“…[W]e are ushering in an epoch of law among peoples and of justice among nations. The UN Security Council’s task is a heavy one, but it will be sustained by our hope, which is shared by the people, and by our remembrance of the sufferings of all those who fought and died that the rule of law might prevail…”
French Ambassador Vincent Auriol, at the inaugural meeting of the UN Security Council, 17 January 1946

As if Eritrea was not cognizant of the UN Charter and Eritrea's obligations and rights under that Charter, insulting the people of Eritrea, and attempting to white wash their own inadequacies and misrepresenting the UN Charter, Ban Ki Moon and his handlers are now attempting to put the blame for the failure of the UN Mission to Eritrea (UNMEE) and Ethiopia (UNMEE) on Eritrea. It will be a hard sell, as every sane individual that has been following the developments for the last 8 years knows and the record will clearly show, the minority regime in Ethiopia and its handlers bear full responsibility.

Unable to muster the political will and courage to call a spade a spade, the Secretary General and the Security Council chose instead to engage in endless, shameless games of “legal attrition” and “dare”, and promote senseless, childish, and myopic propaganda in order to appease the lawless minority regime, hoping to pressure Eritrea, tarnish Eritrea’s international image and weaken Eritrea’s resolve. Much has been written about Kofi Annan, the former Secretary General of the United Nations, who compromised his neutrality and integrity by serving as Meles Zenawi’s apologist and spokesperson instead of upholding the rule of law and the UN Charter and the issues surrounding the delimitation and demarcation of the Eritrea Ethiopia border have been addressed ad nauseum and will not need repeating here. 

I am writing today to set the record straight; to present the facts so that the public is not hoodwinked by the TPLF led nose-holding propaganda campaign that is in the offing.

Allow me to present a chronology of Ethiopia’s violations and the UN’s appeasement of Ethiopia, while all the while violating the rights of the Eritrean people under international law and the UN Charter. Ever since the Cessation of Hostilities Agreement was signed between Eritrea and Ethiopia on 18 June 2000, the minority regime has been creating obstacles to the Eritrea Ethiopia peace process and has gotten away with it because the UN Security Council refused to take any punitive actions to enforce the rule of law or urge Ethiopia to abide by the Algiers Agreements it had willingly and consciously signed.

The Cessation of Hostilities Agreement required that Ethiopia deploy its forces to the pre-May 6th 1998 position, and Eritrea was to rearrange Eritrea's forces to 25 kilometers from the Ethiopian positions. When UNMEE provided both sides the deployment maps, Ethiopia refused to accept the maps and insisted on adjustments to the southern boundary of the TSZ. On 18 April 2001 Legwaila Joseph Legwaila, instead of remaining neutral and simply reporting Ethiopia's defiance, choosing instead to make excuses for the minority regime’s lawlessness, without any consideration for Eritrea’s sovereignty or territorial integrity, announced the “establishment” of the TSZ and further defended his appeasement of Ethiopia by saying:

"…I told you that we have negotiated with Ethiopians insofar as that portion of Irob where we discovered they were sitting after we had verified the redeployment. We negotiated, and we discovered that it was a waste of time because they are not going to move out of there. They say they are where the 6 May 1998 line of administration was, and they are not going to move out, so what is the use of continuing to insist that they should move out when they are literally saying you dare move us out of it...Nobody wants to fight the Ethiopians out of that area and therefore we have told the President that this is a typical candidate for the Border Commission. That is the only solution, because to mortgage the creation of the TSZ, the progress of the peace process generally, to a resolution of the Irob issue would be tantamount to saying you don't want to create the TSZ, you don't want the peace process to go forward…" 

On 15 January 2000 UNMEE released this statement: 

“…The United Nations Mission in Ethiopia and Eritrea (UNMEE) today opened a direct high altitude air access route between Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, and Asmara, Eritrea. The air route was established with flights between the two capitals by UN G-222 fixed-wing aircraft…The new access route, and all the land and air access routes that have been opened between the two countries to date, are to be used in support of UNMEE's mandated activities, including deployment of the 4,200 UN peacekeepers between the two forces, and meeting the peacekeepers' logistical and medical needs…”

But then on January 17th, 2001 just two days after the commencement of direct flights, the leader of the minority regime in Ethiopia reneged on his stated commitments under the Algiers Agreement and UNMEE was forced to issue another press release. This is what they had to say then in response to Meles Zenawi's intransigence:

“…The Eritrean authorities have been willing to authorize UNMEE flights by the direct route between the two capitals used by commercial flights before hostilities began in 1998. The Ethiopian authorities have been willing to authorize UNMEE flights by a route requiring a diversion...The Ethiopian authorities remain unwilling to allow use of the direct route without diversion...”

