Dangling and Limping on the Scale of Justice -Part II-
By: Ogbazgy Abbay Asmerom
March 30, 2004


-- Few men have virtue to withstand the highest bidder--
-- George Washington --

PART II

Ethiopia asked for a new mechanism. The Secretary General gave that chance to Ethiopia. The Algiers accord does not call for an alternative mechanism. If Axworthy’s appointment is not for a new mechanism, what is it for? The Secretary-General and the UNSC have tried to tell us that there is no new mechanism. Give us a break! Who is going to believe them? Eritrea is very suspicious about the appointment. There is no value that the new envoy is going to bring to the table. He has no role to play. It is a diplomatic ploy! It is designed to trick Eritrea into further diplomatic traps, nightmares, and quagmire. The ultimate trickery is to force Eritrea to accept the appointment of Lloyd Axworthy, then declare the Border Decision dead and then work out on another mechanism. At that time, if Eritrea reneges on the so-called new mechanism, then Eritrea will be declared a party that does not want peace. Eritrea considers this kind of trick a diplomatic debauchery.

As a diplomat, Lloyd Axworthy may be a respectable person, but in the demarcation process, he has no mandate. If his mandate is to compel Ethiopia to accept the verdict of April 12, 2002, we wish him good luck. Here, the “good office” of the UNSG may help! Let him work on that angle only. Let him stay in Addis Abeba. Eritrea does not seek his assistance. He is not needed in Eritrea. Let the office of the UNSG not be sold to the highest bidder. Eritrea needs men of virtue who accept the truth and work for justice!

The office of the Secretary General is not a good office for Eritrea. The Secretary General did not care to consider Eritrea’s position. He did not want to have the demarcation process implemented. Hence, his mission is to save Ethiopia and serve its wishes. While the UNSG was working in Addis Abeba at the Economic Commission for Africa, another UN agency for the region, it is alleged that he has developed a cordial relationship with some Ethiopians. Thus, he is not an honest broker. His eyes are focused on Ethiopia.

The UNSG wants us to believe him that his good office could help in bringing a peaceful settlement to the dispute. To be blunt, the Secretary General does not have a good office that Eritrea is enticed to consider. Unfortunately, his office is surrounded by Ethiopians who want him to be their savior. In other words, the office of the Secretary General is serving Ethiopia’s interests and wishes. Why is it not right to implement the final and binding decision of the Border Commission? Does the UNSG have a good office to carry the demarcation process?

Eritrea blames the Secretary General and the UNSC for their ineffectiveness for the last four years. It is a travesty of international justice to let the demarcation dangle and limp on the scale of justice for so long. As it has been sated over and over, the UNSG and UNSC must amend their mistakes and show some form of international leadership. As Jonathan Swift wrote, “A man should never be ashamed to own that he has been wrong… in other words, that he is wiser today than he was yesterday.”

A Tigrigna idiomatic expression states, “The stick of truth does not break down, but it can get thinner.” Eritrea believes this to be true! Eritrea believes that truth and justice are on its side. It is not asking for any alms or favors from the UNSC. It wants justice to be served. It wants the truth to prevail. It must be known to all UNSC members that Eritrea will continue to knock on any diplomatic door and will make sure that the door of justice is opened. Eritrea will not rest until the border is demarcated.

The UNSC, in many ways, has shown is feeble, weak, and ineffective ways of resolving the Decision of the demarcation impasse. Unfortunately, it is caught showing its pants of justice turned upside-down between indecisiveness and self-interest. The collective security of the UNSC has been tarnished and compromised by its indecision and one-sided position. Appeasing Ethiopia has not worked for the last six years. Ethiopia’s appetite to deceive and cheat must be curbed. The Eritreans have been duped, betrayed, tricked, and deceived by the UN for a long time. They do not want to be fooled anymore!
Enough is enough!

The numerous resolutions issued by the UNSC are hollow and ineffective. They seem to equate the positions of the two countries, Eritrea and Ethiopia to be on the same scale. How can this happen? Ethiopia is the one that is not cooperating with the Border Commission. It has scoffed at the International instrument. It is in material breach. Some actions need to be taken so that Ethiopia would be tamed.

For the sake of reminding our readers, let us recount some of the unacceptable and foolish steps that were taken by the current Ethiopian government:
· It started the Eritrea-Ethiopia border incident in 1997
· Issued a map incorporating Eritrean lands
· Deliberately expelled Eritreans who used to live in the border areas
· Took Eritrean lands and began moving the border markers
· Issued a currency that shows the new map incorporating Eritrean lands
· Declared war on Eritrea in 1998
· Refused to solve the border dispute through peaceful means
· Used Badme as a pretext of war to achieve its hidden agenda
· Continued to present the Eritrean government as the aggressor
· Expelled over 85,000 Eritreans and Ethiopians of Eritrean origin from Tigray and Ethiopia
· Committed gross human rights violations against Eritreans
· Invaded undisputed Eritrean lands
· Looted Eritrean treasures
· Desecrated Eritrean martyrs’ graves
· Confiscated Eritrean properties by breaking international norms and laws
· Branded the decision of the border Commission “unjust and illegal”
· Called the decision of the border Commission ”null and void”
· Began vilifying the integrity of the Commissioners, including the ones who represented it
· Called the border commission in “terminal crisis”
· Rejected the lasting and binding decision
· Took the demarcation process as a hostage
· Created an unholy Alliance with the Sudan and Yemen to isolate Eritrea
· Continued to destabilize the Eritrean government
· Sought to occupy the port city of Aseb as war booty

The above-mentioned incidents should have given the UNSG and the UNSC ample reasons to read the writing on the wall. Nevertheless, they ignored the vital signs and continued to dance to the unharmonious music played by the deceitful Ethiopian government and its leaders.

To be continued ……………..