Eritrea Country Report: November 2025
- Genocide Watch
- Nov 10, 2025
- 3 min read
Updated: Mar 3
By Grace Harris
Eritrea Country Report 2025
By Grace Harris
Eritrea was a colony of Italy from 1889 to 1942, annexed by Ethiopia in 1962. It formally gained independence in 1993 following 30 years of war. Disputes over the border with Ethiopia escalated into war in 1998 that cost over 100,000 lives and displaced a million people. The conflict continued until 2018, when Eritrean and Ethiopian leaders negotiated a peace deal that strengthened relations between the two countries and promoted regional stabilization. However, hostilities with Ethiopia are flaring once more in 2025 surrounding another border dispute and access to the red sea.
The Eritrean government once used the conflict with Ethiopia to justify state repression, but has maintained the same practices despite its resolution. It was listed as one of the most repressive countries by Human Rights Watch because of the 30-year governance of President Isaias Afwerki, who refuses to follow the 1997 constitution or hold elections. Very little information leaves the country due to media suppression. Under his rule, political opponents, journalists, and perceived dissidents are arbitrarily detained for years and even decades. Many people have also disappeared without a trace, notably a group of 11politicians who spoke out against Afwerki and 16 journalists associated with them. Forced labor and military conscription are also significant issues in the country.
The human rights of minority groups in Eritrea are systematically violated as well. The Afar people have been subjected to decades of discrimination and persecution. Government policies have pushed them off their land, banned their traditional occupation of fishing, and subjected them to mass arrests. Over 57,000 Afar have fled the country as refugees, most seeking shelter in neighboring Ethiopia.
Additionally, Sunni Islam, Eritrean Orthodoxy, Roman Catholicism, and Evangelical Lutheranism are the only recognized religions. Followers of other faiths are targeted, detained, and denied religious liberty.
Alongside atrocities committed against its own people, Eritrea was heavily involved in the Tigrayan genocide in Ethiopia that left an estimated 600,000 people dead. Eritrea is not party to the 2022 peace agreement made between the Ethiopian government and the TPLF, and its military has continued to commit crimes against humanity across Tigray to this day, particularly systemic rape and sexual violence alongside civilian massacres and arbitrary detentions. Furthermore, Eritrea is not a state-party to the Genocide Convention or the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court (ICC). Therefore, Eritrea cannot be sued in the International Court of Justice (ICJ) for violation of the Genocide Convention. Unless the UN Security Council refers the situation in Eritrea to the ICC, Eritrean leaders cannot be tried by the ICC.
Eritrean forces have stayed in Tigray, where they continue to commit crimes against humanity, systematic rape and sexual violence, and massacres of civilians.
Because of Eritrea’s persecution of dissidents and minority groups, media suppression, and authoritarian rule by President Afwerki, alongside a denial of complicity in Tigray, Genocide Watch considers Eritrea to be at Stage 3: Discrimination, Stage 6: Polarization, and Stage 10: Denial
Genocide Watch recommendations:
Eritrea should sign the 2022 peace agreement
A State-Party to the Genocide Convention should bring a case to the International Court of Justice (ICJ) against Eritrea for violation of the Genocide Convention.
Eritrea should ratify its 1997 constitution that guarantees freedom of religion, speech, and assembly, and the right to vote to all citizens, including religious and ethnic minorities.
The Eritrean government should free all political prisoners and hold fair elections.
Eritrea should end its requirement of military service for all Eritrean citizens.
