Eritrea accuses US of hypocrisy on human rights

Asmara, Mar 11: Eritrea accused Washington today (Mar 11, 2006) of hypocrisy over the release of the annual US human rights report, saying in the wake of prison abuse scandals it had no moral grounds to criticise other nations.

The State Department report, which covered countries around the world, said Eritrea's record on human rights had worsened and the government continued to commit serious abuses.

''The US administration has no legal or moral ground to point its fingers at other countries on human rights issues or to act as a self-appointed court,'' Information Minister Ali Abdu said today.

''As far as Eritrea is concerned, this is ridiculous ... and at a time when we are reading the gruesome reports from Abu Ghraib and Guantanamo Bay,'' he told Reuters, referring to charges of human rights abuses committed in US-run prisons.

The US rights report, released on Wednesday, accused Eritrea of harsh and sometimes lethal treatment of military deserters and draft evaders.

Eritrea and Ethiopia, which fought a 1998-2000 war that killed 70,000 people, have been locked in a dispute over the demarcation of their shared border since an independent commission awarded the border town of Badme to Eritrea in 2002.

Despite an agreement from both sides that they would abide by the commission's ruling, Ethiopia rejected the decision.

The diplomatic stalemate has created military tension along the 1,000-km (600-mile) border. Eritrea -- whose population is only one-twentieth the size of Ethiopia's -- has become one of the most militarised countries in the world.

DEATHS

The US rights report said Eritrea's government ''continued to authorise the use of deadly force against anyone resisting or attempting to flee during military searches for deserters and draft evaders, and deaths reportedly occurred during the year''. ''Several persons detained for evading national service died after harsh treatment by security forces,'' the report added.

Beginning in June and continuing until the end of the year, security forces began detaining and arresting parents of individuals who had evaded national service or fled the country, it said.

Before being released, the parents were required to pay a fine and bring their children back, the report added.

The report also cited the case of the so-called G-11, a group of 11 senior politicians arrested in September 2001 after calling for more transparency within the government.

Their whereabouts are still unknown. At least four individuals, associated with the G-11 and arrested in 2002, remain in detention, the US report said.

The government continued to arrest and detain members of non-registered religious groups, some of whom have been detained for than 11 years, the report said.

The dossier also said it had reports of up to several hundred politically motivated detentions during 2005, and many of those detained remained in prison at the end of the year.

REUTERS