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From: Biniam Tekle (biniamt@dehai.org)
Date: Tue Aug 02 2011 - 12:53:26 EDT
*From: AGE <age@eritrea.co.uk>
*Sent:* Tue, 2 August, 2011 16:49:53
*Subject:* UN Monitoring Group Report: Lies, Damn Lies and Distortions
*UN Monitoring Group Report: Lies, Damn Lies and Distortions *
The Action Group for Eritrea – 02 August 2011
On Christmas Eve in 2009, the United Nations Security Council (UNSC) imposed
sanctions against Eritrea, which include an arms embargo, travel
restrictions and a freeze on the assets of its political and military
leaders. It is to be recalled that tens of thousands of Eritreans went out
in the streets of major cities around the world to oppose the sanctions.
Resolution 1907 (2009) against Eritrea remains unjust and unfair for a
simple reason that it is built on lies and fabricated stories. It should
have been repealed long ago.
The Somalia Eritrea Monitoring Group has finally released its latest report
and this one is no better than the previous reports. It is full of lies,
damn lies and distortions.
This is what the Monitoring group reported in its 2006 report:
* *
* "........... On 26 August 2006, three (3) dhows transporting
2000 fully equipped combat troops from Ertirea arrived at Warsheikh, located
north of Mogadishu, along the coast. On arrival at Warsheikh, the troops
were re-located to an area in north Mogadishu for ultimate re-deployment to
different ICU held areas. They were re-deployed as follows: 500 of the
Eritrean troops went to Baledogle, 500 to Hilweyne training camp, 500 to
Lower Shabelle, and 500 remained in Mogadishu and were stationed at Villa
Baidoa and the former Police Academy"*
For any layperson, the above sounds very convincing. It is very specific
with dates, numbers, and names of different places. A professional liar
would not find it too difficult to come up with such impressive story giving
attention to detail. The Monitoring Group has made it its job to lie
through its teeth to justify their existence and achieve a political
agenda. As the world now knows, the invasion of Somalia by Ethiopian forces
proved beyond doubt that the Monitoring Group was not gathering evidence but
in fact was busy fabricating them. Not a single Eritrean soldier was located
in Somalia. Judging from their latest report, it seems that they have
mastered the art of deception.
The above is just one example out of many. To this day, the Monitoring
Group is yet to admit that they have lied and apologise to the people and
government of Eritrea for associating them with terrorism. It is because
of such lies at the behest of other forces that Eritrea is under UN
sanctions today.
In a meeting with the British government on 23 December 2009, members of the
British Eritrean community had presented the inconsistencies and pure
fabrications in the previous report that the Monitoring Group had produced.
In their latest meeting on the 20th of June 2011, representatives of the
Eritrean community in London asked if there was any guarantee that the
biased and discredited Monitoring Group will ever produce accurate, fair and
balanced report. The British government’s response was that the Group
would not want to compromise their credibility and reputation by producing
fabricated stories. Unfortunately, the Monitoring Group has no reputation
to keep and they do not seem to have learnt from the past.
The Monitoring Group has, yet again, managed to produce another report full
of unsubstantiated accusations against Eritrea. To cover the bogus claim,
the Monitoring Group has gone to extreme lengths to produce receipts, money
transfer and other documents which have little relevance to the
accusations. The aim of bombarding the UNSC with a pile of irrelevant
documents and information is to give the report a semblance that it was well
researched and evidenced. The fact of the matter is that the report
contains very little verifiable evidence. Some of the accusations are based
on statements not supported by verifiable facts and made by entities that
have axes to grind against the government of Eritrea. They know that no
Security Council member is going to go through all these in detail and
verify the authenticity and relevance of the documents presented.
If there is one country in the world that fought terrorism tooth and nail
since its inception, it is Eritrea. Eritrea has never made civilians a
target even in its long history of struggle for independence. It is
unimaginable that Eritrea would target any civilian venues in Addis, let
alone the AU Summit. It is simply unthinkable.
The Ethiopian government has again managed to stage a drama to convince the
world that Eritrea is a country that supports terrorism. The evidence
presented to support the accusation that Eritrea was involved in the plot to
attack the AU is laughable.
