A/HRC/26/45 drop out of school so as to marry and have children, or their families may force them to do so as a means of “saving their daughters”. Such a strategy has a negative impact on the education of girls, many of whom are unable to access further education and are thus forced to accept low-skilled jobs.18 Women who have been recruited into national service tend to adopt the same strategies to be demobilized as early as possible. Exemption from military service for nursing mothers has encouraged early pregnancies. 4. Situation in Sawa 57. Sawa Military Training Centre is Eritrea’s main military training institution, combining a school, a military training camp and a detention facility. High school students (Grade 12), both male and female, must spend one year at Sawa to be able to complete their course of studies. Only those who complete military training, reportedly three months, at the Sawa Military Training Centre after Grade 11 are allowed to continue their education. 58. The fact that students are required to spend their last year of secondary schooling at Sawa and undergo three months of military training during that period is proof that even the right to education has a compulsory military component attached to it. Owing to the harsh conditions at Sawa Military Training Centre, some students have tried to escape, even if the risk of being caught and facing severe punishment are high. Students at Sawa are subjected to various types of violations, some amounting to torture, inhuman or degrading treatment and corporal punishment. There have been reports of students falling ill and dying or committing suicide. 5. Freedom of movement 59. Freedom of movement is curtailed in Eritrea. The checking of identification papers at control points indicates the level of restraint and monitoring that citizens of Eritrea, including national service conscripts, are required to endure. Conscripts need a pass to travel throughout the country. 60. Further to article 17 of the National Service Proclamation, travel outside of the country is restricted for those in national service. A national under the obligation of national service may be allowed to travel abroad upon providing a certificate of completion of or exemption from national service, or by putting up a sizable sum of money as bond. The Ministry of Defence is responsible for implementing this provision. 6. Freedom of opinion, expression and information 61. The right to freedom of expression includes freedom to hold opinions and receive and impart information. While those rights and freedoms are not unfettered, any restrictions and conditions thereon should only be those provided by law and which are necessary in a society where the rule of law prevails (art. 19, para. 3, International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights). In Eritrea, punitive and disproportionate treatment is meted out to conscripts for expressing their views on the indefinite nature of national service, raising questions about the detention of peers or their living conditions. 7. Freedom of thought, religion and belief 62. The practice of one’s religion while performing military service is prohibited, in violation of Eritrea’s international obligations under article 18 of the Covenant. Those 18 12 See David Bozzini, “National Service and State Structures in Eritrea”, agreed minutes of presentation (16 February 2012). Available from http://www.ejpd.admin.ch/content/dam/data/migration/ laenderinformationen/herkunftslaenderinformationen/afrika/eri/ERI-agreed-minutes-bozzini-e.pdf.