Thank you Beraky for a well-written and well-infromed post. I think it is very timely article and it is up to us to do something about it.
Thank you again and keep up the good work.
Haile A.
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A Perfect Injustice against Eritrea 01/30/2012
The United States of America (U.S.A.), the United Kingdom (UK), and Ethiopia, using the United Nations (UN) and the United Nations Security Council (UNSC) as a camouflage, have victimized the peace-loving people of Eritrea. This historical injustice, which is still continuing into the present, is beyond comprehension to any honest Eritrean national, citizen, or resident, and for that matter, to any just and fair-minded human being.
After World War II, the U.S.A., the UK, and France denied the Eritrean peoples’ aspirations for freedom and independence and federated Eritrea to feudal Ethiopia against the will of the Eritreans. The above noted nations preferred to work with Ethiopia instead of an independent country of Eritrea for their own self-serving reasons. The U.S.A. and the UK wanted to secure their strategic national interests and used the UN as a cover to realize their national desires: the U.S.A. wanted to keep its listening post in the highlands of Eritrea and the British wanted to get the fertile western portion of Eritrea so that it could be added to their Sudanese colony.
In 1946-1948, the Four Powers Commission (FPC), which was made up of the U.S.A., the UK, France, and the Union of Soviet Socialist Republic (U.S.S.R.), was tasked by these four victorious powers to come up with a mandate for the disposal of the Italian colonies, including Eritrea. The Commission was used to secure the British, the U.S.A., and the Ethiopian interests. Ethiopia was enabled to grab Eritrea before Eritrea could have a taste of independence.
What was done by the FPC in the past is being replicated to the detriment of Eritrea by the Somali-Eritrea Monitoring Group (SEMG). The Group (SEMG) is supposed to report to the UNSC, among other things, on support by Eritrean interests for the Somali terrorist group al Shabaab. The accusation about Eritrean help to al Shabaab is demonstrably false, because Eritrea does not have the resources or the will to engage in any such international meddling. Further more no one has come up with a shred of credible evidence to prove Eritrea’s involvement in Somalia.
Because of the British (who freely looted Eritrea from 1942-1952) and the United States’ push against Eritrean independence, the UN denied the Eritrean peoples’ demand for independence in 1952, and placed Eritreans under feudal Ethiopia’s yoke. This led to a 30 year war- a heavy price for Eritreans to achieve their independence. The U.S.A. and the UK carry the moral liability for the hardship and loss endured by the Eritreans, and of course, Ethiopia is legally responsible for what it did to the Eritrean people. Eritrea has lost the opportunity for population growth, and the best of the best of her nationals, and suffered material destruction as well as financial ruin. Sixty years later, US Ambassador Susan Rice and the US State Department are working toward the same goal as Secretary John Foster Dulles in the 1950’s, that is, the dominance of Ethiopia over Eritrea.
In the past and present the U.S.A. has used the UN as a cover to commit various injustices against Eritrea. The direct, intended beneficiary of the U.S.A.’s diplomatic, military, and financial machinations in the Horn of Africa has been and still is the client state of Ethiopia. All these injustices happened and are currently happening not because the Eritrean people have done anything wrong in the past or because the Government of the State of Eritrea’s foreign policy is misguided. It is simply that the national interests of Eritrea’s foes are in congruence. Nobody can run away from history: the U.S.A. has treated and still treats Eritrea as an unworthy victim, and Ethiopia as an indispensable partner. The U.S.A.’s moral obligation was fairly described by former US ambassador to Ethiopia (1962- 1967), Mr. Edward Korry. In a panel discussion in the Eritrean Embassy in Washington, DC, 1997, he stated, “We must remember that for many years we were to a very large extent responsible for the disaster that engulfed the Horn of Africa in the years 1970 to 1990… We have a responsibility to help Eritrea.”
