Ambassador Bisa Williams
Senior Area Advisor for African Affairs
New York, New York
October 25, 2021
AS DELIVERED
The United States thanks Special Rapporteur Babiker for his stark reporting.
The presence of Eritrean forces in northern Ethiopia is prolonging the conflict in Ethiopia, exacerbating an already dire humanitarian situation, and destabilizing the region. In northern Ethiopia, Eritrean forces have committed human rights abuses such as rape, torture, and killings, including of children.
The Government of Eritrea must immediately and permanently withdraw its forces from Ethiopia,consistent with commitments already made by both the Governments of Ethiopia and Eritrea.
The United States remains deeply concerned by reports of unlawful and arbitrary killings, enforced disappearances, torture, arbitrary detention, and other human rights violations and abuses in Eritrea. We condemn reports of individuals arrested for exercising freedoms of expression, religion, or peaceful assembly, as well as conscientious objectors of compulsory and indefinite national service.
We highlight the upcoming release of the joint OHCHR/EHRC report on human rights in northern Ethiopia and ask the international community to take note of its findings.
Question: What more can states do to promote accountability for human rights violations and abuses occurring in Eritrea as well as abuses committed by Eritrean forces in Ethiopia?
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