The West often uses ‘human rights’ to subdue and control countries pursuing an independent path. They do this by leveraging organizations such as Human Rights Watch (HRW) to distort the human rights reality of those countries. In Africa, Eritrea has borne the brunt of HRW’s smear campaign for the last 30 years.
Its World Report for this year 2024 is no different. It continues the tradition of annually crafting reports riddled with falsehoods presented as facts. These falshoods target the state of Eritrea, the Eritrean leader, and the Eritrean people. And follows the same logic of accusing without proof, and condemning without substantiation. This 2024 report continues this smear campaign, peddling several falsehoods against Eritrea’s government programs and public life.
National Service Program
The first accusation predictably targets Eritrea’s National Service Program, labeling it “Conscription and Forced labor”. This is unsurprising as this program has proven to be the impenetrable shield through which the West has failed to break in its bid to manipulate Eritrean people to facilitate regime change. This is because this program ideologically and physically prepares young Eritreans to independently filter, and withstand Western cultural, moral, and even political orchestrations to effect regime change in their country.
Because of that, the West denigrates the program as military conscription and forced labor. This misrepresentation arises from the West’s preference for, unconscious young people who are ill-prepared to decipher foreign manipulations and orchestrations against their country. This program therefore offers an impregnable ideological and physical wall against Western orchestrations.
They especially fear that other African nations might adopt a similar approach, nullifying their regime change agendas. For instance, had Libyans possessed such awareness in 2011, they wouldn’t have succumbed to the manipulation that led to the dismantling of their functional state under the alter of Western interests.
Suffice it to say, for all the deliberate misrepresentation, the truth about Eritrea’s National Service program is in the open for any independent observer to see. Per the National Service Proclamation (82/1995), every Eritrean national aged between 18 and 50 is obligated to partake in national service.
The objectives of this national service, explicitly outlined in the Proclamation, encompass the establishment of a robust defense force rooted in the people, instilling revolutionary values and a culture of heroism in the new generations, and fostering a diligent generation engaged in reconstruction efforts. In essence, the program, which Eritreans willingly embrace, readies young people for the arduous task of nation-building, an anathema to the West!
Law Enforcement
The second accusation focuses on Eritrea’s law enforcement efforts to maintain law and order, a practice common in every civilized nation. As though to say that they’d have preferred a lawless country, with rampant crime and chaos, HRW, clearly unhappy with Eritrea’s security accomplishments within and without its borders, twists the narrative, claiming “Unlawful Detentions and Enforced Disappearances.”
Any sane person knows that is this only because the country’s security apparatus is so effective at discerning internal and regional security threats and through preventive arrests, frustrating their regime change schemes. That is why Eritrea is today, and consistently for the last two decades, boasts one of the lowest levels of organization in Africa, and is ranked among the top ten safest countries in Africa.
Freedom of Religion
The next notable accusation then targets Eritrea’s religious freedoms, claiming that the “government continues to detain and deny religious liberty”. That a country where ethnolinguistic and religious pluralism is the social pinnacle, where at least nine ethnolinguistic groups and two of the oldest and most powerful monolithic religions coexist in harmony, is accused of lacking “religious freedom,” is so blatantly absurd, it seems HRW has no respect for the intelligence of its largely western audience.
According to HRW, Eritrea has government “recognized” denominations. In reality, Eritrea has never had an officially prescribed state religion since independence, with Proclamation 73/1995, promulgated on 15 July 1995, clearly separating the state and religion. This distortion, of course, is not driven by a love of religious worship; God knows the Accusers themselves work for a Godless part of the world.
Instead, it is done with the intention of arm-twisting the Eritrean government into allowing foreign imposition of cults, religious perversions, and immoralities that, like in their countries, have become breeding grounds for perverted youths who cannot tell if they are male or female. No wonder, the report slots in a related accusation that “Eritrea criminalizes consensual same-sex relations with up to seven years’ imprisonment”. That HRW claims awareness of consensualness on private matters is enough proof of the concoction of this absurd report.
Free Press and Civil Society
The report repeats a long-standing, albeit debunked accusation regarding the state of media freedoms in Eritrea. It claims that “there is no free press or civil society to keep a check on the executive,” and adds that “Impunity remains the norm, and due process rights are systematically flouted.” This portrayal is far from factual.
In truth, the country has an independent media and autonomous civil society groups. The key distinction lies in the country’s careful supervision, aimed at preventing subversive activities. This is deemed necessary due to the pervasive role such organizations have been known to play in enabling regime change in African countries that the West deems unfriendly to its interests.
For example, civil society organizations across African countries, mostly funded by the West, are directly involved in channeling funds to subversive groups in certain countries. In places like Libya, Egypt, and Sudan, such activities have effectively facilitated regime change in alignment with Western orchestrations.
Fortunately, an increasing number of African countries are awakening to the threat posed by Western-funded civil societies. For instance, in 2021, Uganda took a significant step by halting the operations of over 50 civil society groups due to similar concerns.
Regarding the media, HRW is unhappy that Eritrea appreciates the powerful role that unbiased media can play in meeting its development needs, and leaves room for independent media operations, only to the extent that they play a constructive role in national unity and development.
The oversight of media operations in Eritrea by the government, therefore, is not because the government dislikes the media. Rather, it is because the government values the media too highly, recognizes its role in safeguarding the public interest and setting the agenda, and considers it too important for national development and unity to be left to capitalist elements that serve Western interests.
Though this is structurally, an excellent piece on Eritrea, I have my reservations on its wholesome defence of the ruling regime in that country. Firstly, the essay is not evidenced on actual internal reports or interviews with Eritreans(within and outside Eritrea). It would’ve been sound if it was supported by other(independent) apart from Human Rights Watch(HRW) which the author accuses of complicity in what he refers to as ‘Western’ machinations against strong and independent African states. This way, the author will offer a convincing argument for his stance. As it is, the above reads like an opinionated argument with litte to support it.