Human Rights Council – 62nd Session
Item 2: Enhanced Interactive Dialogue on the report of the Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in Eritrea
Statement delivered by Iceland on behalf of the Nordic-Baltic States
15 June 2026

President,

The Nordic-Baltic states thank the Special Rapporteur for his report and voice our support for further renewal of the mandate.

We welcome Eritrea’s recent engagement with OHCHR through trainings and other initiatives and note developments on some economic and social rights relating to essential health services. While we acknowledge Eritrea’s release of over 200 prisoners in the last year, the reports that the releases were on conditional and coercive grounds remain of concern, as well as the harsh and degrading conditions of prisoners in Eritrea.

Further, reports of continued arbitrary detentions, enforced disappearances, and widespread persecution of political opponents, journalists, and religious leaders are a matter of grave concern.

We are alarmed by reports of renewed forced recruitment, mass roundups and increasing transnational repression. We urge Eritrea to carry out legal and institutional reforms, release all those arbitrarily detained and to provide information on the whereabouts of those subjected to enforced disappearances. In this context, measures to address prevalent sexual- and gender-based violence are vital.

We continue to call on Eritrea to cooperate with international and regional human rights mechanisms, including by granting access to the Special Rapporteur to monitor the situation on the ground and to initiate dialogue.

I thank you.