Had the UN Security Council exercised its mandate according to Chapter 7 of the UN Charter, and fulfilled its duty of enforcing the EEBC’s final and binding decision according to Article 14 of the Algiers Agreement, the border demarcation process would have been finalized by November 2003 and the last five years would have provided the opportunity to make up for the losses sustained by the brotherly peoples of Eritrean and Ethiopia during the war.

Yet, this was not to be. Stripped of its fake mask of credibility following the April 13, 2003 ruling, the TPLF regime did not have the political courage to comply with the ruling and has ever since endangered the peace and stability of our region by illegally occupying sovereign Eritrean territories. The regime and its supporters even unsuccessfully made every effort to have the decision altered. Although the Security Council continues to refrain from taking any corrective measure in its disregard of its duties, there is no force that can override the EEBC’s decision or the rule of law. Hence, after a long wait in the face of all odds, the EEBC finally settled the matter through virtual demarcation and closed its offices after completing this final task.

The measure taken by the EEBC sends out an important message to the Security Council which, pressurized by the United States, has so far ignored its responsibilities in order to entertain the TPLF regime’s illegal game. The border has been virtually deliminated and the legal map of the ‘Official International Boundaries of Ethiopia and Eritrea’ has been presented to the governments of the State of Eritrea and the Federal Republic of Ethiopia. Thus the Security Council is left with only one responsibility and that is to put an end to the illegal occupation of Eritrean territories. There is no longer a border dispute; the TPLF regime has trespassed over legally recognized Eritrean territories. Hence, according to Articles 41 and 42 of Chapter 7 of the UN Charter, the Security Council has the responsibility to force the occupying regime to immediately withdraw, for following the implementation of the EEBC decision is the sole duty of the Security Council!