TPLF Should Adhere to the OAU Principle of the Sanctity of Colonial Boundaries

Five months after the OAU Summit in Algiers, the authorities in Addis Abeba continue to raise one pretext after another in their effort to frustrate the peace process. The litany of flimsy excuses continue to multiply despite the fact that the OAU has long ago provided comprehensive clarifications to the multiple questions (39 all in all) submitted by the TPLF regime in August.

The act is being played out not because Addis Abeba harbours legitimate concerns that have not been addressed exhaustively, but because its underlying objective is to induce fatigue and wear down the mediators by means of successive dilatory tactics. The TPLF's recent submission to the OAU of new queries in a 14-page document is part and parcel of this drama.
The excuse concerning the "inconsistencies of the Technical Arrangements" that the Ethiopian regime invokes incessantly is untenable. In the first place, the prerogative of interpretation rests with the OAU. Secondly, the arguments that the TPLF regime has been raising are not substantive. Its objection to a peacekeeping mission is a good case in point.

In fact, unless it is driven by hidden motives--such as the desire to carry out ethnic cleansing in the areas slated for redeployment--there are no plausible reasons that militate against the arrangement. How else would redeployment of more than half a million heavily armed troops occur? It is not new that peacekeeping missions under the auspices of the UN or OAU are deployed in conflict areas both as a matter of routine and in accordance with the UN Charter and UN and OAU practices. Such peacekeeping missions are even deployed in civil wars and internal conflicts. There are thus no logical, technical, or legal considerations that obviate the placement of a peacekeeping mission in contested areas. This is clearly critical for the creation of a conducive climate for the interim redeployment of troops by both sides and to expedite the demarcation of the boundary.

In reality, the TPLF's problems have nothing to do with the Technical Arrangements. Its basic problem is the peace package as a whole. Indeed, Ethiopia's Prime Minister has, perhaps inadvertently, spilled the beans to reveal the internal policy of the TPLF Politburo when he told Ethiopian TV last week that "they (Eritrea) should have said clearly that they would withdraw from this or that specific territory. And after expressing their readiness to withdraw, they should go further to declare their recognition of Ethiopian sovereignty over these territories." In other words, the TPLF will never contemplate peace unless it is arbitrarily awarded, prior to demarcation, all the sovereign Eritrean territories that it claims or that is has occupied.
This TPLF position is not only a recipe for continuous war but also violates fundamental principles of international law. The TPLF is in effect blatantly admitting that it does not abide by the OAU's cardinal principle concerning the sanctity of colonial boundaries. It must be recognized that the war erupted precisely because the TPLF violated this principle and drew a new illegal map incorporating sovereign Eritrean territory and repeatedly resorted to aggression to create facts on the ground. As Eritrea has maintained from the beginning, these acts of aggression can only be redressed when the boundary is demarcated in accordance with the OAU's principle and established colonial treaties.

The TPLF's refusal to abide by the OAU sacred decisions and accepted principles of international law is furthermore fraught with dangerous consequences for Ethiopia itself. Addis Abeba went to war twice with Somalia (1963, 1978) over the Ogaden precisely over the same principles and issues. Ethiopia's legitimate claim of sovereignty in the Ogaden emanates from the principles that uphold the sanctity of colonial boundaries. If Ethiopia does not now respect this principle in its border dispute with Eritrea, then others may follow suit. This will open a Pandora's box and lead, inevitably, to a new cycle of war and turmoil in the region.

Ministry of Foreign Affairs
Asmara, 16 December 1999