UN accuses Eritrea of human rights abuses

UN human rights investigators yesterday accused Eritrean leaders of crimes against humanity including torture, rape, murder and enslaving up to 400,000 people into military service who are then sent away for years to remote areas.

Atrocities had been committed since the country’s independence in 1991 and were continuing, the UN Commission of Inquiry said in a report that was immediately rejected by the government.

The Commission has called for the case to be referred to the International Criminal Court.