Eritrea accuses UN of 'slander' over rights report Published duration 9 June 2015

image copyright AFP image caption The UN says Eritreans are forced into indefinite conscription, under terrible conditions

Eritrea's government has dismissed as a "vile slander" a UN report accusing it of human rights violations on a scale "seldom witnessed elsewhere".

The report was part of a campaign to undermine a nation which valued human rights, it said.

It said the government may have committed crimes against humanity, including a shoot-to-kill policy on its borders.

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President Isaias Afewerki has governed the East African nation for 22 years, and the country has never held elections since gaining independence from Ethiopia in 1993.

Eritreans account for the second-largest group of migrants crossing the Mediterranean, after Syrians, with an estimated 5,000 fleeing every month.

image copyright Reuters image caption The UN has urged Europe not to send back Eritrean refugees

The report said Eritreans flee the hardship caused by systematic and widespread human rights abuses.

Eritrea's foreign ministry said in a statement that the UN's allegations were "totally unfounded and devoid of all merit".

"They are an attack, not so much on the government, but on a civilised society and people who cherish human values and dignity," it added.

Eritrea at a glance:

Gained independence in 1993

6.3m population

Opposition parties outlawed

Conscription can last until the age of 40

UN estimates 5,000 Eritreans leave each month

Heavily dependent on earnings of the diaspora