Why the U.N.’s Silence on Ethiopia’s Attacks in Eritrea?

by Michael Abraha

April 6, 2012

Addis Ababa — Eritrean President Isaias Afewerki has fastened the blame on the US for ‘organizing’ the recent Ethiopian military incursions, which he says is aimed at diverting world attention from his country’s border row with Ethiopia. Speaking on State TV in late March, Isaias said the Ethiopian attack had its roots in Washington’s “failed agendas” and “wrong calculations”. Whether his assertions are shared by the rest of the country is hard to fathom as people are not free to offer opinions and criticizing the government is unimaginable.

The Security Council has simply ignored President Isaias’s concern, which meant for the UN bending its Charter principles of the sanctity of the idea of territorial integrity of UN member states.

The Eritrean government is not helped by its isolationist, defiant behavior which has led to debilitating UN sanctions imposed on charges of fueling violence and terrorism in the Horn of Africa Region. Its miserable human rights record has also earned her no friends.

Under these circumstances, the Security Council was inclined to treat the Ethiopian incursion the same way it treated the Kenyan invasion of Somalia last October in pursuit of Al-Qaeda linked Al-Shabab operatives who attacked tourists inside Kenya. A UN sanctions monitoring team determined in July that both Somalia and Eritrea were serving “as platforms for foreign armed groups that represent a grave and increasingly urgent threat to peace and security in the Horn and East Africa region”.

Ethiopia said it was acting in self-defense when it invaded up to 18kms into Eritrea in mid-March overrunning three of its military garrisons at Gibina, Gelehibe and Ramid in South Eastern Eritrea, where Asmara was “arming and training…hit-and-run terrorists” such as the anti-Ethiopia Afar rebels who attacked 27 European tourists in January, murdering 5 and kidnapping two others. A government statement warned of additional operations if Eritrea failed to stop being a “launching pad for attacks against Ethiopia.”

In a statement after Ethiopia announced its operations, the Eritrean government dismissed Ethiopian accusations that it supported the Afar Revolutionary Democratic Unity Front or ARDUF to attack the tourists. Avoiding a retaliatory response, it urged the UN to denounce the Ethiopian action which it claimed was aimed at diverting attention from its border dispute with Ethiopia.

Suggestive of its continued relationship with Al-Shabab as underlined by the UN Sanctions Monitoring Group, the Eritrean government rejects AU military intervention in Somalia as amounting to “meddling” in the internal affairs of the troubled Horn of Africa country. The UN regards Eritrea’s attitude and support of Al Shabab as a cynical plan that only encourages extremism and terrorism which has so far claimed the lives of over 21,000 Somalis.

The UN thus concludes that “Eritrean involvement in Somalia reflects a broader pattern of intelligence and special operations activity, including training, financial and logistical support to armed opposition groups in Djibouti, Ethiopia, the Sudan.” Added to this was the UN report of a foiled Eritrean attempt to blow up an AU summit in January 2011 in Addis Ababa.

The Security Council imposed a stricter second round of sanctions on Eritrea in December targeting its lucrative mining industry and its “Diaspora taxes” believed to be collected through methods of intimidation, blackmail and extortion from hundreds of thousands of Eritrean refugees and other expatriates. The UN says impoverished Eritrea is using these sources of revenue to destabilize the Horn Region. Eritrea has denied the UN charges.

UN-Eritrea relations are at their lowest point. They started deteriorating in 2008 when Eritrea expelled UN Peace Monitoring troops from areas on the Eritrean side of the border with Ethiopia, which Addis Ababa now says are being used as safe haven for ‘insurgents and terrorists” preparing to launch subversive missions in Ethiopia. The UN presence on the border was meant to discourage the kind of military action Ethiopia took inside Eritrea on March 15 – an action which could lead to Eritrean reprisals, thus sending the two nations to yet another bloody war.

By kicking the UN peace forces out, Eritrea wanted to remind its citizens that the war was not over until the border was demarcated. In so doing it was also putting pressure on the UN to force Ethiopia to abide by a “final and binding” demarcation resolution adopted in 2002 by The Hague based Ethiopia-Eritrea Border Commission. The resolution puts the contentious village of Badme inside Eritrea.

