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Eritrea-Ethiopia-The Issue is Occupation

Written by Sophia Tesfamariam

Friday, 30 November 2007

Today, the media is once again frantically writing about the Eritrea Ethiopia border demarcation issue and so called “Horn experts” and “analysts” are once again engage din their favorite pastime, pushing for war in the region, as if the lives of Africans were dispensable. They have also misrepresented the facts by labeling the demarcation issue “a border dispute”, while they know very well that it has been legally resolved and now also legally demarcated. As I have written several times in the past, the Eritrea Ethiopia border dispute was legally resolved on 13 April 2002 when the Eritrea Ethiopia Boundary Commission (EEBC) delivered its final and binding decision. There is no "disputed" or "contested" border or territory between Eritrea and Ethiopia any longer. In its eloquent and clear 21 March 2003 Observations the EEBC explained the issue succintly:

"... 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...Ethiopia's reference to "the contested boundary" can only be understood as a reference to those parts of the boundary to which it alone and unilaterally takes exception: no part of the boundary is "contested" by both Parties..."

There is no "contested" or "disputed" border between Eritrea and Ethiopia and that fact has been consistently ascertained and confirmed by the EEBC.

In its 16th Report to the UN Security Council, the EEBC said:

"...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..."

Both Eritrea and Ethiopia, and the international community know that the border dispute has been legally resolved. Here is what the Security Council said in its 13 April 2002 Press Release:

"...Members of the Security Council express their satisfaction that a final legal settlement of the border issues between Ethiopia and Eritrea has been completed in accordance with the Comprehensive Peace Agreement signed by the parties in Algiers in December 2000... Members of the Security Council welcome the decision by the Boundary Commission, announced in The Hague on 13 April 2002, which is Final and Binding... Members of the Security Council call on the parties to cooperate closely with the United Nations Mission in Ethiopia and Eritrea (UNMEE) in the implementation of the border decision, with a view to ensuring an expeditious and orderly process for the benefit of all the people, and without unilateral actions...”

Unfortunately, due to the minority regime in Ethiopia’s belligerence and intransigence, an “expeditious and orderly process” was not to be, and after waiting for over 5 ½ years, the Eritrea Ethiopia Boundary Commission (EEBC), which has the sole mandate to demarcate the Eritrea Ethiopia border, has been forced to wrap up its work by putting its demarcation coordinates on a map, as opposed to pillars on the ground. The Algiers Agreements signed between Eritrea and Ethiopia in December 2000 called for the delimitation and demarcation of the border in accordance with the colonial boundary treaties of 1900, 1902, and 1908 and the Commission did not have the power to make decisions ex aequo et bono (make geographical and humanitarian considerations).

Meles Zenawi’s minority regime in Ethiopia rejected the findings of the Commission and refused to allow for the expeditious demarcation of the Eritrea Ethiopia border. With the help of Kofi Annan, the former Secretary General of the United Nations and Jendayi E. Frazer, US Assistant Secretary of State for African Affairs, the regime in Ethiopia went to great lengths to alter, revise, and reverse the Final and Binding decision. For the last 5 ½ years, the US led international community not only refused to force Ethiopia to comply with its legal obligations and allow the EEBC to demarcate the Eritrea Ethiopia border, by placing pillar markers on the ground, in fulfillment of its mandate in accordance with the Algiers’s Agreements, but also actively sought to hijack the EEBC’s mandate in order to appease the mercenary regime in Ethiopia.

After 5 ½ years of putting up with Ethiopia’s deceptive delaying tactics designed to reverse the Final and Binding decision and frustrate the it’s work, the Commission issued a Statement on 27 November 2006 and stated the following:

“…As the Commission evidently cannot remain in existence indefinitely, it proposes that the Parties should, over the next twelve months, terminating at the end of November 2007, consider their positions and seek to reach agreement on the emplacement of pillars. If, by the end of that period, the Parties have not by themselves reached the necessary agreement and proceeded significantly to implement it, or have not requested and enabled the Commission to resume its activity, the Commission hereby determines that the boundary will automatically stand as demarcated by the boundary points listed in the Annex hereto and that the mandate of the Commission can then be regarded as fulfilled…”

As November 2007 comes to an end, the Eritrea Ethiopia border issue will have moved another step forward with the legal demarcation, albeit on paper, of the border. Now both countries know where their sovereign territories lie. Therefore, the issue is no longer about demarcation of the Eritrea Ethiopia border, but rather the military occupation by Ethiopia, of sovereign Eritrean territories, a gross violation of the UN Charter and a threat to international peace and security.

At this juncture, I see only 3 options for moving forward and preserving the peace:

Ethiopia fully cooperates with the EEBC and allows for the unconditional demarcation of the Eritrea Ethiopia border in accordance with the Eritrea Ethiopia Boundary Commission’s Final and Binding decision of 13 April 2002, and unilaterally withdraws from all sovereign Eritrean territories that it is now militarily occupying.
In fulfillment of its legal and moral responsibilities under the Charter of the United Nations for the maintenance of international peace and security, the Security Council should determine to bring the invasion and occupation of Eritrea, by Ethiopia, to an end and restore the sovereignty, independence and territorial integrity of Eritrea, affirm the inherent right of individual or collective self-defense, in response to the armed attack (occupation) by Ethiopia against Eritrea, in accordance with Article 51 of the Charter, and act under Chapter VII of the Charter of the United Nations, by taking appropriate measures to secure Ethiopia’ compliance with the EEBC’s Final and Binding decision, international law and the UN Charter.

The Security Council, must determine that there exists a breach of international peace and security as regards to Ethiopia’s occupation of sovereign Eritrean territories, including Badme, and should act immediately under Articles 39 and 40 of the Charter of the United Nations, and condemn Ethiopia’s aggression and demand that Ethiopia withdraw immediately and unconditionally all of its forces to the November 2006 line of demarcation.
If the Security Council continues to neglect its moral and legal responsibilities under the UN Charter, and if some members of the Security Council continue to obstruct justice and the rule of law in order to advance their own interests in the region, Eritrea will have no choice but to exercise the undesirable option of its inherent legal right to self defense. Article 51 of the UN Charter clearly says:

"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"

Just as the law enforcement bodies and institutions in any country are responsible for enforcing criminal and civil laws and legal and binding court decisions, the UN Security Council is responsible, for maintaining regional and international peace and security, for enforcing the UN Charter, international law, its own resolutions as well as legal and binding arbitrations. There can be no “dialogue” and “normalization of relations” with the regime while it is militarily occupying sovereign Eritrean territories and thousands of Eritreans are languishing in camps waiting to go home. Those parties that are encouraging its belligerence will bear full responsibility for the consequences.

As the November deadline nears, if it is to salvage its own credibility and integrity, and improve the efficacy of the UN, the Security Council should put at end to the minority regime’s occupation of sovereign Eritrean territories, or forfeit its relevance on issues of international peace and security.

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

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