Eritrea's jabber clues
its detachment from reality
(Senait Gebre 02-26-15)
This week the regime in
Eritrea issued a statement to react to what it called an "unwarranted and
calumnious act of hostility".
Upon reading such a
hyperbole statement, you would ask: Did anyone launch war against Eritrea? or Did
anyone start arming terrorist and sneaking them into Eritrea? The answers is a
definite No.
Apparently, words have
lost meanings in Asmara. The "act of hostility" that prompted Eritrea
into issuing a statement is nothing but the Joint Communiqué issued this months
after the First High Level Joint Commission meeting of Ethiopian Djiboutian governments.
Indeed,
the Joint Communiqué mentions Eritrea, but it was mainly on a
wide-ranging bilateral and regional issues of economic and trade cooperation
and peace and an expression of their commitment and determination to
consolidate the existing strategic relations between the two countries and
peoples in all fields of cooperation.
There is, however, only
one specific sentence of the Joint Communiqué that mentions Eritrea. It reads:
Both
sides condemned the continuous destabilization policy of the Eritrea Government
and urged the international community to tighten the sanction imposed on the
regime in Eritrea.
There is nothing new in
this sentence that has not been said before. But the regime in Eritrea, which
is unhappy with the spirit and direction of the entire of Joint Communiqué,
picked on this sentence and issued a full-blown Press Statement denouncing the
Joint Communiqué.
As usual, the Press
Statement of Eritrea played fast and loose with the facts. Regarding Ethiopia,
the Press Statement claimed that:
[Ethiopia] continued
occupation of sovereign Eritrean territories constitutes the singular and
central cause of regional destabilization is too palpable to merit additional
emphasis. Unfortunately, the authorities in Addis Ababa seem to be immersed in
a futile and transparent game of semantics. On the one hand, they say they are
bound by the “final and binding ruling of the EEBC” only to qualify and annul
this hollow “affirmation” and their treaty obligations by calls for “dialogue”
and “readiness to go to Asmara” etc".
However, despite what
Eritrea world have the world believe, there is lack of clarity on the part of
Ethiopia.
As is well known, the
Algiers Agreement signed by both parties in June 2000 is not simply about
border and Ethiopia didn't break any part of the agreement. Ethiopia accepted
the Eritrea-Ethiopia Boundary Commission’s Decisions in November 2004, it has
repeatedly called on Eritrea for comprehensive negotiations, for the
finalization of the demarcation process and the normalization of relations.
Even in the face of
persistent attempts by the regime in Asmara to carry out destabilization
activities, Ethiopia has continued to make it clear its desire to talk. It also
called in earnest for the start of talks on comprehensive normalization of
relations. The Ethiopian government has had a firm and consistent position that
the maintenance of lasting peace must go beyond the settling of border
disputes.
It is also common
knowledge that the late Prime Minister Meles said on numerous occasions and in
many forums that that Ethiopia is ready to talk with Eritrea anywhere, any time
and on any issue relating to the relations between the two countries. This has
been the case ever since November 2004, and there has been no policy change
towards Eritrea since then.
To the contrary, Eritrea
continued to breach the Cessation of Hostilities Agreement and elements of the
Algiers Agreement by engaging in a range of activities to destabilize Ethiopia,
an allegation corroborated by UN reports.
Besides to its obstruction
and expulsion of the UNMEE peacekeeping forces, whose presence is a
pre-requisite for conducting the border demarcation! In fact, Ethiopian forces
withdrew from Eritrean territory at the end of the war was on the condition
that a demilitarized zone patrolled by UN would be established in the Eritrean
side of the border.
A testament to Ethiopia's
commitment to peace can be found in the Wikileaks Cable that summarize the discussion
between Ambassador Oshima, (the then Chairman of the UN Security Council’s
Working Group on Peace-keeping Operations), and diplomats in Addis Ababa representing
UN Security Council members and troop-contributing countries (TCC), as well as
Special Representative of the UN Secretary-General (SRSG) Amb. Legwaila Joseph
Legwaila, his deputy Amb. Azouz Ennifar, and UNMEE Force Commander
Major-General Rajender Singh.
The Cable stated that:
SRSG Legwaila interjected
that the Eritrea’s restriction on UNMEE flights prevented UNMEE from monitoring
60 per cent of the border. UNMEE could not determine whether Eritrea was now
building up forces along its side, he said.
On the Ethiopian side,
there was "more transparency": UNMEE knew Ethiopia had been amassing
troops since December 16, 2004. He noted that UNMEE had requested satellite imagery
from the United States, as "there is no other alternative" to aerial
surveillance.
Without aerial
surveillance, UNMEE Force Commander Singh said he would need 15 times more
troops (i.e., 45,000) to monitor the border; even more would be needed if the
GSE imposed further restrictions, such as allowing only foot patrols.
Oshima praised Ethiopia’s
"restraint" in responding to Eritrea’s restrictions on UNMEE, noting
that UNMEE characterizes Ethiopia’s military deployments as
"defensive." UNMEE officials, meanwhile, were more vocal in
highlighting UNMEE’s inability to monitor 60 per cent of the border, especially
military movements on the Eritrean side.
