News Highlights: Attack in Somalia, Swiss aid to Eritrea, Libya political meeting

In this week’s news highlights: Devastating attack in Somalia; Ethiopian government official resigns; South Sudan refugee video report; story of an Eritrean minor; Switzerland starts new programmes with Eritrea; France announces tougher measures on migration; Libyan political leaders to meet in Tunis; UNHCR statement on Libyan detention camps; operations in the Mediterranean saved 600 people; Egyptian army engaged in fighting with terrorist groups in Sinai region.

UN Special Rapporteur on Eritrea holds interactive dialogue in Human Rights Council

Geneva – at the 35th session of the UN Human Rights Council, the Special Rapporteur on Eritrea held an interactive dialogue on the most recent report about the human rights situation in Eritrea. The Special Rapporteur, Sheila Keetharuth, confirmed that human rights abuses constituting crimes against humanity continue to be committed and that the Eritrean regime shows no signs of cooperation or improvement. Eritrea will still not allow access or cooperate in any way with the Special Rapporteur.

Daniel Mekonnen: deconstructing the myth of a “promising” political change in Eritrea

On 24 November 2016, Eritrean lawyer Daniel Mekonnen gave a speech at a panel discussion on Eritrea, organized by Amnesty International, in Basel, Switzerland. The speech was aimed at two recent pronouncements by the Swiss government that suggest that positive political change is taking place in Eritrea. According to Mekonnen, this completely ignores the reality in the country.