Ethiopia has since decided to accept the Commission’s ruling unconditionally but says it wants negotiations with Eritrea on how to implement it. Eritrea wants physical demarcation first and then it will decide if it wants to talk. Thus the impasse continues.

Human Rights Abuses

The Eritrean government’s reported destabilizing role in the Horn Region is indefensible. Equally reprehensible is its shocking human rights violations which the international community needs to urgently tackle if the regime is to be humanized. Simon Tisdall of The Guardian has described Eritrea as “hell on earth.”

Thousands of young men and women keep fleeing the country knowing they may be abducted by human traffickers and end up in the Sinai Desert with the possibility of being raped, tortured, and killed for their internal organs to be sold to the highest bidder.

A UN report links the regime to “people trafficking” involving despairing Eritreans trying to get out of the country. At home, citizens face arbitrary arrests, torture and detention in life-threatening conditions for indefinite periods of time. For many rotting prisoners, the only way out has been to commit suicide if they can find the means to do so.

The government allows no freedoms of speech, press or of movement or travel abroad. The system is totalitarian which means the people have no right to change their rulers through democratic means.

The government says it needs a firm control over the people until its border issues with Ethiopia are settled. But it has also given no hint that there will be democratization and respect for human rights once its border problems are solved. Additionally, there are no indications that the government will introduce changes in its dangerous foreign policy.

As is often the practice in times of Eritrean national crisis, the government has accused Washington for being behind the Ethiopian action. The American Embassy in Asmara has put out a statement dying the charge.

The fact remains that the Security Council’s inaction in the wake of Ethiopian attacks inside Eritrea was a rebuke and a warning against the Red Sea state. What political impact these developments will have on the people and government of Eritrea is yet to be seen. It is clear however that the country will continue to face more humiliation and sanctions unless the government stops brutalizing its people and learns how to live in peace with its neighbors.

35 Responses to Why the U.N.’s Silence on Ethiopia’s Attacks in Eritrea?

Tesfai

April 7, 2012 at 7:53 am

Amanuel also known as Mihari Fikadu

Amanuel is a brutal government agent and PFDJ spy, who is paid to do so. He brags about tortured and giving pain to anyone who disliked Esayas in Eritrea. He was gathering information of what the new refugees (especially former Eritrean conscripts) in America were thinking or doing? Who was assisting them and so on? Amanuel wanted to stay in USA and so he fabricated an asylum story with the help of other PFDJ agents and he lied to the US immigration people he was anti-PFDJ. Asylum officers told him he was a liar and that committed asylum fraud. They punished him by ordering him to leave the US. He is also lying about Mr. Abraha who is an excellent professional as lawyer and journalist. PFDJ do not want to hear the truth about the suffering of Eritreans. Thank you Michael for this down to earth article and Down with PFDJ criminals!!!!!!
Ras Mitat

April 7, 2012 at 8:17 pm

Eritrea, drunk for twenty years on it’s own independence, now suffering severe morning headaches.
Boooom

April 8, 2012 at 7:36 am

excellent analysis, thanks michael.all is the reality written by a aperson who knows the inside.
Michael Abraha

April 8, 2012 at 12:44 pm

Re: hate message from refugee Amanuel/Mehari Fikadu in Oakland, USA

As an Eritrean American journalist and human rights activist, my plan is to try to engage the Eritrean government and its supporters in discussions and debates on how to build Eritrea’s future. I am hopeful common understanding will be reached one day regardless of differences. Still, I don’t believe that for Eritrea to keep blaming the US for everything that is happening to Eritrea or the Horn Region is a smart move and this will not impress anyone except may be anti-US Iran.

We remember how some of the most astute African leaders like Nyrere and Nkrumah undermined and delayed national development by remaining anti-Western and in the case of Nyrere also being anti-Soviet Russia. On the other hand, we remember Mandela’s ANC and Jomo Kenyatta’s Mao Mao, who, despite being branded terrorists by the West for decades, opted not to dwell on the past and decided to open up to and to cooperate with the West immediately after independence. Eritrea also needs to reconcile with its unhappy past and adopt a pragmatic foreign policy while embracing democracy and liberty at home.

