Eritrea condemns EU for ‘malicious’ sanctions

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Eritrea condemns EU for ‘malicious’ sanctions

9:21 CAT | 23 Mar 2021

FILE -Eritrea's president Isaias Afwerki [File photo: Feisal Omar/Reuters]

Eritrea has condemned as “malicious” the European Union’s decision to impose sanctions on its National Security Office (NSO) for alleged human rights abuses.

“The EU has no legal or moral prerogative for its decision and has merely invoked trumped-up charges to harass Eritrea for other ulterior motives,” the foreign ministry said in a statement.

The EU accused the NSO of extra-judicial killings, torture, enforced disappearances and arbitrary arrests. It did not give further details about the sanctions.

The EU did not give details of what type of sanctions will be imposed or why now.

Reuters news agency reports that the NSO will face an asset freeze in the EU.

The NSO is headed by Major General Abraha Kassa and is under the supervision of President Isaias Afwerki’s office, the EU said in a statement.

The foreign ministry said the EU was trying to drive a wedge between Eritrea and Ethiopia, and was trying to bring back to power the Tigray People’s Liberation Front (TPLF) in Ethiopia’s Tigray region.

Eritrean troops have been accused of carrying out widespread atrocities in Tigray since fighting broke out in the region in November. Eritrea reportedly deployed troops to help the Ethiopian military defeat the TPLF. It denies that any of its troops are in Tigray.

Eritrea is a one-party state led by President Isaias Afwerki since its independence in 1993.

Eritrea was one of several states from around the world to be targeted by the EU for alleged human rights violations. Two Libyan militia leaders and a senior commander in South Sudan’s army have also had sanctions imposed on them.

Source: BBC