Observation (CEACR) - adopted 2018, published 108th ILC session (2019)

Freedom of Association and Protection of the Right to Organise Convention, 1948 (No. 87) - Eritrea (Ratification: 2000)

Civil liberties. In its previous comments, the Committee requested the Government to provide information on how it ensures the rights of trade unions to organize their administration and activities and to hold public meetings and demonstrations in practice. In this respect, the Government reiterates earlier statements regarding provisions available under the Labour Proclamation of 2001, and indicates that in March 2017, the National Confederation of Eritrean Workers (NCEW) held its seventh congress and elected its representatives in full freedom. Furthermore, a basic workers’ association was recently established in Bisha Mining Share Company, where the parties were engaged in a process of collective bargaining. The Government indicates that the latter development demonstrates that the NCEW has extended its coverage to new sectors. While taking note of this information, the Committee regrets that the Government provides no information on any measures taken in the last several years to ensure protection for the exercise of the right to hold demonstrations and public meetings in law and in practice. Recalling that the right of trade unions to hold public meetings and demonstrations is an essential aspect of freedom of association, the Committee reiterates its request.

Article 2 of the Convention. Right of workers, without distinction whatsoever, to establish and join organizations. Compulsory national service. The Committee notes that pursuant to sections 19 and 30 of the National Service Proclamation (No. 82/1995), those performing work within the framework of national service are subject to martial law and regulations and that section 3 of the Labour Proclamation excludes members of the military, police and security forces from the scope of the labour law. The Committee further notes the discussions that took place in the Conference Committee for the Application of Standards (CAS) concerning the application of the Forced Labour Convention, 1930 (No. 29), and its 2015 and 2018 conclusions which make reference to large-scale and systematic practice of imposing compulsory labour on the population for an indefinite period of time within the framework of programmes related to the obligation of national service. This practice has also been reported extensively by the Commission of Inquiry on Human Rights in Eritrea established by the United Nations Humans Rights Council, as well as the Special Rapporteur on the Situation of Human Rights in Eritrea (Special Rapporteur) appointed by the same Council. The Committee notes with deep concern that large numbers of Eritrean nationals have been denied the right to organize for indefinite periods of their active life while they were forced to perform work as part of their obligation of compulsory national service. The Committee recalls that the exception in Article 9(1) of the Convention is justified on the basis of the responsibility of the police, security and armed forces for the external and internal security of the State. This exception must be construed in a restrictive manner, so as to apply only to purely military and policing functions and not to the whole active population mobilized for work in non-military areas as diverse as agriculture, construction, civil administration and education for indefinite periods of time under martial law that denies them the right to organize. In view of the above considerations, and noting the end of “no war no peace situation” that had lasted since the 1998–2000 border war with Ethiopia and the formal restoration of relations between the two countries in July 2018, the Committee urges the Government to end the general mobilization of the population for indefinite periods of time under martial law and to revoke or amend the National Service Proclamation accordingly, so as to ensure that Eritrean nationals are not denied the right to organize beyond the legally restricted period of military service, during which they would perform work of purely military character.

Civil Servants. The Committee recalls that in its 2014 observation, it had observed with concern that the Government had been referring to the imminent adoption of the Civil Servants’ Proclamation for the last 12 years, and had urged the Government to take all the necessary measures to expedite the adoption process of the Proclamation so as to grant without further delay the right to organize to all civil servants in accordance with the Convention, and that it repeated the same observation with concern in 2016 and 2017. The Committee notes with deep concern that the Government once again indicates that the drafting process of this Act is still at its final stage for approval. In this respect, the Committee notes that in her latest report, the Special Rapporteur informed the UN Human Rights Council that there was still no parliament in Eritrea where laws could be discussed and questions of national importance debated (A/HRC/38/50 of 25 June 2018, paragraph 28). The Committee is bound to note that the institutional standstill described in the Special Rapporteur’s report does not favour the imminent adoption of new legislation. Recalling that civil servants, like all other workers with the only exception of armed forces and the police, should enjoy the right to establish and join organizations of their own choosing, the Committee urges the Government to take all the necessary measures to ensure that the adoption process of the Civil Servants’ Code is concluded and the right to organize is guaranteed to all civil servants without further delay. The Committee reminds the Government of the possibility to avail itself of ILO technical assistance in this regard.

The Committee is raising other matters in a request addressed directly to the Government.