghirmai, strongly condemned the continuation of the mandate, accusing the EU of harboring a “neo-colonial saviour mentality complex” and calling the UN’s actions an “affront to reason and justice.”
Eritrea’s motion was backed by countries including Iran, Sudan, and Russia all of which are themselves under active UN investigations. China also spoke in favor of Eritrea, dismissing the mandate as a misuse of UN resources.
Despite this support, the Council’s decision affirms the international community’s continued concern over rights abuses in Eritrea and its commitment to ensuring accountability and monitoring in one of the world’s most closed nations.
