A/HRC/29/42 arbitrary issuance of an exit visa. To prevent those who wish to avoid national service from leaving the country unlawfully, the Government also restricts movements towards border areas and severely punishes anyone found trying to cross the frontier. With a few exceptions, those who have been forced to return to the country have been arrested, detained and subjected to ill-treatment and torture. Eritreans voluntarily returning to their country may face arbitrary arrest, in particular if they are perceived as having associated with opposition movements abroad. Eritreans abroad can obtain a passport only upon payment of a mandatory “rehabilitation tax” amounting to 2 per cent of their earnings, a disproportionate price for a travel document. Those who left unlawfully also have to sign a regret form. 30. The restrictions on movement are not proportionate and strictly necessary in the interests of national defence. They constitute a violation of the right to freedom of movement, including the right to leave and freely return to one’s country. All persons suspected of intending to cross the border unlawfully are treated in a manner that often amounts to torture or cruel, inhumane or degrading punishment, outside of any judicial proceedings. 3. Freedom of opinion and expression 31. In its determination to safeguard its own continued existence, the Government has proceeded to establish a system by which individuals in society are silenced and isolated through the organized repression of the freedoms of opinion, expression, assembly, association and religion. The commission recalls that merely invoking general grounds such as national security or public safety, public order, the protection of public health or morals or the protection of the rights and freedoms of others cannot be regarded as legitimate to justify the restriction of public freedoms. 32. In the area of freedom of expression, the Government systematically silences anyone who is perceived as protesting against, questioning or expressing criticism of the Government and its policies, even when such statements are genuine and legitimate in the context of a democratic public debate. The most visible sign of such repression was the purge in 2001 of the G-15 reform group and of its supposed supporters, who were in their majority either killed or disappeared. Following that crackdown, the silencing of the population went a step further as Eritreans started being punished for just about any expression of opinion: claiming the enjoyment of fundamental rights and legitimate benefits; enquiring about the fate of persons perceived as critics by the Government; discussing governmental policies; or asking any type of question. The Government consistently labels perceived critics as traitors. Those found guilty of such a “crime” are severely punished. 33. Freedom of the press is another casualty of the Government’s effort to control society. In 2001, the Government suppressed the emerging free press by closing down independent newspapers and silencing journalists through detention and torture, several of whom disappeared. Since then, only pro-Government information is easily accessible in the country. The Government, principally through its Ministry of Information, holds tight control over the content of information, the journalists who produce it, the matters they may cover and what they may say about them. It severely punishes any perceived divergence from the official line. The restrictions imposed on the press, the exercise of journalism as a profession and the access to information and means of communication are neither proportionate nor necessary for the interests of national security, public order or even national unity, and constitute a violation of the right to seek, receive and impart information that is included in the right to freedom of expression. 34. The freedom of assembly and association is also targeted. The few attempts to exercise the right to peacefully demonstrate have been crushed by the Government, which 7