http://www.innercitypress.com/rusun3eritrea120511.html
At UN, No Speaker from Eritrea, 5 Accusers Given Floor before Sanctions Vote
By Matthew Russell Lee
UNITED NATIONS, December 5 -- Eritrean president Isaias Afwerki had been
told he could speak to the Security Council Monday morning, along with his
neighbors and accusers, before the Council voted on sanctions against
Eritrea on Monday afternoon.
Eritrea responded that this was not due process, with the sanctions
resolution already locked in and "in blue." Late on December 2 Eritrea's
Ambassador Araya Desta told Inner City Press "no one will come" under these
circumstances.
On December 3 Eritrean Foreign Minister Osman Saleh submitted a letter
to this effect.
When Monday morning came, there was no consultations meeting on the
Eritrean letter. Inner City Press asked US Ambassador Susan Rice on her way
in if she thought Eritrea's neighbors and accusers should still speak, if
Eritrea wasn't coming.
"They could have," Rice answered.
Inner City Press asked UK Ambassador Mark Lyall Grant the same question;
he replied, "Anyone can speak who has a vested interested."
And the interests were vested, piped in by video conference from Addis
Ababa. The president of Djibouti spoke about his country's land dispute
with Eritrea.
The President of Somalia's Transitional Federal Government spoke, and the
foreign minister of Kenya which has entered Somalia with troops it now
wants put under African Union helmets, and paid by the UN. The AU
representative of Uganda, whose UPDF troops already have that status, also
spoke.
Meles Zenawi of Ethiopia spoke about his longstanding land dispute --
Eritrea claims its demarcation win was never implemented -- but insisted
three times, "It is not a family quarrel." He emphasized the IGAD element
and thanked Gabon and Nigeria but did not mention South Africa. (We will
have more on this.)
The meeting was suspended after the speakers from Addis; the sanctions
will be voted on at 3 pm. It felt like the sanctions, which Zenawi said
were watered down, might be made harsher. "They're in blue," Inner City
Press was told.
(c) UN Photo
Meles Zenawi at UN, Isaias Afwerki (and due process?) not shown
On his way out, Ethiopia's Permanent Representative to the UN Tekeda
Alemu stopped to speak to Inner City Press and provide input. He said, "the
Eritrean interest was never to have an opportunity for the president to
talk."
One answer is, how will we know, if such short notice was given, to speak
hours before an already in-blue resolution would be voted on?
While some on the Security Council described the "compromise" reached on
November 30 as innovative and a good precedent -- to invite a head of state
to speak -- to do so on such short notice, and to not provide for any gap
to consult with capitals and modify a resolution if necessary, is
questionable.
It ended up with some analogizing it to a kangaroo court, or perhaps a
one-sided therapy session like an intervention. Only the intervenee was not
present. The vote is at 3 pm. Watch this site.
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Received on Mon Dec 05 2011 - 12:28:02 EST