http://www.eurasiareview.com/14062016-ethiopia-attacks-eritrea-things-to-understand-oped/
Ethiopia Attacks Eritrea: Things To Understand – OpEd
BY DR. FIKREJESUS AMAHAZION JUNE 14, 2016
On Sunday, the Ethiopian government launched an attack against Eritrea
on the Tsorona Central Front. According to a BBC report, “witnesses
report hearing heavy gunfire and seeing Ethiopian troops and tanks
heading towards Eritrean border.” The region, located along the tense
border between the two countries, was the scene of some of the
fiercest fighting during the 1998-2000 Eritrea-Ethiopia war. Full
details of yesterday’s attack are still being confirmed and its
specific motives or ultimate aims remain unclear.
Last month, Eritrea celebrated its 25th year of independence, while
last week the UN Commission of Inquiry on Eritrea, which has been
broadly discredited and widely challenged, declared that “widespread”
human rights abuses have been committed in Eritrea over the past 25
years and should be referred to the International Criminal Court (ICC)
as crimes against humanity.
For Ethiopia, the incident comes at a time of considerable internal
dissension and crises. The country is burdened by a massive food
crisis, leaving millions at risk of famine and requiring urgent aid,
while just days ago dozens of Ethiopian soldiers were involved in a
bloody battle with Somali militants at an African Union base in
central Somalia (casualty figures are still unknown). Moreover, the
Ethiopian government continues to face large and widespread
anti-government protests and dissent over political and economic
inclusion. The Ethiopian government’s heavy-handed response, involving
brutal suppression and harsh crackdowns characterized by a spate of
rights violations, has been strongly condemned by an array of
international human rights organizations.
It is important to note that Sunday’s attack is not an isolated
incident. Since the end of the destructive 1998-2000 war between
Eritrea and Ethiopia, which led to the deaths of tens of thousands,
the Ethiopian government has made regular incursions into and attacks
against Eritrea. Furthermore, it has made persistent calls for the
overthrow of the Eritrea government and, through belligerent,
threatening statements via government-owned media outlets, proclaimed
its intentions to carry out “military action to oust the regime in
Eritrea.” The Ethiopian government is also the principal supporter of
the RSADO, an international terrorist organization targeting Eritrea.
Notably, beyond Eritrea, Ethiopia has also engaged in frequent
military incursions into other neighboring countries, including Kenya
and South Sudan, while it has maintained a long, violent military
presence in Somalia.
Even while the exact details surrounding Sunday’s attack are yet to
fully emerge, it is difficult to overlook the problematic role of the
international community in the ongoing tensions plaguing the region.
In 2000, President Isaias Afwerki of Eritrea and Prime Minister Meles
Zenawi of Ethiopia signed the Algiers Agreement to solve the border
dispute between the two countries. Subsequently, in 2001, the Eritrea
Ethiopia Boundary Commission (EEBC), composed of five prominent and
highly respected lawyers was established to make its “final and
binding delimitation and demarcation decisions.” The Commission
presented its “final and binding delimitation decision” on 13 April
2002, with the flashpoint of the 1998-2000 war, the small, rural
border town of Badme, being awarded to Eritrea.
However, while the decision has been accepted by Eritrea, and although
the entire process was guaranteed by the UN and the OAU/AU and
witnessed by the US, EU, Algeria, and Nigeria, Ethiopia has completely
failed to shoulder its legal obligations and responsibility for
demarcating the border.
Problematically, rather than condemn Ethiopia’s illegal military
occupation and repeated aggressive actions or call for the immediate,
unconditional implementation of the EEBC decision, the international
community, principally led by the US, has encouraged Ethiopia’s
violations by offering it vast diplomatic, military, and economic
support. Such a misguided approach is based upon the belief, dating
back to the immediate post-World War 2 period but rearticulated more
recently in terms of regional “anchor states” designations, that
Western geostrategic interests and foreign policy aims can be better
protected and served by Ethiopia, Eritrea’s former colonial occupier.
Unfortunately, however, this misguided policy approach has largely
failed to achieve its objectives (to even a minor degree), and instead
only served to destabilize the entire Horn of Africa region through
contributing to unnecessary rivalry, conflict, and insecurity.
The people of the region deserve better.
Received on Tue Jun 14 2016 - 08:04:23 EDT