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