General situation
In 2024, Human Rights Watch highlighted that Eritrean authorities in the past year persistently suppressed fundamental rights, such as freedom of opinion and expression and of religion or belief, and escalated their use of enforced disappearances, unlawful detentions and forced mass conscription. Eritrean security forces committed serious rights violations in Ethiopia’s Tigray region, and the government continued to detain and deny religious freedom to individuals whose religious affiliation does not align with the four denominations officially recognised in the country.
Expression
On 1st December 2023, Eritrea ranked seventh-worst jailer of journalists in CPJ's annual prison census on the state of global press freedom, with 16 journalists in prison. Notably, Eritrea was ranked the worst jailer of journalists on the African continent. Detainees, including individuals involved in some of the longest-standing cases worldwide and detained incommunicado, have never faced formal charges. Their fate and whereabouts remain unknown.