THE EEBC DECISION TEN YEARS LATER AND ETHIOPIA'S ILLEGAL OCCUPATION:
UN AGAINST ITS OWN CHARTER
By: Samson Andebrhan
Ten years after the EEBC delivered its delimitation decision, the
Eritrea-Ethiopia border remains undemarcated. As it stands, Ethiopia
still remains defiant and on the wrong side of the norms of
international law. By being so, it has put the peace and security of
the Horn of Africa in turmoil. As a result of Ethiopia's non-
compliance, peace between the two countries remains elusive.
The United Nations has done nothing of significance to curb
Ethiopia's excesses. Instead, it has time and again gone to a great
length to placate it. Its abysmal failure has not been for want of
mandate. On the contrary, the UN is well placed to exert punitive
measure should Ethiopia persist with its non-compliance with the
Algiers Agreement.
The UN's apparently partisan step now will make the region unstable
and future generations will continue to pay the price. Any action by
the UN that falls short of either inducing or forcing the Ethiopian
government to accept the EEBC decision fully and without any
precondition will eventually result in the resumptions of war between
the two nations.
With the border demarcated, everything else would follow naturally.
Relations would be normalised and neighbourly dialogue will follow
on. Eritrea and Ethiopia are neighbours and it is in the interest of
the peoples of both countries that their relations should be
normalised. But neighbourly relations cannot be instituted through
blackmail and intimidation. To think that relations can be normalised
while Ethiopia illegally occupies sovereign Eritrean land is
unthinkable.
So, as it is always the case with Eritrea, everything comes down to
what Eritreans can do for themselves. The project of intimidating
Eritrea and its people into submission is nothing new. The UN on its
part has played a key role in such a project in the past and now,
here it is again violating its own Charter. There is not much
surprise there.
Sometimes, one would be forgiven in thinking that there is no justice
in this world; that the United Nation's protestation about universal
peace and security and the rule of law is mere talk; that the UN
Charter is just a string of dead words; and that there is no point in
expecting anything more than a partisan involvement by the UN where
Eritrea and Ethiopia are concerned.
But more often than not, people have to fight for justice. The
difference may be that in their struggle for justice, Eritreans will
have no one but themselves to rely on. We should leave no stone
unturned in search for peace and justice.
Samson Andebrhan
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Received on Fri Apr 13 2012 - 19:09:22 EDT
