From: E-SMART Admin (esmart@eritrean-smart.org)
Date: Sat May 29 2010 - 01:21:53 EDT
E-SMART Campaign Eritrean Sanctions Must be Annulled and Repealed Today!
600 L St., NW, Suite 200 | Washington, DC 20001 | www.Eritrean-Smart.org |
INFO@ Eritrean-Smart.org
U.S. Policy for the Horn of Africa is Devoid of Fairness and Justice
The recently-imposed US-led UN sanctions on Eritrea have made it painfully
clear that United States policy for the Horn of Africa is devoid of
fairness and justice.
In spite of the claim that the sanctions were called for by the African
Union (AU), the move was actually spearheaded by the United States
government. This hasty decision has perturbed hundreds of thousands of
Eritrean Americans who, not only as law-abiding, tax-paying, industrious
and devoted US citizens but also as grassroots ambassadors, want to see
peace and security returned to this part of Africa; the decision also
works against the short- and long-term interest of the United States and
is contrary to the principles of justice and fairness, which, should guide
U.S. foreign policy.
One of the grounds for the sanctions was the allegation that Eritrea
provided support to armed groups undermining peace and reconciliation in
Somalia. To begin with, Eritrea, a poor country with limited resources,
does not have the capacity to provide any material support to the said
armed groups. More importantly, no evidence whatsoever was presented to
substantiate the claim of support by Eritrea. In fact, that the UN
Security Council decided to drop the original charge that triggered the
process—the allegation that Eritrea was supplying weapons to the Somalia
insurgents—in the final resolution is a stark admission to the groundless
nature of the whole effort. The real reason for the sanctions was to
punish Eritrea for its refusal to stand behind the current US policy in
Somalia.
The U.S. policy in Somalia has been to support the fledgling Transitional
Federal Government (TFG) that is not representative of the Somali people,
but imposed on them by external forces. Eritrea’s position on Somalia has
been that for the long-run peace and stability in Somalia itself and the
Horn region of Africa, a representative government, established through
free negotiations of all sectors of Somalia, is a better approach to
solving Somalia’s problems. Given the chronic failure of the TFG to become
a viable government, Eritrea does have a point. At any rate, Eritrea, as a
sovereign state in the Horn of Africa, and quite familiar with the
socio-political situation in the region, is entitled to its opinion.
Responding with a hasty decision for sanctioning Eritrea, instead of a
continuing dialogue is contrary to any standard of fairness and justice
expected of U.S. foreign policy.
The second ground for the sanctions is stated as a border conflict between
Eritrea and Djibouti. Reference is made to Eritrea’s alleged refusal to
withdraw its forces to the status quo ante, and refusal to engage in a
bilateral dialogue or accept mediation or facilitation by third parties.
The fact is, Eritrea is not occupying any territory of Djibouti. The
Eritrea-Djibouti boundary has been a settled matter on the basis of
colonially drawn agreements, specifically the France-Italy Protocols of
1900 and 1901. The border dispute between Eritrea and Djibouti emerged all
of a sudden in 2008. This was created as a distraction from the major
border dispute between Eritrea and Ethiopia, which continues to be the
root cause of the crisis in the Horn region of Africa. It is to be
recalled that a deadly border war erupted between Eritrea and Ethiopia in
1998 that eventually led to the Algiers’ Agreement which obligated Eritrea
and Ethiopia to settle their border dispute peacefully by submitting the
case to a commission, the Eritrea-Ethiopia Boundary Commission (EEBC)
whose decision was stipulated to be final and binding. When the EEBC
rendered its decision in 2002, Eritrea accepted the decision and expressed
its readiness to implement it. Ethiopia, on the other hand, refused to
abide by the decision in violation of international law and defiance of
global opinion, and continues to occupy Eritrea’s territory.
The U.S., the African Union and the United Nations, as guarantors of the
Algiers Agreement, have given a deaf ear to calls for implementing the
EEBC decision, and refrained from putting any pressure on Ethiopia to
abide by the final and binding decision. Instead, the international
community, especially the U.S. government, treats Ethiopia with a kid’s
glove, reluctant to offend a country it perceives as an ally in the war
against terrorism. Fairness and justice require that border disputes in
the region be examined holistically and not selectively. It is not
surprising that Eritrea would be upset by the lack of evenhandedness in
the policy of the United States in this region regarding border disputes.
Shortchanging Eritrea in favor of Ethiopia, setting aside all senses of
fairness and justice, unfortunately, has been the hall mark of U.S. policy
in the Horn region of Africa. In the early 1950s, the U.S. was
instrumental in federating Eritrea with Ethiopia justifying, in the words
of then Secretary of State, John F. Dulles, that doing so was in “the
strategic interests of the United States in the Red Sea basin,” and making
it necessary that Eritrea “be linked with our ally, Ethiopia.” This
policy pronouncement was implemented in spite of the overwhelming demand
by the people of Eritrea for independence. When in 1962, the government of
Ethiopia unilaterally abrogated the federal arrangement and reduced
Eritrea to a mere province of Ethiopia, in an obvious violation of the
Federal Act, not a single voice of dissent was heard from the U.S., the
United Nations or other international organizations. During Eritrea’s long
armed struggle for independence (1961 to 1991), for which thousands of
Eritrean lives were sacrificed, it was primarily U.S. military and
political support that sustained successive Ethiopian governments. In
spite of that though, the people of Eritrea single-handedly and heroically
won the war of independence and presented the international community with
fait accompli independence in 1991. And as already described, when
Ethiopia refused to implement the EEBC decision on the Eritrea-Ethiopia
border dispute, in contravention of international law and defiance of
global opinion, the U.S. and the other guarantors of the Algiers Peace
Agreement have failed to put any pressure on Ethiopia to implement the
final and binding decision.
In sum, the imposition of sanctions against Eritrea that include an arms
embargo, asset freezes and a travel ban, is not based on facts supporting
the claim of Eritrea’s support to armed groups in Somalia, nor is it based
on a credible border dispute with Djibouti, but as a punishment of Eritrea
for not lining up with the current U.S. policy on Somalia and the Horn
region of Africa. It is also difficult to escape the fact that the U.S.
policy that led to in the UNSC sanctions was and still is lopsided,
unreasonably favoring Ethiopia, a country shortsightedly perceived as the
only ally in the region in the war against terrorism. That is why everyone
who wants to see peace and stability returned to this troubled Horn region
of Africa should urge the U.S. government to facilitate the immediate lift
of the sanctions against Eritrea, and engage Eritrea in a dialogue
instead. Doing so, we believe, would be in the long-run interest of the
U.S., and peace and security in the region. Given an evenhanded foreign
policy towards the region, it is not difficult to believe that Eritrea, as
a victim of terrorism itself, can become a reliable ally in the war
against extremism and terrorism.
Support our Worldwide E-SMART Campaign Eritrean Sanctions Must be Annulled
and Repealed Today!
http://www.Eritrean-Smart.org
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