A/HRC/32/47 B. Crimes against humanity in Eritrea 59. Article 7 of the Rome Statute defines crimes against humanity as particular acts when committed as part of a widespread or systematic attack directed against any civilian population. 60. The commission previously concluded that the Government of Eritrea and the PFDJ had adopted totalitarian practices aimed at perpetuating their own power (A/HRC/29/42, para. 24). Central to the ruling leadership’s campaign to perpetuate its hold on power has been its wholesale disregard for the right to liberty and security of its citizens. Specifically, Eritrean officials have committed the crimes of enslavement, imprisonment, enforced disappearance, torture, reprisals as other inhumane acts, persecution, rape and murder. 61. Enslavement has been committed on an ongoing, widespread and systematic basis since 2002.6 Imprisonment, enforced disappearance, torture, reprisals as other inhumane acts, and persecution have been committed on a persistent, widespread and systematic basis since 1991. Rape and murder have been committed in a systematic manner since 1991. 62. Because State officials have relied so extensively on the commission of the crimes to establish and consolidate total control over the Eritrean population, the commission has determined that they have engaged in a persistent, widespread and systematic attack against the civilian population of Eritrea since May 1991. 63. Given that many of the victims of the above acts were, and still are, military/national service conscripts, the commission has considered whether such conscripts may be classified as members of the civilian population for the purposes of crimes against humanity. It is of the view that, with the exception of defined periods,7 Eritrea has not been engaged in an armed conflict as defined in international law. International humanitarian law, which distinguishes between combatants, combatants hors de combat and civilians, does therefore not apply. Given the particular nature of military/national service programmes in Eritrea, conscripts have had an “inoffensive character” and therefore may be victims of an attack on the civilian population. 1. Enslavement 64. The international prohibition against enslavement is reflected in article 7(2)(c) of the Rome Statute, which defines the crime as “the exercise of any or all of the powers attaching to the right of ownership over a person”. The commission relied on the interpretations of this definition by four international criminal tribunals, namely, the International Criminal Court, the International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia, the Special Court for Sierra Leone and the Extraordinary Chambers in the Courts of Cambodia. 8 Acts of sexual slavery have also been addressed under the crime of enslavement. 6 7 8 With the exception of the period from 10 to 12 June 2008, when Eritrea was involved in armed clashes with Djibouti. From May 1998 to June 2000 and from 10 to 12 June 2008. For the International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia, see Prosecutor v Kunarac, IT-9623-T& IT-96-23/1-T, judgment, 22 February 2001, paras. 518-543; and Prosecutor v. Kunarac, IT96-23& IT-96-23/1-A, judgment, 12 June 2002, paras. 116-124; for the Special Court for Sierra Leone, Prosecutor v. Taylor, SCSL-03-01-A-1389, judgment, 26 September 2013, paras. 446-448 (citing the Kunarac judgments approvingly); for the International Criminal Court, Prosecutor v. Katanga, ICC-01/04-01/07-3436, judgment pursuant to Article 74 of the Statute, 7 March 2014, para. 976; and for the Extraordinary Chambers in the Courts of Cambodia, Prosecutor v. Kaing, 001/18-072007-ECCC/SC, appeal judgment, 3 February 2012, paras. 117-162. 11