Hate Message
Hate messages and slurs and smears are diversionary tactics routinely used by anti-freedom forces and they are a price we pay for fighting for what we believe is right in defense of those tortured and persecuted by autocratic regimes such as Eritrea, China or North Korea. Case in point is Ato Mehari Fikadu, nicknamed Amanuel, who, on his own or in collaboration with Eritrean government agents has questioned my integrity as a professional. First of all, no money was stolen from Mr. Mehari by me or my agency the Human Rights Research Project (HHRP) when he approached us for help in or about June/July 2009 in Oakland, USA. He paid us about $300 for an estimated 8 hours of prepping and interpreter help. Law Firms charge up to $1,500 or more for similar services. As non-profit we are allowed by the US government a modest amount to help cover operational costs. HHRP needed to charge for services rendered as we were still awaiting local city, county and US federal assistance.

Ato Mehari, in his 50’s, unfortunately understood not a single word of English. And being nervous, he likes to whisper his Tigrinia words and seems to be a stutterer. He presented his very anti-PFDJ regime asylum declaration for me to review, which we still have in file along with his Alien Number and it could be made public if needed. He said it was written for him by someone whom he did not want to disclose.

I and my agency always preferred to assign interpreters to accompany clients to the immigration office. Ato Mehari insisted that I accompany him because he said he was fearful he might lose and so he thought my coming would help him as I was regarded as US immigration law expert having thoroughly studied the subject in a special government school in Glenco, Georgia and having been employee as Immigration/Adjudication Officer with the US Dept of Homeland Security.

As expected, Mehari whispered and stuttered during his interview making it hard for me and the other US government assigned telephonic interpreter to explain to the immigration officer what Mehari was trying to say. The officer stopped the interview and scheduled it for another day. At his second interview Mehari was accompanied by another Eritrean refugee lawyer and a dedicated human rights activist. The lawyer was faced with the same translation dilemma, and the interview was again postponed.

I should note here that the US Tigrinia interpreter system was suspected to have been infiltrated by PFDJ agents who were being recruited on behalf of US immigration offices by unsuspecting interpreter agencies. PFDJ agents listening in and possibly taping asylum interviews is detrimental to asylum seekers who in addition to detailing their ordeals at home are also expected to enumerate before the asylum officer all their relatives in Eritrea and how they escaped from Sawa, etc. Proper measures are believed to have been taken by the US government to remedy situation after being alerted by human rights activists.

Statistically, only an estimated 30-35 percent of asylum applications are granted in the US. If Ato Mehari has been denied asylum, I believe it is because he could not be eligible for asylum benefit and protection if he is a supporter of the Eritrean regime even though he condemned it in his 5-page affidavit/declaration and in his testimony before the US immigration officer.

I have been a non-practicing attorney for a long time but this status may be changing soon due to necessity. Non-practicing does not mean I cannot think or write like a lawyer although 70 percent of me is a journalist as I have been one since I was a teen ager. Many other Eritrean journalists also have law practice background.

Engaging in hate messages and fruitless personal attacks are luxuries we cannot afford when Eritrea is deeply divided politically and is increasingly isolated.
Michael Abraha

April 8, 2012 at 12:51 pm

Re: hate message from refugee Amanuel/Mehari Fikadu in Oakland, USA

As an Eritrean American journalist and human rights activist, my plan is to try to engage the Eritrean government and its supporters in discussions and debates on how to build Eritrea’s future. I am hopeful common understanding will be reached one day regardless of differences. Still, I don’t believe that for Eritrea to keep blaming the US for everything that is happening to Eritrea or the Horn Region is a smart move and this will not impress anyone except may be anti-US Iran.

We remember how some of the most astute African leaders like Nyrere and Nkrumah undermined and delayed national development by remaining anti-Western and in the case of Nyrere also being anti-Soviet Russia. On the other hand, we remember Mandela’s ANC and Jomo Kenyatta’s Mao Mao, who, despite being branded terrorists by the West for decades, opted not to dwell on the past and decided to open up to and to cooperate with the West immediately after independence. Eritrea also needs to reconcile with its unhappy past and adopt a pragmatic foreign policy while embracing democracy and liberty at home.