The Monitoring Group claimed that the rifle and explosives captured were
traced as being sold to Eritrea by Romania and Bulgaria. The Ethiopian
Government could have captured Eritrean rifles and explosives during the war
and perhaps also from Eritrean deserters. *When the whole region is awash
with weapons with unknown origins, one would be naive to think that Eritrea
would send terrorists to attack the AU with traceable rifle and explosives.*
It is an insult to the intelligence of any average person to present such
absurd claims.
The Monitoring Group has accepted Ethiopia's claim at face value and had no
qualms in copying and pasting their statements. The Group has claimed to
have spent 22 hours in three days interviewing 7 detained members involved
in the alleged operation. That is about 3 to 4 hours each. With such
serious accusations, one would expect that these people would be
cross-examined by professionals to corroborate the story. It would have
been easy to find holes and gaps in their story.
The main actors in the drama are Fecadu, Omar and Mohamed Nur 'Doctor' who
are leaders of the three teams dispatched for the operation. These are
trained by Eritrean Officers “Gemachew Ayana” (this is not an Eritrean
name), Wedi Iyasu and Jamal in various camps in Eritrea. When Omar learned
that 'Doctor' was killed and some of his team members captured near Bati in
an attack by Ethiopian forces, he suspended the operation and travelled from
Metemma to Bati to rescue the team members who survived the attack and fled.
Having met some of the survivors, Omar travelled to Addis Ababa to proceed
with the attack on the AU. However, their plan did not work out and instead
they planned to attack two other venues. They transferred the explosives to
Fecadu's house in Addis, but Fecadu and his associates were arrested the
next day. As Omar was not able to contact Fecadu, he panicked and
transferred his team to different hotels and then to kombolcha, but he still
went to Fecadu's house later and found it empty. He was later arrested on
the way to Nazret. What a story!
One would think that any sensible person would try to keep as far away as
possible from the scene of the incidents, but Omar seems to take huge risks
by travelling to Bati first and then to Fecadu's house knowing that the
Ethiopian security services could be well aware of his existence. They had
to dream up a story to get him captured.
The Monitoring Group also claims to be in possession of an audio recording
of conservation between Colonel Te'ame and Omar which is said to be
independently verified and archived with the United Nations. The Monitoring
Group, however, did not present the contents of the conversation and say
whether it is related to the plot. It is possible that Omar may have spoken
to Colonel Te'ame, but this cannot be presented as proof that Eritrea was
plotting to attack the AU Summit.
One of the reasons given as to why the plot to attack AU failed is absurd.
In a city that hosts the African Union, this organisation was spared from a
devastating attack for a reason that most car hire agencies in Addis would
not provide a car without a driver. How odd.
The Monitoring Group did not undertake any investigation of its own apart
from reviewing the documents provided by the Ethiopian government and the
interviews conducted with the captives. There is no incriminating evidence
in the story to show that Eritrea was involved in the planning.
On Page 362, there is a copy of "Pages from ONLF fighter's training
notebook...". This is a badly written Amharic diary entry and there is
nothing in this that connects the owner of the diary to Eritrea. There are
pictures from video footage showing Eritrean license plate in one and
Eritrean flag in another. This again proves nothing of Eritrea’s
involvement.
Page 364 of the report contains "Material recovered from ONLF". On this
page, there are pieces of papers from visits to the Asseb Military Hospital.
This was meant to prove that the captured ONLF members were trained in
Eritrea. One of the papers was for certain ‘Hagos Neguse Gebremariam.’
Now, this is pure fabrication as a person with such name cannot be an
Ogadeni or Somali in origin.
On Page 85 (# 316), the Monitoring Group claims documentary evidence of
Eritrean payment to a number of individuals with links to Al-Shabab.
Amazingly, the report states that these documents were received directly
from the Eritrean Embassy in Nairobi. If Eritrea has anything to hide, why
would it provide evidence that would implicate it? The Monitoring Group has
also included receipts to prove that Eritreans have paid money to the
Eritrean Embassy in Kenya. This money could have been paid for any service
or transaction. These again prove nothing. Eritreans pay money to their
Embassies for various valid and legitimate reasons. The fact that the
Eritrean Embassies are issuing valid receipts only goes to show that they
have nothing to hide.
