[dehai-news] THE EEBC DECISION TEN YEARS LATER AND ETHIOPIA'S ILLEGAL OCCUPATION: A Decade of Silence Tantamount to Endorsement of Illegal Acts of War - UNSCs Incompetence
A Decade of Silence Tantamount to Endorsement of Illegal Acts of War:
UNSCs Incompetence
Its now been ten years since the Eritrea Ethiopia Border Commision
(EEBC), handed down a verdict detailing the boundary lines between
the two countries on the bases of pertinent documents and colonial
treaties. April 13th, 2002 would have been the exact date the
commission had reached this UN endorsed decision which both parties
agreed to accept as final and binding.
Today, ten years after the verdict, the borders between the two
countries remain demarcated only virtually due to Ethiopias defiance
and refusal for physical demarcation. As a result, a significant part
of Eritreas territories, including Badme, the flash point of the
conflict, remains under Ethiopian occupation.
What must be underscored here is that Ethiopias refusal to abide by
the EEBCs ruling has no legal bearing. Nor is it a reflection of the
regimes military capabilities to make might right. One could observe
from get go that all of Ethiopias military misadventurism, including
the unprovoked war of aggression of 1998 and the most recent (March
15th 2012) military incursion deep inside Eritrea, was and still is
with the backing and blessing of the only super power country and one
that influences UN decisions and actions rather heavily. Having
African Unions headquarter in Addis Ababa, where the representatives
often keep silent when the Ethiopian regime is engaging in acts
contrary to the charter of the organization, including occupation of
Eritrean territories, invasion of Somalia and other gross human
rights violations, can also be attributed as one factor to the
regimes disregard to the international law.
Whats rather disturbing about this particular case is the pattern and
consistency with which Eritrea has been victimized by the world body-
the United Nations, for over 5 decades. The main objective for the
establishment of United Nations some sixty years ago was for the
realization of world peace and stability. Theres no exclusion
criteria as to the size and political/economic ideology of a country.
In the case of Eritrea, United Nations had and still has a strong
moral and legal position to speak and act in defense of. Even going
as far back as the colonial era, Eritreas case could have been easily
solved, sparing us all the human loss and suffering, if it wasnt for
the involvement of American administration who, in order to serve
their interest, complicated the situation resulting in 30 years of
bloodshed. The unfortunate and unnecessary conflict of 1998 was also
another example where the United Nations could have brought about a
lasting peaceful solution, if not helped avoid. In both cases and
with the US as mastermind, the United Nations failed to take any
legal action against a party who has broken the international law.
With a twist of irony, this same world body, again spearheaded by the
US, is seeing in imposing a sanction against the victim on the basis
of some bogus and unsubstantiated terrorism claims.
The EEBC mandate, as spelled out on the Algiers Agreement of 2000, is
simple and clear. Both parties accept whatever decision reached by
the commission as final and binding, another way of saying without
ifs and buts. The commission had accomplished its tasks and called on
UNSC on numerous occassions to carry out its responsibilities in
finalizing the demarcation process. Unfortunately, the UNSC, which it
clearly appears hijacked by one of its members, continues to ignore
the call by a member state to fulfill its mandate and demand for the
implementation of the EEBC ruling. Sadly, such inaction by the world
body not only defies whats clearly spelled in the UN Chart, it will
also serve as a precedent for others to follow, resulting in more
human sufferings.
Lastly, all Eritreans, irrespective of their political persuation,
should continue to fight for the injustices perpetuated by the world
body that is greatly contributing for the instability in the region.
We should also call for the annullement of the illegal sanction
against a nation that fought and continues to fight terrorism way
before its accusers knew the definition of the word terrorism.
Amanuel Tseggai
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Received on Sun Apr 15 2012 - 22:19:18 EDT
