A/HRC/38/50 (b) Security forces effected mass arrests of hundreds of persons after the funeral of Musa Mohammed Nur on 3 March 2018. There was a heavy military presence and the arrests started after the burial ceremony. The elderly and children were also arrested and detained. 38. Concerning the exercise of freedom of religion or belief, cases include: (a) The arrest and imprisonment of approximately 45 people in Adi Quala during the second half of 2017. One detainee died as a result of exposure to the harsh environment and exacting prison conditions. It is unclear whether the others have been released or are still in custody; (b) The arrest and detention of Muslim tutorial teachers at the end of 2017, presumably because of their religious teachings; (c) The arrest and detention of religious figures at a Catholic institution during the second half of 2017. 39. In one case a man who attempted to cross the border at the beginning of 2018 was arrested and detained. He is being detained incommunicado, but his family has been able to deliver food once a week. 40. A number of cases involve “guilt by association”, where a person is detained in lieu of a spouse, parent or sibling who has left the country, for example: (a) The arrest of two siblings after their brother fled the country in 2016; (b) The arrest and detention of a mother of three young children in November 2017 after her husband left the country. 41. These recent incidents reinforce the continuing patterns of human rights violations that have already been identified and amply documented by the Special Rapporteur, the commission of inquiry on human rights in Eritrea and other human rights organizations. 42. In Eritrea, overincarceration has serious repercussions on the health of inmates and its impact on families and society runs deep. Overincarceration, resulting in congested detention centres, remains a long-standing systemic problem. Even short periods of detention in overcrowded spaces can cause detainees to suffer recurrent physical, mental and social problems upon release. 43. The use of arrest and detention in degrading conditions as a tool for control and punishment, as well as a propensity to use remand and imprisonment rather than noncustodial options, persists. The presence of pretrial detainees in already crowded facilities inflates the numbers yet further. This state of affairs is compounded by a lack of legal representation, as the majority of lawyers are employed in the national service and the numbers in private practice are low. 44. Overcrowding is a consequence of inadequacies at all stages of the criminal justice process: an underresourced judicial system that is slow and ineffective, resulting in long delays and the denial of judicial guarantees, such as the right to be brought promptly before a duly constituted court of law and to be tried within a reasonable time. 45. Children, the elderly and women are at high risk of being adversely impacted owing to ill-treatment, the absence of legal protection, poor hygiene and inadequate nutrition and water supply in congested detention centres. 46. It is arbitrary and unlawful to arrest and detain children accompanying adults during a funeral ceremony. The Special Rapporteur spoke to the parents of an adolescent boy who was arrested after the funeral ceremony for Musa Mohammed Nur on 3 March 2018. He was with other children below the age of 18 who were rounded up just after the ceremony and taken away in several vehicles. They are all students from schools in the Akhria neighbourhood, including the Al Dia school. The child has been in incommunicado detention since his arrest. While some of the children have been released, an unknown number are still in detention. The parents are worried, not only for their own son, but for all the children still held in incommunicado detention. They are concerned about the psychological trauma and other possible inhumane treatment that the children may be experiencing. 8