A/HRC/44/23 23. The Special Rapporteur stresses the importance for Eritrea of adopting a constitution and reconvening the National Assembly as critical steps towards advancing the rule of law and building the country’s human rights agenda. The Special Rapporteur urges the Eritrean authorities, as a matter of priority, to expedite the drafting of the country’s constitution in a transparent and participatory manner. She reiterates her appeal to provisionally implement the 1997 Constitution until a new constitution is adopted, reinstate the National Assembly, and ensure that human rights are mainstreamed in the domestic legal system (A/HRC/41/53, paras. 34–35). 24. The Special Rapporteur remains concerned about the use of the practices of indefinite and arbitrary detention and enforced disappearance to suppress dissent, punish perceived opponents and restrict civil liberties. These practices significantly undermine progress in the rule of law. Scores of individuals continue to disappear in the Eritrean prison system. Basic due process rights are not guaranteed for all persons in custody, as many are not allowed access to legal counsel, judicial review, family visits or medical attention. As described in the present report, during the reporting period, the Special Rapporteur received numerous reports of arbitrary arrests that targeted, among others, practitioners of various religious congregations, persons suspected of opposing the Government, and members of marginalized ethnic communities. In one incident in late November, security forces reportedly arrested at least 20 Muslim men in Mendefera and in neighbouring localities. Those arrested included local businessmen, religious teachers and community leaders. Many of these men remain unaccounted for, and the reasons for the arrests are not known. 25. The Special Rapporteur welcomes the release of Almaz Habtemariam in August 2019, but remains concerned about the fate of her husband, Berhane Abrehe Kidane, a former finance minister, who is in his seventies and in poor health. He has been held incommunicado at an undisclosed location since September 2018, after publishing a book critical of the Government. In October 2018, the African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights issued provisional measures regarding Mr. Abrehe’s detention, which the Eritrean authorities have not complied with. 2 26. The Special Rapporteur deplores the indefinite detention of Ciham Ali Abdu, a national of both Eritrea and the United States and the daughter of a former information minister, who has been held incommunicado since the age of 15. She was arrested in December 2012 as she tried to cross into the Sudan, shortly after her father requested asylum in a third country, and has not been heard from since. 27. The Special Rapporteur recalls that this September will mark the nineteenth year of incommunicado detention of a group of former Eritrean politicians, known as the “G11”, and of at least 16 journalists, including Dawit Isaak, a national of both Sweden and Eritrea, imprisoned without trial since September 2001. The authorities have provided no information about their fate and whereabouts and have not complied with the decisions of the African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights regarding these cases.3 28. Strengthening the national justice system to respect human rights requires reforming the prison system in Eritrea and training the police force. Prisoners continue to die in Eritrean prisons due to inhumane prison conditions. Relatives are often provided no explanation or information about the circumstances of death and no investigation into such deaths is carried out. In some instances, the police use excessive force during arrests. For example, in one incident in early February 2020, armed police reportedly shot dead 27year-old Shewit Yakob Gebretensae on the street in Mendefera as he tried to escape arrest. According to reports, he had abandoned his national service duties without permission, in order to support his family. 29. The Special Rapporteur reiterates her appeal to the Government of Eritrea to put an end to the practices of arbitrary arrest and prolonged detention, to release or bring to court all persons detained without charge and to comply with its international obligations on the 2 3 6 The measures were issued in connection with Abrehe Kidane v. Eritrea, communication No. 704/18. Zegveld and Ephrem v. Eritrea, communication No. 250/02, decision, November 2003; Article 19 v. Eritrea, communication No. 275/2003, decision, 2007; and Isaak v. Eritrea, communication No. 428/12, decision, February 2016.