Red Sea Afar Group Urges Action Over Alleged Persecution of Afar People Under Eritrean Regime

Addis Ababa, December 24, 2025 (FMC) — The Red Sea Afar Democratic Organization (RSADO) has called on the international community to act against what it describes as systematic and severe persecution of the Afar people under Eritrea’s repressive government.

The organization warned that continued global inaction is allowing grave human rights violations to persist with impunity.

RSADO leadership, including Chairman Ibrahim Haroun, Secretary Abdushek Mahmoud, and Spokesperson Nesredin Ahmed, held a press briefing in Addis Ababa to highlight ongoing abuses and human rights violations.

According to RSADO, indigenous Afar communities in Eritrea have faced systematic persecution, marginalization, and widespread human rights violations since 1991. The Afar population in the Dankalia region has endured prolonged repression, including forced displacement, property confiscation, restrictions on livelihoods, and violations of fundamental rights.

Chairman Ibrahim Haroun explained that Eritrean government policies have systematically undermined traditional Afar ways of life by denying communities access to their ancestral lands and coastal resources. He said these measures have severely damaged economic activities crucial to the Afar people, including fishing, trade, and pastoralism.

For decades, the Red Sea Afar community has suffered state-engineered repression, including mass displacement, targeted persecution, enforced disappearances, extrajudicial killings, and systematic dispossession of ancestral lands along the Red Sea coastline, Ibrahim added.

In response to these ongoing violations, RSADO submitted a comprehensive 122-page report to the African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights (ACHPR) Secretariat last June, detailing the plight of the Afar people under Eritrean government oppression.

The ACHPR Secretariat formally acknowledged receipt of RSADO’s submission and, acting under its mandate pursuant to the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights, officially transmitted Communication No. 868/25 to the Eritrean government. The Commission has ordered Eritrea to submit its response within sixty days in accordance with Rule 116(2) of the ACHPR Rules of Procedure.

RSADO leadership hailed this development as a historic and long-overdue breakthrough in the Red Sea Afar people’s decades-long struggle for justice, recognition, and accountability, Secretary Abdushek Mahmoud said.

The organization emphasized that the Commission’s action sends a clear message across the continent: no state stands above the African Charter, and no regime can indefinitely evade regional scrutiny and responsibility. RSADO added that compelling a response from the Eritrean government is a powerful affirmation that these crimes can no longer be ignored, denied, or silenced.

RSADO views the Commission’s action as critical recognition of the gravity and urgency of the Afar people’s suffering and an important step toward dismantling the culture of impunity that has shielded perpetrators for too long.

The organization expressed its highest appreciation to the Commission for its swift, principled, and victim-centered response, demonstrating unwavering commitment to protecting oppressed and marginalized peoples across Africa.

RSADO reaffirmed its full readiness to cooperate with the Commission throughout all stages of proceedings in pursuit of truth, justice, and reparation.

The organization also urged African Union member states, regional institutions, international organizations, and other relevant stakeholders to support the African Commission’s mandate and to continue engaging through appropriate diplomatic and legal channels to protect human and peoples’ rights and prevent further harm to affected communities.