Hate Message
Hate messages and slurs and smears are diversionary tactics routinely used by anti-freedom forces and they are a price we pay for fighting for what we believe is right in defense of those tortured and persecuted by autocratic regimes such as Eritrea, China or North Korea. Case in point is Ato Mehari Fikadu, nicknamed Amanuel, who, on his own or in collaboration with Eritrean government agents has questioned my integrity as a professional. First of all, no money was stolen from Mr. Mehari by me or my agency the Human Rights Research Project (HHRP) when he approached us for help in or about June/July 2009 in Oakland, USA. He paid us about $300 for an estimated 8 hours of prepping and interpreter help. Law Firms charge up to $1,500 or more for similar services. As non-profit we are allowed by the US government a modest amount to help cover operational costs. HHRP needed to charge for services rendered as we were still awaiting local city, county and US federal assistance.

Ato Mehari, in his 50’s, unfortunately understood not a single word of English. And being nervous, he likes to whisper his Tigrinia words and seems to be a stutterer. He presented his very anti-PFDJ regime asylum declaration for me to review, which we still have in file along with his Alien Number and it could be made public if needed. He said it was written for him by someone whom he did not want to disclose.

I and my agency always preferred to assign interpreters to accompany clients to the immigration office. Ato Mehari insisted that I accompany him because he said he was fearful he might lose and so he thought my coming would help him as I was regarded as US immigration law expert having thoroughly studied the subject in a special government school in Glenco, Georgia and having been employee as Immigration/Adjudication Officer with the US Dept of Homeland Security.

As expected, Mehari whispered and stuttered during his interview making it hard for me and the other US government assigned telephonic interpreter to explain to the immigration officer what Mehari was trying to say. The officer stopped the interview and scheduled it for another day. At his second interview Mehari was accompanied by another Eritrean refugee lawyer and a dedicated human rights activist. The lawyer was faced with the same translation dilemma, and the interview was again postponed.

I should note here that the US Tigrinia interpreter system was suspected to have been infiltrated by PFDJ agents who were being recruited on behalf of US immigration offices by unsuspecting interpreter agencies. PFDJ agents listening in and possibly taping asylum interviews is detrimental to asylum seekers who in addition to detailing their ordeals at home are also expected to enumerate before the asylum officer all their relatives in Eritrea and how they escaped from Sawa, etc. Proper measures are believed to have been taken by the US government to remedy situation after being alerted by human rights activists.

Statistically, only an estimated 30-35 percent of asylum applications are granted in the US. If Ato Mehari has been denied asylum, I believe it is because he could not be eligible for asylum benefit and protection if he is a supporter of the Eritrean regime even though he condemned it in his 5-page affidavit/declaration and in his testimony before the US immigration officer.

I have been a non-practicing attorney for a long time but this status may be changing soon due to necessity. Non-practicing does not mean I cannot think or write like a lawyer although 70 percent of me is a journalist as I have been one since I was a teen ager. Many other Eritrean journalists also have law practice background.

Engaging in hate messages and fruitless personal attacks are luxuries we cannot afford when Eritrea is deeply divided politically and is increasingly isolated.
Michael Abraha

April 8, 2012 at 7:26 pm

Spelling error in Hate Message above. Mao Mao should be replaced with Mau Mau. Thank you. Michael
eritrea

April 8, 2012 at 10:08 pm

M abraha the tigrayan.
fran

April 11, 2012 at 5:48 am

agenda is plural.
One cannot be a human rights activist and an Eritrean. The word Eritrea precludes that, as it takes away your basic humanity, ciccio.
Teazabi

April 12, 2012 at 9:46 pm

I still tend to believe that you have the best interest of Eritreans at heart. However, the same may probably not be said about your views on Eritrea as a nation. In the event that this assumption is wrong and that you are committed to Eritrea’s indepenedence and sovereignty, your apparent pro Ethiopia stand would damage your credibility as it has done already with much of the opposition.
But you can still reconsider
Wolkayit

April 13, 2012 at 2:52 pm

Dear Eritreans, please c what happened in Israel with eritian refugees. I saw it with my own eyes. what the young ppl talk about Isayas.We all are brothers and sisters lets concetret on the Humanity issues.