A/HRC/26/45 I. Introduction 1. The present report is submitted in accordance with Human Rights Council resolution 23/21, following the renewal of the Special Rapporteur’s mandate in June 2013. It focuses on two main issues, namely, the indefinite national service and arbitrary detention, which, in her view, require the Human Rights Council’s particular attention, especially as they are two of the key reasons that incite Eritreans to leave their home country for an unknown and precarious future elsewhere. 2. The Special Rapporteur considers both issues from a human rights perspective, based on information she collected during her fieldwork and from documents already available in the public domain. 3. Since her appointment in November 2012, the Special Rapporteur has made several requests to visit Eritrea; her latest request was sent to the Government on 2 April 2014. So far, her requests have not been granted. 4. The Special Rapporteur welcomed the meeting with Eritrean diplomats in New York on 23 October 2013, which was the only opportunity she had to meet with Eritrean officials since the submission of her first report. The discussion centred around Eritrea’s efforts to remain on track in achieving six of the eight Millennium Development Goals. The Special Rapporteur regrets that she did not receive a positive response to her latest request of 10 March 2014 to meet with representatives of the Permanent Mission in Geneva. 5. The Special Rapporteur firmly believes that the mandate offers the potential for Eritrea to be closely involved in efforts to find long-lasting solutions that are compliant with international standards for the respect of human rights in the country. Consequently, she endeavours to implement the mandate in a constructive, transparent, independent and impartial manner. 6. In an interactive dialogue on 24 October 2013, the Special Rapporteur briefed the Third Committee of the General Assembly on the findings of her first report (A/HRC/23/53), her long-term objectives for the mandate and respect for human rights in Eritrea, as well as the challenges that she faced in implementing the mandate. 7. During the reporting period, the Special Rapporteur attended several consultations on the human rights situation in Eritrea with various interlocutors from Governments, academia and civil society, in New York, Brussels, and Pretoria. 8. In October 2013, the Special Rapporteur submitted information on children’s rights in Eritrea to the African Committee of Experts on the Rights and Welfare of the Child of the African Union, which monitors the implementation of the African Charter on the Rights and Welfare of the Child, in the context of its review of Eritrea’s report. That submission was made in the context of establishing and maintaining contacts with regional human rights mechanisms working on issues related to the mandate of Special Procedures ensure exchange of information, coordination and mutual support in common areas of work.1 9. As invited to in Human Rights Council resolution 21/1, the Special Rapporteur further investigated the allegations contained in material submitted under the complaint procedure, which was transmitted to her. The material alleges widespread and systematic human rights violations in Eritrea, which the Special Rapporteur addressed in general in her first report to the Council. In the present report, the Special Rapporteur will address some 1 See OHCHR, Manual of Operations of the Special Procedures of the Human Rights Council (August 2008), para. 130. Available from http://www.ohchr.org/EN/HRBodies/SP/Pages/Introduction.aspx. 3