Again, instead of enforcing the Cessation of Hostilities Agreement, the UN chose to appease the minority regime and decided to use a more costly indirect route.

Shortly after the Eritrea Ethiopia Border Commission (EEBC) delivered its Final and Binding decision on 13 April 2002, re-affirming Eritrea's sovereignty over Badme, a group of journalist visited Badme accompanied by Jean Victor Nkolo, the first UNMEE Spokesperson. As if Nkolo had violated his mandate or any rules of engagement by taking the journalist there, the deceptive minority regime in Ethiopia immediately demanded the removal of Jean Victor Nkolo from the area. The Secretary General, appeasing his friend Meles, immediately replaced Mr. Nkolo. He was not even allowed enough time to pack his belongings and say goodbye to his Ethiopian friends and colleagues. The international community did not register a single protest, let alone call for an emergency meeting of the Security Council. Had it been Eritrea that had done that, the western media would be crying foul and the headlines would be screaming, “Eritrea expels”, “Eritrea ousts”, “Eritrea rejects” etc. etc.

Constantly testing the waters and getting away with all its defiant and arrogant demands, confident that he can get away with making even more defiant and arrogant demands, Meles Zenawi requested the removal of Major General Patrick Cammaert, the first UNMEE Force Commander. Ethiopia also closed the border to UNMEE and obstructed UNMEE’s movement and Major General Cammaert's ability to carry out his mandate of monitoring and observing the troops on both sides. Here is an excerpt from a BBC report at the time:

“…The UN is to appoint a new commander for its peacekeeping mission on the Ethiopia-Eritrea border...This follows increasing pressure from the Ethiopian Government to replace the current commander, Major-General Patrick Cammaert, who has been unofficially declared persona non grata by Ethiopia...Addis Ababa accusing General Cammaert of "political bias" in favour of Eritrea...In April, Ethiopia closed its to the UN peacekeepers stationed at the border for 10 days...They demanded the removal of General Cammaert, a Dutch soldier, accusing him of "political bias...Ethiopian officials accused him of "deliberately trying to humiliate Ethiopia"...Ethiopia said that by crossing the border from Eritrea into the Ethiopian village without prior permission, the UN was implying that Badme was Eritrean...”

Again, the Secretary General obliged Meles' defiant request and the Force Commander was immediately replaced. The Secretary General did not issue any urgent “alerts”, “calls”, and did not call for emergency meeting of the Security Council, nor did he send “Envoys” to impress on Meles that the Force Commander's actions were consistent with international law and his mandate.

The minority regime’s intransigence and belligerence was not limited to its interactions with the United Nations Mission to Eritrea and Ethiopia (UNMEE). The regime shamelessly harassed, insulted and intimidated the independent Eritrea Ethiopia Boundary Commission (EEBC), refused to allow it to fulfill its sole mandate in accordance with the Algiers’s Agreements to delimit and demarcate the Eritrea Ethiopia border, and refused to abide by the EEBC’s demarcation directives and orders, forcing the EEBC to close its offices and leave the area.

In November 2007, the EEBC after waiting patiently for Ethiopia’s compliance with its rulings and waiting for the Security Council to enforce its decisions for over 5 years, decided to fulfill its sole mandate by legally demarcating the Eritrea Ethiopia border by placing coordinates on maps, also known as “virtual demarcation”, an internationally recognized legal practice. It should be recalled that while the UN Security Council endorsed the virtual demarcation of the Iraq-Kuwait border and called on Iraq and Kuwait to respect the inviolability of the international boundary, as demarcated by the Iraq-Kuwait Boundary Commission (Resolution 833, 17 May 1993), it has yet to endorse the virtual demarcation of the Eritrea Ethiopia border. Even though the Eritrea Ethiopia border issue has been legally resolved and the Eritrea Ethiopia border legally demarcated, the belligerent minority regime continues to militarily occupy sovereign Eritrean territories including Badme.