On Page 86 (#317), the Monitoring Group admits that the documentation they
have on Eritrea’s financial support to Al-Shabab dates to the year 2008,
which is before the imposition of the sanctions. *They have no new
evidence*. The report states that the information that Eritrea pays roughly
$80,000 per month to Al-Shabab comes from an Eritrean businessman who works
with the Eritrean government and has in the past provided reliable
information to the Monitoring Group. We suspect that this Eritrean
businessman is the same person that the American Ambassador to Eritrea
refers to in documents released by Wikileaks as providing reliable
information. This businessman has confirmed that he has links with the
Eritrean opposition and that he would like to see the Eritrean government
replaced. It is absurd that the Monitoring Group would put forward claims
made by people who may have a political agenda without any supporting
evidence. The Ethiopian government has released a statement quoting the
payment and linking it to the Monitoring Group, knowing full well that this
figure has come from someone who may have an axe to grind against Eritrea.
The Monitoring Group has in a typical fashion provided no evidence to
substantiate this figure.
Even if we assume that Eritrea pays Al-Shabab $80,000 a month out of its
meagre resources, which amounts to under a million dollars a year, this
would only constitute to about 1% of the income that Al-Shabab is claimed to
have made in a year. The Monitoring Group has gone to detail highlighting
Al-Shabab’s extensive economic reach and activities. If this is to be
believed, Eritrea’s alleged contribution is peanuts in comparison and it
would make no difference to Al-Shabab activities or influence the situation
that Somalia is finding itself in.
The Monitoring Group has tried to tarnish the image of the Eritrean
communities across the world. The Monitoring Group has listed names of
ordinary Eritrean citizens who are involved in community activities. The
Monitoring Group even got some of the details about these community workers
wrong. They claim that some are being investigated and this can only be
considered as a witch-hunt and intimidation. It is known that there are
thousands of Eritrean community activists and they are proud to be serving
their community and country. It must be said that Eritreans, like all other
communities, have every right to support their families and country
legally. Eritreans are law abiding and productive members of society
wherever they go. People of Eritrean origin in all countries in the world
have a right to organise and support their community. Any attempt to deny
them this basic right will no doubt be challenged fiercely.
The report claims that Eritrea makes tens of millions of dollars from
various sources including the Eritrea diaspora and then goes to say how the
Ministry of Finance and Bank of Eritrea experience a chronic deficit of hard
currency. They have gone to extreme lengths to prove their bogus claims on
how such a poor country can manage to finance all these activities. Eritrea
is a poor country that is trying to survive without being dependent on aid.
It has managed to do so for years and logic would dictate that it is a
country that should have been encouraged and not abused. The fact that it
has managed to survive without handout only shows that it is using its
meagre resources wisely. It simply would not have been able to meet most of
the Millennium Development Goals if it was handing out cash like confetti to
every Somali with links to Al-Shabab as the Monitoring Group want us to
believe.
On Page 48 (#148 – 150), the Monitoring Group claims that there have been
flights to Somalia reportedly originating from Eritrea as well as return
flights from Somalia. It states that the information has come from two
independent sources that a flight made a round trip from Eritrea to Kismaayo
in support of Al-Shabab. They say that they could not independently verify
these claims. If that is the case, then why is it included in the report?
Who are these independent sources and how did the Monitoring Group establish
that they were independent? How is it possible for Eritrea to send an
aircraft to Somalia without being noticed given all the high tech
surveillance in the area? The report has no answers to these basic and
simple questions.
On Page 51(#160), the report claims that the 'Government of Ethiopia has
long been a sponsor of various authorities and armed groups in Somalia. The
Ethiopian government provided diplomatic, financial and military assistance
to a variety of armed groups.
