The UN at 59: Frail and Sterile
By: Huriy Ghirmai
October 15, 2004
Foreign Minister Ali Said Abdella put it eloquently; “Ethiopia’s belated rejection
of the [EEBC] decision was an afterthought, which was done at first tentatively
and cautiously but that later gained boldness and audacity when it realised
that it can do so with impunity.”
A day before, Seyoum Mesfin had arrogantly and in full view of the world, reiterated
Ethiopia’s rejection of the EEBC decision in a shameful statement at the 59th
session of the UN General Assembly. What’s more, as a by the by, he took time
to rubbish the principle of international law without which the idea of the
United Nations would be irrelevant.
At best, the impudence with which the Ethiopian foreign minister stated his
moot case puts the United Nations and Secretary General Kofi Anan in bad light.
It does not bode well for the reputation of the UN when a Foreign Minister of
a member state shows total and complete contempt in such casual manner.
It is just so unfortunate that this should come on the 59th anniversary of the
UN. At a time when the UN has simply become near lemon, Seyoum Mesfin’s guff
may not come to many as a surprise. It seems that the UN, instead of reasserting
its commitment to take a more active role, has resigned itself to being the
biggest institutionalised talking shop in a world where any nation can behave
as it wishes and when it wishes irrespective of the dictates of international
law.
Such a world is a dangerous world; especially at a time when no country or region
is safe from the threat of terrorism. Only peace and stability can prevent the
Horn of Africa from becoming a safe haven and may be even a breeding ground
for terrorists. To ensure that that does not happen, the role of the international
community, and especially the United Nations, should be to support the rule
of law as against to extending gestures that encourage lawlessness by countries
like Ethiopia.
Dialogue is a good thing. The world knows that when the Ethiopian government
declared war against Eritrea in 1998, in direct response, the Eritrean government
called for dialogue by rejecting the logic of force and proposing a five-point
peace plan to resolve peacefully the then prevailing situation. On the contrary,
the Ethiopian government, being so intent on mayhem and destruction, simply
carried out its expansionist military adventure nonetheless.
Now, the Tigrean Ethno-national regime in Ethiopia is pushing so hard to make
the world believe that the logical conclusion to the Algiers Agreement is a
consensus yet to be reached between Eritrea and Ethiopia regarding the implementation
of the EEBC ruling. That is just light-years away from the truth. The fact is,
there has already been a decision and it is final and binding. The ruling is
not subject to dialogue – quite simple really.
The point is there has been much dialogue in the form of litigation leading
up to the EEBC verdict. If Meles Zenawi and his Woyane club-chums were genuine
about peace, dialogue and all the rest of the noble ideas they have been shedding
their crocodile tears for, they should have acted when the time called for it
in 1998. Back then, the Eritrean government was firm and resolute in its willingness
to resolve the conflict with Ethiopia in a peaceful way throughout; unfortunately
however, the Woyane remained obsessively obstinate the whole time. The result
was the escalation of a war with catastrophic consequences.
Incidentally, unlike Seyoum Mesfin’s foolish claim, ‘final and binding’ is much
more than a mere mantra in the context of the Algiers Agreement. In fact, it
is a crucial aspect of the Peace Agreement which Ethiopia signed willingly.
The customary Ethiopian game of charade fronted by Meles Zenawi is simply designed
to deceive the world. Unfortunately, Ethiopia seems to have found willing partners
in the UN and the guarantors of the Peace Agreement – notably the US and EU.
We should all bear in mind that the only reason the Ethiopian government is
now calling for dialogue is because it wishes to thwart the EEBC decision. This
in turn means that it is not interested in peace. Ethiopia’s effort to unravel
the peace process is now gathering pace as the US and EU, along with the UN,
sit ringside watching Meles Zenawi acting up like a spoilt child. In a more
just world, the necessary consequence of Ethiopia’s intransigence should have
been a sanction in line with Chapter VII of the UN Charter.
Defending the integrity of the Eritrea Ethiopia Boundary Commission against
the unwarranted defamation campaign by the Ethiopian government, Sir Elihu Lauterpacht
wrote last year, “The Commission does not accept that assessment: there is no
“crisis”, terminal or otherwise, which cannot be cured by Ethiopia’s compliance
with its obligation under the Algiers Agreement, in particular its obligations
to treat the Commission’s delimitation determination as “final and binding”(Article
4.15) and “to cooperate with the Commission, its experts and other staff in
all respects during the process of ... demarcation” (Article 4.14).” The assessment
that Sir Lauterpacht referred to was Meles Zenawi’s outlandish claim that the
work of the EEBC was in ‘terminal crisis’.
Sir Lauterpacht’s point as well as repeated objections to Ethiopia’s rejection
of the EEBC ruling by the Eritrean government was simply ignored by the UN and
the guarantors of the Peace Agreement. Meanwhile, the autocratic minority regime
in Ethiopia, still lording it over the Ethiopian people, took the hint and upped
its daredevil antics – as Foreing Minister Ali Said Abdella explained, with
impunity.
At 59, one would expect the United Nations to have matured. Instead it limps
off – hollow and ineffective – towards a certain life in the doldrums. It would
be such a shame because a strong and independent United Nations could do so
much good for our world.
As for Eritrea, the inaction of the UN will not shock its people. The UN has
let Eritreans down before and somehow, deja vous never shocks that much. The
UN must impose strict sanctions against Ethiopia and force it to accept the
EEBC ruling because that would be the only appropriate thing to do. That way,
it can regain some of its fast eroding credibility. It is up to the United Nations
to save the United Nations and in this case, it can do so by aligning itself
with Eritrea in calling for justice.