Again, for the record, and lest the facts get lost in the propaganda, let us take a look at the minority regime’s obstructions and its deceptive gimmicks, pretexts and attempts to amend, reverse, revisit and re-open the Final and Binding EEBC decision and how the former Secretary General Kofi Annan and the Security Council’s policy of appeasement emboldened it to, reject the Eritrea Ethiopia Boundary Commission’s Final and Binding delimitation and demarcation decisions, and continue to occupy sovereign Eritrean territories, including Badme for over 6 years. I would also refer the readers to the 27 November 2006 Statement of the Commission in which the EEBC chronicled Ethiopia’s obstructions in greater detail. Suffice it to mention a few.

After boisterously claiming victory and claiming to have been awarded “more than what we had asked for”, on 13 May 2002 barely a month after the EEBC delivered the 13 April 2002 Final and Binding decision, the Commission received from the Government of Ethiopia the 21-page submission entitled “Request for Interpretation, Correction and Consultation”. Even though this document was filled with similar and repetitive hollow legal arguments that were previously presented by the multi million dollar Ethiopian legal team to the Commission before the 13 April 2002 decision was delivered, it clearly was the first attempt by the minority regime in Ethiopia to amend, revise, appeal and re-visit the Final and Binding decision of the EEBC.

The independent Eritrea Ethiopia Boundary Commission (EEBC) rejected Ethiopia’s request by saying:

"... Interpretation is a process that is merely auxiliary, and may serve to explain, but may not change, what the Court already settled with binding force as res judicata... the Commission concludes that the Ethiopian request is inadmissible and no further action will be taken upon it..."

Neither Kofi Annan nor the Security Council took any steps to urge Ethiopia to comply with the EEBC’s Final and Binding ruling.

Encouraged by the reluctance of the international community to enforce the Security Council endorsed Final and Binding EEBC decision, the Tigrayan clique and its highly paid lawyers and lobbyists continued their attempt to amend, revisit, change the decision.

On 24 January 2003 the minority regime distributed to the public and submitted to the EEBC the incoherent and legally hollow 141-page document under the title “Comments filed by Ethiopia”. As if that was not enough, upon the suggestions of its multi million-dollar legal team for additional material, the minority regime also presented another 36-page legally hollow document under the title “Comment to the Eritrea Ethiopia Border Commission”.

Responding to Ethiopia's redundant and defiant attempts to amend, revisit, revise and reverse the Final and Binding decision, the Commission issued what is now known as the “21 March 2003 Observations”. In its 7-page Observations, the Commission rejected Ethiopia’s hollow and transparent time buying gimmicks and reaffirmed the EEBC’s impartiality and supremacy of the law:

“…In its consideration of the comments of the Parties, the Commission must maintain its impartial approach to all matters with which it has to deal. It cannot allow one Party to claim for itself the right to insist on adjustment of parts of the boundary which that Party finds disadvantageous. The Commission continues to owe a duty to both Parties to perform the functions placed upon it by their agreement and it is its intention to perform these functions fully and faithfully…”

The minority regime attempted to create “facts on the ground” by creating new settlements on sovereign Eritrean territories. In its 17 July 2002 Orders, the Eritrea Ethiopia Boundary Commission (EEBC) called on Ethiopia to cease the resettlement of Ethiopians on sovereign Eritrean territories called for their immediate removal. The EEBC ordered:

“…Ethiopia shall forthwith arrange for the return to Ethiopian territory of those persons in Dembe Mengul who have gone there from Ethiopia pursuant to an Ethiopian resettlement program since 13 April 2002; and report to the Commission on the implementation of sub-paragraph (i) above no later than 30 September 2002…Each Party shall ensure that no further population resettlement takes place across the delimitation line established by the Decision of 13 April 2002…”

While Eritrea and the EEBC insisted on enforcing the rule of law, Kofi Annan and the Security Council chose to do otherwise and the newly established settlements remain despite the Commission’s July 2002 orders.

While it is clearly stated in the Algiers Agreement that the delimitation and demarcation of the Eritrea Ethiopia border is the sole mandate and responsibility of the Eritrea Ethiopia Border Commission (EEBC), insulting and questioning the competency and capacity of the internationally recognized members of the Commission as a body that is “in terminal crisis”, the defiant, belligerent spoilt child of the West, Meles Zenawi, wrote a letter to Kofi Annan on 19 September 2003 insulting the EEBC, calling the EEBC’s Final and Binding decision “unfair, unjust and illegal” and requesting for the creation of an “alternative mechanism” to demarcate the Eritrea Ethiopia border.