Instead of paying reparations to Eritrea, the USA, the UK, and Ethiopia have again colluded against Eritrea for their own national strategic interests. The tool they use to realize their common interests is no longer the Four Powers Commission but the Somali-Eritrea Monitoring Group, which is counseled by an American, Mr. Joey Hood, former political/military attaché at the US Embassy in Asmara, Eritrea ( 2002- 2009 ). Actions speak louder than words; the aim of the SEMG is to destroy the Eritrean nation’s existence as a sovereign nation. To criminalize innocent Eritrea, this Group fabricates unfounded accusations, assassinates and defames Eritrea’s character, and misinforms anyone it can about Eritrea. The U.S.A., with her allies and client states, conceived the UNSC Resolutions 1907/2009 and 2023/2011 on unfounded, manufactured accusations of Eritrea giving financial, military, and political assistance to the Somali terrorist group al Shabaab. If we look into excerpts from the anti-secrecy Wiki leaks, in a confidential cable communication from the US Secretary of State issued on March 1st, 2008, the US mission to the UN was to get support from some Security Council members and UN-troop-contributing countries for sanctions against Eritrea “for its interference with UN Mission for Ethiopia and Eritrea, especially its refusal to reinstate fuel supplies to the mission.” The cable states, “ potential options include, I) imposing a travel ban on key Eritrean government officials II) placing an assets freeze on these same officials and/or other Eritrean assets/resources III) imposing trade, investment, or other restrictions related to Eritrean resources, including mining IV) imposing an arms embargo on Eritrea.” Also in a cable leaked from Berlin about Meles (
http://ethioform.org/?p=5073) states: Ethiopia is an “indispensable partner” to stability in the region, the border conflict between Ethiopia and Eritrea is “frozen” for the foreseeable future. These cable communications clear the Government of the State of Eritrea of all charges of wrongdoings. The cables do not mention any Eritrean financial, political or military assistance to anybody anywhere. Unbiased jewelers would not judge otherwise.
The current Ethiopian government’s efforts to destroy Eritrea by any means available are driven by the Ethiopian government’s desire to implement the Tigray People’s Liberation Front (TPLF) manifesto on the Republic of Greater Tigray which is of the same tenor as the German manifesto on das Gross Deutsche Reich (The Great German Empire) just before World War II. The TPLF manifesto in short claims that everybody who speaks Tigrinya is a Tigrayan, and borders of Tigray must be adjusted accordingly. This linguistic claim would allow the Tigrayans to swallow a large portion of Eritrea because about 60% of Eritreans speak Tigrinya. The efforts of the Tigrayans to control the Eritrean port city of Assab rest on the fact that the only asset that the now-landlocked Tigray is missing to declare independence from Ethiopia is a port. The Djiboutian-Eritrean border issue might have been conceived and instigated by the Ethiopian regime’s territorial ambitions in the region, with the U.S.A.’s blessing, since the U.S.A. would like to advance her strategic military and political interests in the Horn region.
The members of the UNSC are under a legal duty, both under the UN-Charter and under general principles of international law to carry out their Charter obligation in good faith. But the Security Council is effectively held hostage by those who established their institutional privileges after WWII, the Permanent Five. The Security Council by itself is not democratic and has neither an effective political or legal restraints. The breach of good faith by the council and its members, does not give rise to international liability. The Council’s decision to sanction Eritrea and the Council’s acquiescence to the EEBC’s decision is a violation of good faith and the UN’s Charter. For this very bogus reason, the UN, UNSC, nations, and individuals like US Ambassador Susan Rice, former Undersecretary of State Jendayi Frazer, and all others who have defamed, criminalized, and sanctioned the people and the government of the State of Eritrea unjustly are immune from prosecution by the State of Eritrea. It is an uphill challenge to change the composition of and the way in which the UNSC operates, but every Eritrean has a national obligation to remain resolute to meet these challenges of our time and defend Eritrea from her foes who are colluding on her repeatedly for their own national advantages. Every Eritrean and any human being who believes in fairness and justice and in the sovereign State of Eritrea has a national and humane obligation to oppose and expose the Somali-Eritrea Monitoring Group and to denounce its grossly falsified character assassination of the Eritrean people and government. To remain silent while injustice is done is not any less than siding with the unjust. It is one of our Universal Human Rights/Obligations to oppose, expose, and face head-on these repeated injustices against Eritrea. Forming and funding a national political action group in defense of Eritrea and Eritrean interests, by Eritreans in Diaspora in collaboration with the Eritrean government will be productive.
Beraky Abraha Woldegebriel.
Austin, TX. (512) 554-4525
Received on Tue Jan 31 2012 - 10:54:18 EST
