10,000 Eritreans Rot in Prison and the World Wants to Look Away

CSW and Coalition of Christian and Human Rights Organisations Push for Extension of Eritrea Special Rapporteur as Decades of Persecution Continue

Over 10,000 Eritreans remain in arbitrary detention. Eleven Christians have been imprisoned for nearly 25 years for daring to call for democratic reforms. And the international community is being lobbied to look the other way. On 14 May 2026, Christian Solidarity Worldwide joined a coalition of 30 other human rights organisations demanding the UN Human Rights Council extend the mandate of the Special Rapporteur investigating human rights violations in Eritrea.

"Without continued scrutiny, the regime would commit gross violations with impunity, leaving victims unheard and abandoned," said Claire Denman, UN Officer for CSW.

Eritrea Crimes Against Humanity Documented But Western Action Stalls

The 2016 UN Commission of Inquiry concluded there were "reasonable grounds to believe" that crimes against humanity have been committed in Eritrea since 1991, including enslavement, imprisonment, enforced disappearance, torture, rape, murder, persecution, and inhumane acts.

Since 2020, no measurable progress has been made on rule of law, civil liberties, or women's rights. CSW emphasises this is the result of deliberate state policy, not capacity constraints. Eritrea's regime has spent three decades imprisoning, torturing, and conscripting its citizens, including Christian pastors and journalists, into open ended forced labour. The Special Rapporteur mandate is one of the few mechanisms keeping any international pressure on Asmara at all.

The Crusader's Opinion

Eritrea is the North Korea of the Horn of Africa. Indefinite military conscription. Mass arbitrary detention. Christian pastors who have rotted in shipping container prisons for 25 years for the crime of preaching. CSW and 30 other organisations are doing the work that Western governments will not. If the UN allows the Special Rapporteur's mandate to lapse, the regime will treat it as permission. Christians who care must demand action. Eritrea must not be allowed to slip back into invisibility. 10,000 prisoners are waiting for the world to remember them.

Take Action

• Donate: Christian Solidarity Worldwide
• Sign: Petitions demanding extension of the UN Special Rapporteur mandate on Eritrea
• Pray: For the eleven prisoners imprisoned for 25 years and the 10,000 in arbitrary detention
• Contact: Your government's UN mission demanding support for the mandate renewal
• Share: Eritrea's persecution and refuse to let it be forgotten