In its 7 October 2003 “Statement in response to the Ethiopian Prime Minister's letter”, the Commission rejecting Meles Zenawi’s assertions eloquently wrote:

“…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)"

In violation of his mandate and the “exclusively international character” of his offices, succumbing to Meles' transparent request, and attempting to hijack the sole mandate of the EEBC to demarcate the border, Kofi Annan illegally appointed Lloyd Axworthy to serve as his “Special Envoy” to Eritrea and Ethiopia to help “overcome the impasse” or Meles Zenawi's self-created “crisis”, by demanding “dialogue” to amend, change, revisit and re-negotiate the Final and Binding decision in violation of Article 4.15 of the Algiers Agreement which clearly said:

"...The parties agree that the delimitation and demarcation determinations of the Commission shall be final and binding. Each party shall respect the border so determined, as well as the territorial integrity and sovereignty of the other party..."

Instead of appeasing the belligerent Meles Zenawi and rewarding his illegal activities, what was needed was not the deployment of a “Special Envoy” to resolve a non existent, self-created and self-promoted “crisis”, but to adhere to the EEBC ruling and call for strict enforcement of UNSC resolutions, and implementation of the EEBC's demarcation directives and orders. While Eritrea and the EEBC insisted on enforcing the rule of law, Kofi Annan and the Security Council chose to appease Meles Zenawi’s mercenary minority regime.

On 24 November 2004, while continuing to militarily occupy sovereign Eritrean territories, the minority regime's advisors and lobbyists came up with another time-buying political and diplomatic gimmick. Meles Zenawi latest gimmick was baptized "The New Ethio-Eritrean Peace Initiative", and became known as the 5-Point Peace Proposal (5PPP). His sugarcoated “Proposal” turned out to be another deceptive attempt to revise, revisit, amend and appeal the Final and Binding decision of the EEBC. 

Legally and morally compelled to respond to the minority regime's duplicity and hypocrisy and its incessant calls for revision, amendment, and outright reversal of the EEBC's Final and Binding decision, re-iterating the Final and Binding status of the decision, the Commission in its 16 Report to the United Nations Security Council said:

"... Ethiopia is not prepared to allow demarcation to continue in the manner laid down in the Demarcation Directions and in accordance with the timeline set by the Commission. It now insists on prior "dialogue" but has rejected the opportunity for such "dialogue" within the framework of the demarcation process provided by the Commission's proposal to meet with the Parties on 22 February. This is the latest in a series of obstructive actions taken since the summer of 2002 and belies the frequently professed acceptance by Ethiopia of the Delimitation Decision... The Commission must conclude by recalling that the line of the boundary was legally and finally determined by its Delimitation Decision of 13 April 2002. Though undemarcated, this line is binding upon both Parties, subject only to the minor qualifications expressed in the Delimitation Decision, unless they agree otherwise. Conduct inconsistent with this boundary line is unlawful..."

The Secretary General and the Security Council, instead of enforcing the EEBC decision and urging Ethiopia to abide by Agreements it had signed, once again chose to appease the minority regime by endorsing its sham 5-PPP. The EEBC closed its offices and left the area bringing the demarcation process to a complete halt. While Eritrea and the EEBC insisted on enforcing the rule of law, Kofi Annan and the Security Council chose to do otherwise.

The deceptive minority regime turned to the Jendayi E. Frazer, the US Assistant Secretary for African Affairs to help it reverse the Final and Binding EEBC decision. Former U.S. Ambassador to the U.N. John Bolton states that in February 2006, Frazer informed him that she wanted him to “reopen” the 2002 EEBC decision. Bolton describes his surprise at Frazer's position, because in January 2006, he had gotten the Security Council to agree to a Frazer-led “U.S. initiative” on the border issue. Bolton believed that the “Initiative” would focus solely on the expeditious implementation of the Eritrea Ethiopia Boundary Commission's (EEBC) Final and Binding decision delivered on 13 April 2002. He was in for a surprise. Here is what he wrote in the now infamous Page 347:

“…For reasons I never understood Frazer reversed course, and asked in early February to reopen the 2002 decision, which she had concluded was wrong, and award a major piece of disputed territory to Ethiopia. I was at a loss how to explain that to the Security Council, so I didn't…”

It should be recalled that Frazer and General C. Fulford, who Frazer had forced on the Commission to serve as a “neutral Facilitator” attempted to introduce “satellite technology” map at the EEBC meeting in the spring of 2006 which was to “award a major piece of disputed territory to Ethiopia”.  General Fulford, exposing Frazer’s illegal intervention also “rather unwisely, wrote to Eritrea 's Legal Counsel that he was seeking operational latitude to shift the boundary by about 1Km”.  While Eritrea and the EEBC insisted on enforcing the rule of law, Frazer and Meles chose to flout it.

