Australia thanks the Special Rapporteur for his oral update.

We support the extension of the mandate of the Special Rapporteur and repeat our calls on the Eritrean Government to cooperate fully with the mandate.

Australia remains deeply troubled by reports of detention of members of the Eritrean political opposition, people of faith, journalists, and asylum seekers. We strongly encourage Eritrea establish an effective legal framework to address all forms of discrimination and to uphold the rule of law.

We are gravely concerned by the situation in Tigray, Ethiopia and the ongoing reports of egregious human rights abuses, including systemic sexual and gender-based violence, and violations of international humanitarian law committed by Eritrean forces. We note that the Ethiopian government has requested that Eritrean forces leave Tigray, and we call on Eritrea to do so immediately. We also call on Eritrea to investigate all allegations against its forces to ensure those responsible are held to account.

We ask Dr Babiker for his views on why the rates of arbitrary detention are not declining despite positive trends in prisoner release?

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