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From: Berhane Habtemariam (Berhane.Habtemariam@gmx.de)
Date: Fri Jul 15 2011 - 07:31:22 EDT
Guilty Before Proven Guilty
15.07.2011
It is to be recalled that on 23 December 2009, the UN Security Council
passed a resolution sanctioning Eritrea for supporting insurgents in Somalia
and for refusing to acknowledge its border dispute with Djibouti. In the
same resolution, the Council recommends that Eritrea and Djibouti accept
bilateral contact through a third party.
However what is beyond belief is the conspicuous dearth of factual
verifiable incriminating evidence. No where in all the pertaining
deliberations of this case, is it possible to obtain unmistakably and
publically accessible citations which Eritrea is in violation with respect
to the chaos and disorder in Somalia? Even more disturbing is that Eritrea
was not and is not allowed to challenge the truthfulness and permissibility
of all the fabricated allegations that have been marshalled to base that
decision. And now one and half year on, the situation in Somalia has turned
for the worst and the fabricated border conflict that never was has become a
non issue that threatens international peace and security. Yet the sanctions
remain in place. Equally outrageous is that the lifting or the suspension of
a sanction is left to the interpretation of the permanent members of the
Security Council. This effectively means the sanction can remain
indefinitely as long as you have a sworn enemy in the council. It can't get
more pathetic and ridiculous than this. Ironically we are now hearing that
attempts are underway to broaden and strengthen the scope of the sanctions-
the contrast can never be more remarkable.
But what lies behind all this injustice? If the 'grounds' for the initiation
of the sanction are no longer existent, what justification is there for the
sanction to continue? Before we try to look into the underlying motives, it
would help to briefly expose how sanctions come into existence, and what is
the current view is as regards their legality?
The UN is required to resort to sanctions when there is compelling evidence
that the targeted state is in clear violation of international norms in
respect of peace and security and that all diplomatic efforts have failed
to persuade that state comply with the objectives as set by the security
council. Here what is vitally important is that, the violations that the
accused state is believed to have committed must be verifiable on the
ground. This means the evidence should be gathered without prejudice and be
irrefutably true while at the same time the state alleged to be violation is
given the opportunity to prove its innocence. This is important not least
because the UN credibility is at risk, but also because sanctions have
consequences for the people of the targeted state (a human right issue in
itself) and this being in contravention of the cardinal principle of the
presumption of 'innocence until proven guilty'. Yet what we have here is
the demise of that principle and the undermining of the UN's credibility in
general and the legitimacy of sanction in particular as an instrument to
bring about the intended objectives. To victimize a state simply because it
holds an alternative workable solution to a conflict resolution in this way
is amoral, vindictive and corrupt to say the least.
It must be also stated that one of the crucially flawed procedure in the
administration of sanctions is that any member state can initiate and submit
a sanction to the UN Sanctions Committee. The committee then merely executes
the process without a clue and the matter is over and done. No scrutiny, no
discussion or judgement on the substantiality of the basis of decision. No
provision for the targeted party to respond and question the authenticity of
the evidence the party is alleged to be in violation. In effect this means
if country A wants to settle scores with neighbouring country B, and if
country A has a friend at court such as the US, then you can be pretty
certain that country B will get sanctioned. Equally you can also get away
with it like Israel when you have the US at your side. This is the real and
objective situation we are dealing with. If this is not undemocratic and
legally unsound practice, what then can one designate it as? Where is the
essence of the buzz words of democracy, human rights, supremacy of justice
etc we are lectured upon day in day out? Why they are in short supply in
this particular instance?
What's more, from the legal point of view, the UN is neither accountable nor
can any legal action be taken against her. And there is a growing concern
about the legality of many UN sanction resolutions. Just recently a number
of legal challenges have been launched against UN sanctions resolutions.
Notwithstanding these legal challenges being in respect of individual
persons, the call for a transparent, impartial and a public hearing is ever
growing. Lack of transparency and secrecy of the committee procedures the
denial of access to information by all stakeholders is indeed a serious
failing of the UN sanctions administration. As we all know Eritrea has not
only vigorously challenged the truthfulness of the evidences on which this
illegal and unjustified resolution was based; equally, it has persistently
requested to be given the chance to answer its case publicly but to no
avail. Many have echoed, albeit privately, that this case is very unique and
unprecedented simply because, it was passed without any burden of proof.
Eritrea has no remedy for the injustice it suffers. THREE of them -the
persecutor, the judge and the witness are one and the same- making the
Security Council to be judge of its own legitimacy. What can be so unjust
than this?
The truth of the matter is that there is only one power that matters when it
comes to the imposition of UN sanctions. That power is the USA. Its veto and
its muscle to initiate and coerce other states not only to comply but also
to serve as fronts for a resolution that the USA deems necessary are at the
centre of all this. In his book "Deliberate Deceptions: Facing the Facts
About US-Israeli Relationship" (Lawrence Hill Books, 1995) author, former
Congressman Paul Findley concretely illustrates how Israel has been able to
successfully marginalise the UN thanks to friend at court- the USA.
According to his search in the period 1972-1999, the US vetoed 29
resolutions passed against Israel. The UN has passed 65 resolutions between
1955 and 1992 for which the later is clearly in violation. Rightly the
author also argues that since the US vetoed the strongest resolutions, the
vetoed ones are more relevant than those passed. The passed vetoed are often
watered down to satisfy US desire lest it veto them altogether. My
preoccupation here is not about Israel and the UN. The point I am trying to
make is how ridiculous and unfair and corrupt the current practice is.
Eventually, the most important point for us Eritreans is to strengthen our
unity and resolve to do whatever is required of us to support our people and
government to see this through. We must energetically reinforce our Mechete
in whatever form - legally and otherwise. We ought to solicit the support of
our personal friends and the friends of Eritrea in promoting the cause of
Eritrea's national interest. Let us inform and share with them the
injustices and the spiteful sanction resolution and its consequences. Let us
explain to them that this case is unprecedented both in its justification
and relevance to the issue involved and that it is aimed only at harming
Eritrea and its peace loving, hard working people. Since many of our non
Eritrean friends and acquaintances may not keenly follow the events and
developments in the Horn of Africa, let us make it a point that they are
educated on the Eritro-Ethiopia border saga, Eritrea's remarkable and
exemplary peaceful co-existence of various ethnic and religious communities,
the economic, social and political roadmap the country has drawn. Above
all, let us explain to them that those behind this punitive sanction find it
next to impossible to deal with self assertive states such as Eritrea and
therefore use this illegal and fabricated accusation as a foreign policy
instrument. It should also be noted that we do this not as PR exercise, but
as genuine and just cause and we also we do it with modesty and
acknowledgement of our shortcomings in whatever field it may be. We must
tell our story lest others tell a distorted story about us.
Beyond any doubt, this sanction is not about individuals. In truth it is a
sanction imposed on our country and our people. It is, albeit
disingenuously, aimed at undoing the very existence of our nation for which
we have paid so dearly. As a proud but decent, self confident, honest and
unperturbed people, we surely shall prevail thanks to our unity and
collective disposition to get tougher when the going gets tough.
Let justice prevail
Viva Eritrea libre!
Haile Habtegaber
The Netherlands
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