A/HRC/41/53 I. Introduction 1. The present report is submitted pursuant to Human Rights Council resolution 38/15, in which the Council decided to extend the mandate of the Special Rapporteur for one year and requested the mandate holder to present a written report to the Council at its forty-first session. 2. Since her appointment in October 2018, the Special Rapporteur has endeavoured to implement her mandate in an independent, impartial and constructive manner. In the present report, she provides information about her activities. She also notes relevant regional developments and describes the extent to which the Government of Eritrea has cooperated with her mandate and its engagement with international human rights bodies. She provides an overview of the human rights situation in Eritrea, focusing on priority areas, and benchmarks for improving the situation of human rights in Eritrea. The present report covers the period from 1 November 2018 to 6 May 2019. 3. During the period under review, the Special Rapporteur was not given access to Eritrea to conduct in-country visits. She monitored the human rights situation in the country by conducting field missions to a number of other countries and by engaging with a broad range of stakeholders, including officials of the Government of Eritrea in Geneva, representatives of United Nations and other international agencies, members of the diplomatic corps, government agencies and ministries in various countries, civil society organizations, academics, researchers, local community leaders, representatives of religious institutions, members of the Eritrean diaspora and private citizens. The present report draws on the findings of her missions as well as on the information received in interviews conducted throughout the reporting period. II. Activities 4. Since November 2018, the Special Rapporteur has undertaken four missions. In November 2018, she travelled to Geneva to participate in a week-long event for the induction of new special procedure mandate holders organized by the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR). In the week following that event, she also met with members of the diplomatic corps, representatives of different United Nations agencies and members of the Eritrean diaspora. In January 2019, the Special Rapporteur travelled to Sweden and the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland to participate in a wide range of meetings and consultations on issues relevant to her mandate. In March 2019, the Special Rapporteur participated in the enhanced interactive dialogue on the situation of human rights in Eritrea held during the fortieth session of the Human Rights Council. During that mission, she also participated in bilateral meetings with members of the diplomatic corps and in meetings with the representatives of various international agencies and civil society organizations. In early April 2019, the Special Rapporteur travelled to Germany and Belgium to meet with different stakeholders and discuss the human rights situation in Eritrea and the protection of refugees. 5. The Special Rapporteur appreciates the cooperation provided by the Governments of Belgium, Germany, Sweden, Switzerland and the United Kingdom during her missions. 6. Given her lack of access to Eritrea, on 25 January 2019 the Special Rapporteur submitted a request to the Government of Ethiopia to conduct a country visit with the purpose of visiting the region and discussing issues relevant to her mandate with, among others, officials of the Government of Ethiopia, officials of the Government of Eritrea in Addis Ababa and representatives of the African Union. The Government of Ethiopia has yet to provide an official response to the request. 2