On Feb. 22, 2010, tens of thousands of people demonstrated in major cities around the world to protest the unfair and unjust sanctions placed on Eritrea by the United Nations Security Council. In Washington, DC, thousands of Eritreans and friends of Eritrea braved the wintry weather and paraded through the streets of Washington, DC, to protest the United States government’s position on the issue. Others met with their congressional representatives on Capitol Hill to discuss the reckless and unsubstantiated decision of the UN Security Council and its damaging effect on peace and stability in the Horn of Africa.
Scores of demonstrators created a sea of brilliantly waving Eritrean, American, Canadian and state flags from the White House to the State Department. Thunderous cheers from the participants and calls for the unjust sanctions to be reversed immediately could be heard for blocks. Local and international messages of solidarity and condemnation of the sanctions were read out loud. Delegates representing communities from the Horn of Africa, including the Ethiopian, Oromo and Ogadeni communities, also delivered messages of brotherly and sisterly support of Eritrea, sending a clear message that the peoples of the Horn are standing united in the face of injustice.
The Eritrea Sanctions Must Be Annulled and Repealed Today (E-SMART) campaign presented to the Obama Administration a petition signed by over one hundred thousand people, urging the reversal of UN Security Council Resolution 1907. This resolution, which was frantically approved without any evidence, alleges Eritrean support of armed rebels in Somalia and calls for an arms embargo on Eritrea, travel bans and a freezing of assets.
Decades of reckless and misguided policies toward the Horn of Africa has turned the region into a den of conflicts. Attempts to wrongfully cast blame on Eritrea are a means to avoid addressing the root causes of the conflict and identifying the real ongoing destabilizing actions by regional and international countries in Somalia. Sadly, this resolution in fact threatens to undermine security in the region and the United Nations Security Council once again sits on the wrong side of history in the Horn of Africa.
Similar peaceful demonstrations were also held in San Francisco, Geneva and Melbourne. The worldwide protests brought together Eritreans of all ages in a sign of unwavering and recommitted support for the people of Eritrea and also served as a clear testament to all that the people of Eritrea will stand united in defense of truth, justice and the pursuit of peace in the Horn of Africa.