After ignoring the EEBC’s final call on September 2006 to allow for the physical demarcation of the Eritrea Ethiopia border by placing pillars on the ground, a year later on 28 September 2007,in a letter by the President of the EEBC to the UN Secretary General, the EEBC exposed Ethiopia's deceptive calls for “dialogue”, which is another attempt to renegotiate the Final and Binding decision. Here is what the EEBC President wrote:

“…even if all of Ethiopia's conditions were met by Eritrea, Ethiopia would not commit itself to anything more than discussion on demarcation…”

Today, the minority regime in Ethiopia is once again calling for “dialogue” as it militarily occupies sovereign Eritrean territories. This tired old sugarcoated pretext is another desperate attempt to reverse the Final and Binding EEBC decision. Unfortunately, Secretary General Ban Ki Moon seems to be following in Kofi Annan’s bloodstained footsteps. Instead of enforcing the rule of law by calling for respect for Eritrea’s sovereignty and territorial integrity, respect for the principles enshrined in the UN Charter, compromising his neutrality and in violation of Article 100 of the UN Charter continues to provide Meles Zenawi, political and diplomatic buffer, as he occupies sovereign Eritrean territories, including Badme. Allow me to remind Ban Ki Moon what Article 100 clearly states:

1. In the performance of their duties the Secretary-General and the staff shall not seek or receive instructions from any government or from any other authority external to the Organization. They shall refrain from any action which might reflect on their position as international officials responsible only to the Organization
2. Each Member of the United Nations undertakes to respect the exclusively international character of the responsibilities of the Secretary-General and the staff and not to seek to influence them in the discharge of their responsibilities

Ban Ki Moon should not expect Eritrea to comply with unilateral arrangements he has made with Meles Zenawi. Eritrea is a sovereign country with a sovereign leadership. As I have said many time before, succumbing to the minority regime's gimmicks and appeasing Ethiopia by asking for dialogue under the guise of “normalization of relations” and “confidence building”, and condoning Ethiopia's illegal acts and accepting its pre-conditions, is a shameful abrogation of the rule of law and a recipe for disaster and the Security Council and Ethiopia will bear full responsibility for the consequences.

After issuing over two dozen resolutions and statements on the Eritrea Ethiopia border issue, what is needed is not more resolutions, declarations, calls, or “Special Envoys” but rather, it is high time the Security Council shouldered its moral and legal responsibilities by calling for the unconditional and immediate withdrawal of Ethiopian forces from sovereign Eritrean territories, including Badme.

Neither Ban Ki Moon, nor Jendayi E. Frazer, nor the Security Council can expect Eritreans to do nothing; remain perpetually patient and magnanimous while Eritrea's security, sovereignty and territorial integrity is being violated. Eritrea has the right to liberate her sovereign territories and will not seek permission or approval from those who refuse to shoulder their legal and moral obligations.

Article 51 of the UN Charter recognizes Eritrea's inherent right of self-defense. Article 51 of the UN Charter clearly states the following:

"Nothing in the present Charter shall impair the inherent right of individual or collective self-defense if an armed attack occurs against a member of the United Nations, until the Security Council has taken measures necessary to maintain international peace and security"

Eritrea's inherent right to self defense is justified under international law and the UN Charter:

"…The first use of armed forces by a state in contravention of the Charter shall constitute prima facie evidence of an act of aggression..."

An act of aggression is:

"…The invasion or attack by the armed forces of a state of the territory of another state, or any other military occupation, however temporary, resulting from such invasion or attack, or any annexation by the use of force of the territory of another state or part thereof…"

The rule of law must prevail over the law of the jungle!

___________
DISCLAIMER:
The views expressed in the commentary section of Shabait.com do not necessarily reflect those of the Ministry of Information of the State of Eritrea. The writer contributed this article and bears sole responsibility for its contents.