A/HRC/26/45 United Nations General Assembly Distr.: General 13 May 2014 Original: English Human Rights Council Twenty-sixth session Agenda item 4 Human rights situations that require the Council’s attention Report of the Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in Eritrea, Sheila B. Keetharuth Summary The present report is submitted pursuant to Human Rights Council resolution 23/21. It is based upon information that the Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in Eritrea gathered from a variety of sources, including Eritrean refugees interviewed during field missions in 2013 and 2014. In the report, the Special Rapporteur focuses on two main issues, namely, the indefinite national service and arbitrary arrest and detention, including incommunicado detention and inhumane prison conditions. In her view, the rampant human rights violations occurring in these contexts in Eritrea, which is causing hundreds of thousands to leave their country for an unknown and precarious future elsewhere, require the Human Rights Council’s particular attention. The Special Rapporteur concludes the report with recommendations to the Government of Eritrea and the international community, aimed at addressing those concerns. GE.14-02856 (E) *1402856*