There can be no better
demonstration that Ethiopia's commitment to peace, dialogue and reconciliation
is a sincere one.
Regarding Djibouti, the
Press Statement of Eritrea claimed that:
Djibouti’s unwarranted
stance is also difficult to decipher. As it is well-known, the putative border
dispute between the two countries has been entrusted to the good offices of a
mutually agreed third party, the State of Qatar. in the event, Djibouti’s
premature and hostile stance is hard to explain in terms of a pending,
good-faith, dispute.
It is astounding that the
regime in Eritrea claims the problem with Djibouti has been solved and claims
to have found the demands of the Joint Communique "difficult to decipher".
Despite how the regime in
Eritrea would want to spin, the world has a clear grasp of the matter. Among
others, one is the unknown fate of the Djiboutian combatants held in Eritrea.
As the United Nations Monitoring
Group on Somalia and Eritrea recently noted
In paragraph 4 of its
resolution 1907 (2009), the Security Council demanded that Eritrea make
available information pertaining to Djiboutian combatants missing in action
since the border clashes of 10 to 12 June 2008 between the two countries, so
that those concerned might ascertain the presence and condition of Djiboutian
prisoners of war.
In its 2011 report
(S/2011/433), the Monitoring Group took note of Eritrea’s refusal to discuss
the matter of 19 Djiboutian military personnel reported missing in action and
believed by the Djiboutian authorities to be held in Eritrea as prisoners of
war.
On 16 September 2011, two
Djiboutian prisoners of war, Privates First Class Ahmed Eeleeye Yaabe and
Khadir Sumbul Ali escaped from an Eritrean prison. On 6 October 2011, the
Permanent Representative of Djibouti to the United Nations addressed a letter
to the Secretary-General informing him of the escaped individuals, while noting
that the Government of Eritrea had denied detaining any Djiboutian prisoners of
war (S/2011/617). Subsequently, in its 2012 report (S/2012/545), the Monitoring
Group confirmed that Eritrean authorities had indeed been holding Djiboutian
military personnel and that at least five prisoners of war were known to be
still alive at the time.
Furthermore, the
Monitoring Group recommended (in S/2012/545, para. 137) that the Government of
Eritrea should immediately provide all available information relating to the
status of Djiboutian prisoners of war in its custody or Djiboutian military
personnel reported missing in action following the hostilities of June 2008.
However, a member of the Committee placed a hold on a draft letter drawing the
attention of the Permanent Representative of Eritrea to this recommendation.
The Monitoring Group
continues to note the lack of any progress on article 3, concerning prisoners
of war, of the Comprehensive Agreement signed on 6 June 2010 by Djibouti and
Eritrea under the auspices of the Government of the State of Qatar. On 22 April
2014, at a meeting between the Monitoring Group and the Embassy of Djibouti in
Doha, Djiboutian officials informed the Group that there were still 17
Djiboutians being held by Eritrea. They added that Djibouti was prepared to
move forward with the mediation process under Qatari auspices, which they
described as “frozen”. In addition, well-informed sources with contacts within
the Qatari and Djiboutian leaderships informed the Monitoring Group that the
mediation process had stalled.
The Government of Eritrea has
yet to acknowledge that it holds Djiboutian combatants, or to provide
information on their current condition.
Despite the make-believe
narrative of the Press Statement, the regime in Eritrea knows that no one buys
its stories anymore. It also knows that the Ethiopian and Djibouti meeting was
not primarily focused on Eritrea.
Instead, the 15 points
Joint Communique of Ethiopia and Djibouti highlighted the achievements of the
historic meeting of the two sisterly countries, including:
· The
signing of Border Trade Protocol, Agreement on Passenger Road Transport
Services, Protocol on Mega Gas Project, Protocol on Mineral Resources and
Protocol on Power Supply to Ethio-Djibouti Railway.
· The decision that the Joint Ministerial Commission be held on monthly basis which the co-chairmanship of
the Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation of the Republic
of Djibouti and the Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Federal Democratic
Republic of Ethiopia.
· An expression of the two leaders'
commitment to contribute to the prevalence of peace and security in the whole
region and to assist the people of South Sudan in their effort to bring peace
and stability in their country.
· Their
condemnation the heinous terrorist attacks
in Djibouti, Kenya, and Somalia and in the countries of the sub-region
perpetrated by Al-Shabab and their commitment to combat this criminal act in
all its forms and manifestations.
· A declaration that the two
leaders recommitment to
revitalize IGAD to speed up the regional integration process and their
determination to coordinate their efforts to this end.
· Their
support to the Federal Government of Somalia and underlined the urgent need for
concrete assistance to the Government in all areas so that the process of peace
building would be irreversible.
Indeed, all these affect
the regime in Eritrea as it is the sponsor and master-mind of most of acts of
instability in the region, by arming, training and equipping armed groups and
their members to destabilize the region or incite violence and civil strife in Ethiopia,
Djibouti and beyond.
Therefore, the latest
jabber from Asmara is nothing but a knee-jerk reaction to the mere fact that
the two countries and the region in general has started to move beyond instability
and conflict, and embarked on a path of mutual cooperation and economic
integration.
Unfortunately, the regime
in Eritrea has yet to summon the courage to part with its old ways and become
part of the region's future.