Ethiopia's pattern of using force
Ethiopia's approach for curtailing intelligent discourse on the conflict between Eritrea and Ethiopia has rested on disinformation and name-calling. In this respect, Ethiopia's favourite buzzword constitutes of accusing Eritrea for "attacking first and talking later" .
To use its own hyperbole, it is in fact Ethiopia which has been resorting to a pattern of "attacking first and crying first" as these sequence of events illustrate.
Indeed, in violation of international law and the Charters and
Resolutions of the UN and the OAU, Ethiopia:
* invaded Eritrea in July 1997 by forcefully occupying the Bada region
and areas in Badme;
* unilaterally published a new map in October 1997 that re-draws
Eritrea's recognized international boundary to incorporate large chunks
of Eritrean territory;
* deployed its army to occupy the Burrie region in January 1998;
* attacked Eritrean units in the Badme area on May 6, 1998, thereby
triggering the current conflict;
* declared full-scale war against Eritrea on May 13, 1998, thereby
escalating a localized conflict to an all-out war;
* unleashed unprovoked attacks on the Zelambesa area on June 3, 1998;
* launched the first air attack on Eritrea's capital on June 5, 1998;
* fabricated the "bombing of Adi Grat" on February 5 this year so
as to
create a pretext to violate the moratorium on air-strikes brokered by
the US Government on June 14, 1998; and,
* unleashed large-scale offensives against Eritrea since February 6,
1999 in contravention of UN Security Council Resolutions and OAU calls
for a cessation of hostilities.
It was therefore Ethiopia which first abused the trust and good will of its neighbour to occupy sovereign territory. Ethiopia was also the first to cry "foul" and declare war on its unsuspecting neighbour.
Moreover, Ethiopia is guilty of the following excesses:
* the deportation, in the most inhumane manner, of around 60,000
Eritreans and Ethiopians of Eritrean descent on the basis of their
ethnicity and by confiscating their life-long earnings;
* the detention of 1,500 innocent Eritreans in the Blatten
concentration camp without due process of law;
* the disappearance of over 1,000 Eritreans form Addis Ababa and
various towns;
* the senseless bombing of civilian targets in various Eritrean towns,
including a church in Adi Kaieh; and,
* breaking in of the residence of Eritrea's Ambassador in violation of
the Vienna Convention and the OAU Headquarters Agreement.
Ethiopia is, furthermore, guilty of repeated acts of regional destabilization and aggression as demonstrated by its current invasion of Somalia, and intermittent incursions into Kenya and Somalia in the past years.
Ministry of Foreign Affairs=20
Asmara,=20
10 June 1999