The report states:
*"At no time, however, has the Government of Ethiopia sought or
obtained authorization from the Security Council Committee on Somalia and
Eritrea for its support of those groups and it is therefore technically
in violation of the general and complete embargo on Somalia."*
The crimes that Ethiopia has committed in Somalia need no elaboration as the
entire world knows about it. Many countries including Ethiopia were accused
of violating the embargo in the past. Yet, ironically only Eritrea was
targeted for sanctions. Questions need to be asked again why the Security
Council is ignoring these violations of the sanctions by other countries
while only targeting Eritrea for sanctions, despite the glaring unfounded
accusations.
*Ethiopia’s invasion of Somalia at the behest of the US government has
created a catastrophic situation in Somalia. It is clear that Eritrea is
used as a scapegoat and is targeted to cover up the crimes committed in
Somalia.*
AMISON and other private companies are also accused of providing arms to
insurgents. Annex 5.5 lists non-compliant states and organisations and
these include France, United States, Kenya, Sudan and the UN itself.
AMISON is not only accused of providing arms, but also killing and injuring
innocent civilians. The Transitional Federal Government of Somalia has
complained against AMISON and it is stated that some UN officials believe
that the attacks against civilians were not 'isolated incidents' carried by
'low level soldiers'. It is this force that is keeping 'peace' in Somalia.
What a sad state of affairs.
The report states that the 2009 sanctions imposed prohibit “harbouring,
financing, facilitating, supporting, organizing, training, or inciting
individuals or groups to perpetrate acts of violence or terrorist acts
against other States or their citizens in the region”. While Eritrea is
considered to be in breach of the Resolution, simply because it provides
base to many Ethiopian armed groups, Ethiopia has formally announced that it
will endeavour to achieve regime change in Eritrea by supporting Eritrean
opposition groups including known terrorist groups and extremists. Ethiopia
has also announced recently that it is in the process of purchasing 200 T-72
tanks. Despite such incitements, Ethiopia is allowed to go scot free. With
the imposition of the arms embargo, Eritrea has been denied its fundamental
rights to defend itself from these armed groups supported by Ethiopia. The
British government had stated in a meeting with British Eritreans that it is
Eritrea and not Ethiopia which has been sanctioned, and the focus of the
Monitoring Group therefore is Eritrea. This is totally unfair and unjust.
The report has included details of Eritrea's arms purchase pre 2009. It
also goes into details on Eritrea's military hardware and maintenance
agreement while asking questions which clearly infringe on Eritrea's
sovereignty and security. At a time when Eritrea is on a war footing with
Ethiopia, providing details of Eritrea’s military capacity can only have one
purpose and that is to give Ethiopia advantage in the conflict between the
two countries.
The Monitoring Group sent 6 letters to the USA requesting for information
and none were responded to. The group sent 96 letters to various
governments and they received a full response on only 40% of the letters
sent and none at all on 50% of the letters. This shows the lack of respect
countries have for this biased Monitoring Group.
The UNSC failed to force Ethiopia to accept the decision of the Boundary
Commission and vacate Eritrean sovereign territories that it is illegally
occupying. Ethiopia continues to violate numerous UN resolutions. The
Security Council ignored these violations and decided to impose sanctions on
Eritrea based on lies and fabricated evidences. An arms embargo against
Eritrea when Ethiopia is on a shopping spree for weapons is a reckless
undertaking purely designed to weaken Eritrea. At a time when millions of
Ethiopians are starving, the Ethiopian government has spent huge sums of
money acquiring military equipment. The peace of this region was wrecked
and millions continue to live in abject poverty for the simple reason that
the Security Council took numerous unfair and unjust decisions going back
over 50 years. We continue to witness history repeating itself time and
again. We will hold the Security Council responsible for any deterioration
of the situation in the region because of the reckless and politically
charged decisions that are being passed without any due regard to the wishes
and aspirations of the people in the region. The Security Council should
not compromise the principles of the UN for political expediency and protect
national interests of powerful nations at the expense of small and weak
ones. If past history is any indication, injustice breeds resistance and it
is through her resistant stand that Eritrea was born and prevailed.
We urge the UNSC to maintain an independent, rational, fair, just position
to bring about peace and stability in the region. When passing judgements
and imposing resolutions, it should be less dependent on information and
pressures originating from entities who have political agendas. It should
exercise wisdom and honesty in its mandated activities and always bear in
mind that those who have less power are not compromised.
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