A/HRC/29/41 18. The Penal Code governs all areas of law that fall under the broader categorization of criminal law, containing definitions and elements of crimes, as well as prescribed punishments. In the context of the human rights landscape in Eritrea, the Code of Criminal Procedure perhaps bears extra significance. In addition to governing court proceedings emanating from contraventions of the penal code, it provides safeguards for individual rights and freedoms during criminal proceedings. Eritrean lawyers call it a “mini-constitution”. 19. Having documented and reported on arbitrariness, especially in relation to arrests and detention in Eritrea, the Special Rapporteur had anticipated that the long overdue coming into force of the Penal Code and the Code of Criminal Procedure would bring consistency and uniformity to the application of the law and an element of certainty. However, these crucial laws have come into force in a context of constitutional void, since the 1997 Constitution, publicized as the supreme law of the land, remains unimplemented and is now subject to a constitutional review process, the modalities of which remain unclear.5 Additionally, the new codes were promulgated in the absence of a functioning legislature, the existence of which would support the achievement of a separation of powers between the executive, the legislature and the judiciary. Under such separation of powers — a basic tenet of the rule of law (see S/2004/616, para. 6) — distinction is made between the functions of government, in particular with respect to the passing, interpretation, adjudication and enforcement of laws. B. Urgent appeal 20. On 18 June 2014, the Working Group on Arbitrary Detention, the Working Group on Enforced or Involuntary Disappearances, the Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in Eritrea, the Special Rapporteur on the right of everyone to the enjoyment of the highest attainable standard of physical and mental health and the Special Rapporteur on torture and other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment sent an urgent appeal to the Government of Eritrea regarding the alleged arrest and arbitrary detention of the former Ambassador of Eritrea to Nigeria, Mohammed Ali Omaro. According to the information received (see A/HRC/28/85, p. 14), on 29 April 2014, security personnel in plain clothes arrested Mr. Ali Omaro in Asmara and took him to an unknown location, where he is being detained incommunicado. He has been denied family visits and access to a lawyer and to a doctor, despite his serious heart condition and urgent need for regular medication and medical care. It is reported that he has not been formally charged and has not been brought before a judge. The reasons for his arrest and detention are unknown, but it is believed that his detention is politically motivated. No response has been received to date. C. Review of Eritrea by the Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women 21. The Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women reviewed the fourth and fifth periodic reports of Eritrea (CEDAW/C/ERI/5) at its sixtieth session, in 5 6 The President of Eritrea announced in May 2014 that Eritrea would go through a constitution-drafting process to adopt a new constitution. The Special Rapporteur holds the view that the 1997 Constitution came out of a widely participative process; the immediate implementation of the Constitution would not exclude a drafting process to align it with current international human rights standards, which may take several years, but would, in the meantime, give constitutional protection to all Eritrean citizens, eliminating the pervasive element of arbitrariness in the enjoyment of fundamental rights and freedoms.