Dear Members of the United Nations Security Council,
It is with utter dismay that I write to you today on the tenth anniversary
of the Eritrea-Ethiopia Boundary Commission’s (EEBC) final and binding
decision that awarded Badme, the casus belli of the 1998-2000
Eritrean-Ethiopian border war, to Eritrea. To this day, Ethiopia remains on
sovereign Eritrean territory, in contravention of the UN Charter and
international law. In fact, adding insult to injury, the Ethiopian regime
openly called for and carried out armed incursions into Eritrea just last
month, from March 15th to 17th, 2012. Instead of condemning the attacks the
UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon merely “urged both sides to exercise
‘maximum restraint’ and ‘respect each other’s territorial integrity’”
(Aaron Maasho, Reuters 3/17/2012). This begs the question: why does he
focus on “both sides” when only one has taken illegal action? Secondly, how
much restraint is enough restraint? Eritrea has waited patiently for a
decade, marked by the flagrant injustices of its southern neighbor.
What are these injustices, exactly? At first, there was the flat out denial
of the EEBC decision in 2002 by the minority regime in Addis Ababa, Tigray
People’s Liberation Front (TPLF). Then there was “acceptance, in principle”
and calls for “dialogue” in 2003 despite the fact that the EEBC’s decision
was “final and binding” and that the original Algiers Agreement “expressly
precluded the commission from deciding matters ex aequo et bono.” Soon
after there was the resettling of Ethiopians in Badme, in violation of
Article 49 of the Geneva Conventions. Losing the support of its own
population, the regime then turned on its own people, committing genocide
in Ogaden, Oromia, and Gambella and murdering 193 of its citizens during
the 2005 elections. In 2006, while openly harboring the Eritrean Islamic
Jihad, an internationally recognized terrorist organization, the minority
regime illegally invaded Somalia in the name of fighting terrorism. It
remains in Somalia to this day. All the while, the Eritrea-Ethiopia issue
persisted on account of the TPLF regime’s refusal to allow for demarcation
with pillars on the ground, which lead to “virtual demarcation” in 2007. In
accordance with the law, Eritrea accepted the demarcation; Ethiopia did
not. In April of 2011, the TPLF regime called for the overthrow of the
Eritrean government, once again, in violation of international law. Facing
such brazen disregard for justice, Eritrea not only avoided reacting to
this provocation but also extended an invitation to peace. As expressed by
Girma Asmerom, Eritrean ambassador to the African Union, “‘Eritrea is ready
to normalize relations with Ethiopia’ if Ethiopia vacates its territory”
(William Davison, Bloomberg, 4/29/11). However, Ethiopia did not and has
not vacated Eritrean soil.
To make matters worse, your Council chose to push forward the illegal
Resolution 1907 two days before Christmas in 2009 on the grounds that
Eritrea was providing arms to al-Shabaab in Somalia. In contrast, Dumusani
Khumalo, the chair of the UN General Assembly’s Special Committee, released
the Somalia Report in 2009 that showed that at least 80% of the arms
available in Somalia came from Ethiopia or the UN-funded Ugandan and
Burundian soldiers representing the African Union Mission to Somalia.
Furthermore, the diplomatic cable from November 28, 2007 entitled “Ogaden;
Counterinsurgency Operations Hitting a Wall” was sent by Ambassador Donald
Yamamoto to Washington, D.C. and it revealed that “the role Eritrea plays
in Somalia…is probably insignificant.” Not only does this evidence
vindicate the Eritrean position, but it also begs the question why further
action has not been taken against other nations directly involved in
Somalia and trafficking arms to the country. Now as a result of the
embargoes on Eritrea, the emboldened TPLF regime purchased 200 tanks from
Ukraine for $100 million last summer, at the expense of 4.5 million
Ethiopians needing food aid during one of the worst droughts in recent
history (Interfax-Ukraine, 6/9/2011).
In spite of all the counterevidence arguing against Resolution 1907,
Resolution 2023 was passed on December 5, 2011, expanding the original
sanctions on Eritrea. In the lead up to the resolution was the baseless
Kenyan claim that Eritrea continued to traffic arms to al-Shabab. On
January 16, 2012, however, Reuters reported that the UN Monitoring Group on
Somalia and Eritrea found these claims to be false. Matt Bryden, the
coordinator of the Monitoring Group, added that “‘multiple credible
reports’ show no flights have taken place at the time specified” (Peter
Clottey, Bloomberg, 1/17/2012). Regardless, the resolution passed. The
Eritrean president, Isaias Afewerki, sent multiple letters requesting to
present his nation’s case months prior to the resolution’s deliberation in
November, 2011. Susan Rice, US Ambassador to your Council, opposed this
request on the grounds that it would create a “spectacle” and, instead,
rushed the vote “into blue” to illicit faster action against Eritrea
(Matthew Russell Lee, Inner City Press, 11/30/12). With the Ambassadors of
Russia and China saying otherwise, Ambassador Rice reluctantly granted
President Isaias a visa and he was allowed to speak. However, he was given
only four days’ notice and his speech was set for a few hours before
deliberation, making a mockery of the entire deliberating process. Is this
justice?
Thus, Eritrea has done all that a righteous nation can do under such unjust
circumstances. As an Eritrean-American, I ask that you repeal and annul the
unjust sanctions set in place and expanded upon through the adoption of UN
Resolutions 1907 and 2023, respectively. I also ask that you stop ignoring
the flagrant and ongoing violations of international law by the TPLF at the
expense of the people of the Horn of Africa. I further ask that you
consider adequate punitive measures in response to the TPLF’s illegal
actions in order to deter future hostilities. Lastly, I ask that you
fulfill your duties as a guarantor of the Algiers Agreement, signed on
December 12, 2000. I expect much more out of the UNSC, the world’s highest
governing body.
Sincerely,
Simon Tesfamariam
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Received on Fri Apr 13 2012 - 18:42:22 EDT
