THE EEBC DECISION TEN YEARS LATER AND ETHIOPIA'S ILLEGAL OCCUPATION:
ERITREA: 10 YEARS OF ETHIOPIAN OCCUPATION AND AGGRESSION
By Yared Tesfay
V-clip;-
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7WB68bXWNBE !
The Independent Eritrea Ethiopia Boundary Commission (EEBC) delivered
its final and binding delimitation and demarcation decisions on 13
April 2002 and 30 November 2007 respectively. Emboldened by the
diplomatic, financial, military and political shield and support it
receives from the United States and its allies, the belligerent
minority regime in Ethiopia continues to militarily occupy sovereign
Eritrean territories, including Badme, the casus belli of the Eritrea
Ethiopia border conflict in 1998-2000.
The Algiers Agreement was signed on 12 December 2000 in Algeria by
H.E. President Isaias Afwerki for Eritrea and by Prime Minister Meles
Zenawi for Ethiopia and witnessed and guaranteed by Secretary General
Kofi Annan representing the United Nations, President Abdelaziz
Bouteflika of the Democratic Republic of Algeria, President Obasanjo
of Nigeria, Secretary of State Madeleine Albright representing the
United States, Secretary General, Salim Ahmed Salim representing the
OAU, and Senator Renato Serri representing the European Union, and
states that the Border Commission alone has the sole authority and
mandate to delineate and demarcate the Eritrea Ethiopia border. The
EEBC was established in accordance with the Algiers Agreements signed
by Eritrea and Ethiopia on 12 December 2000. The parties agreed that
the delimitation and demarcation determinations of the EEBC would be
final and binding. Each party agreed to respect the border so
determined, as well as the territorial integrity and sovereignty of
the other party.
However, when the EEBC delivered its delimitation decision, Ethiopia
rejected its findings and sought to have the decision reversed.
Employing several deceptive gimmicks and ploys, its attempted to
create an "alternative mechanism" to hijack the EEBC's mandate and
prevent it from fulfilling its sole mandate to delimit and demarcate
the Eritrea Ethiopia border. After refusing to allow the EEBC to
demarcate the border by placing markers on the ground, the EEBC
decided to demarcate the border using virtual demarcation-coordinates
on maps.
Meles Zenawi's insouciance, flip-flopping, arrogant, defiant,
belligerent and intransigent behavior cannot be attributed to just
his character. It is related to the misguided foreign policies and
aid he continues to receive from the European Union (EU), United
States (US) and other major donors. Their indecisiveness and kids
glove handling approach has encouraged him to defy international law
and to continue to divert US and other taxpayers monies to buy
military hardware in pursuit of policies of aggression and expansion
towards neighboring states and beyond. He is also being rewarded for
the cruel and inhumane resettlement programs, ethnic cleansing and
genocides in the Gambela, Ogaden and Oromia regions of Ethiopia.
Article 14 of the Algiers Agreements says:
"...The OAU [now the African Union] and the United Nations commit
themselves to guarantee the respect for this commitment of the two
Parties until the determination of the common border on the basis of
pertinent colonial treaties and applicable international law... This
guarantee shall be comprised of... measures to be taken by the
international community should one or both of the Parties violate
this commitment, including appropriate measures to be taken under
Chapter VII of the United Nations Charter by the UN Security Council..."
After 10 years of aggression and occupation, Eritreans around the
world are calling for Ethiopia's unconditional withdrawal from
sovereign Eritrean territories, including Badme. They are also
calling on the UN Security Council (UNSC) to shoulder its moral and
legal obligations by restoring Eritrea's sovereignty and territorial
integrity by enforcing the EEBC's final and binding decisions. The
UNSC must also annul and repeal the illegal, unfair and unjust US-
engineered sanctions resolutions (1907, 2023), imposed against
Eritrea and its people.
Occupation is an international crime...
----[Mailing List for Eritrea Related News ]----
Received on Fri Apr 13 2012 - 20:59:26 EDT
