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The burning issue of Asseb Ethiopia vs. TPLF/EPRDF July 23, 2002
Place yourself at the front seat, and be a jury, to decide on a case that captures lots of attentions more than anything else. A case involving a legitimate right to have access to the sea, supported by Ethiopians on the one hand, and argued by the permanent Eritrean lawyers residing in Addis Ababa, known by the name TTPLF/EPRDF on the other — documented as Ethiopia vs. TPLF/EPRDF. The general purpose of this article is to share our thoughts and arguments with the public at large. The article is composed of three distinct categories; the reasons behind the issue of Asseb, the deceptive role played by Meles and Syoum Mesfin, and finally what went wrong in the Algers agreement as well as what to do about it. In defense of Ethiopia, we have presented not only the highlighted read outs of the subject, but also all the possible reasons that we can think of. On the side menu, we have gathered the fraudulent conceptions and political fallacy argued by the group, who pretend to be as Ethiopian leaders, but actually are enemies of the country and its people. Determined to expose their deceptions, and to face them out, credible evidences are assembled. We believe such an approach will help our readers see the picture as it is. The highly sensitiveness of the issue and the benefits attached with it has forced us to come up with several thoughtful pages than thinking of a concise version. Such a detailed analysis will help you make a conclusive assessment in the directions your mind takes you. For Ethiopians, a maritime outlet or access to the sea that connects a nation to the outside world has to be a must-have land cord for various reasons. In addition to its necessity for building national economy, the most vital security matters attached with it should always be given the highest considerations. On the other hand, Prime Minister, Meles, and his supporters would like to tell Ethiopians that leaving out Asseb doesn’t mean the end of Ethiopia, therefore, let’s forget about it. “There are countries in the world without ports, but they have no problem”, says also Meles, cheating the Ethiopian people, the same way his delegates testified on behalf of Eritrea. Well, although we may not be as ‘smart’ as he is, we know his point; but if he think addressing this particular issue has no values, we also want him to tell Eritrea, the country which he advocates, to leave Asseb and its coastal surroundings for its rightful owners, the Ethiopian people who need it, given the facts of its importance and historical attachments, to bring a lasting peace. Lots of Ethiopians exhorted the TPLF leaders to uphold the Country’s Interests and not to make a mistake again on such delicate issue. But the stubborn and rigid leaders, Meles and associates, ignoring public demands, stopped the war short of annihilation and used their own distorted blue-prints to carry out the boarder issue. Using this opportunity, we would like to inform our readers that the question of Asseb and its environs has the greatest value and the precedence than any issue in the minds of Ethiopians today. It is a renascent issue that never goes away. As the ION puts it, is a time-bomb for Meles. It has also isolated the ruling clique from the people it governs, changing the political climate into a state of unstoppable turmoil and concatenation of crisis. Disappointed by Meles’s favoritism to Eritrea, and the sell out of the country, Ethiopians around the glob, including Tigray-Ethiopians who supported him before are calling louder for his resignation today. Back in 2001, we wrote an open letter to the Foreign Minister, Seyoum Mesfin, regarding the issue of Asseb in particular. We were thinking that he will uphold the nation’s interests in the negotiations; but with no avail. This is to show that, because of its importance, the following article contains some of the paragraphs we have touched earlier on that letter addressed to him. But this article in general is wider in scope and larger in size than the first attempt. We will mention the disappointing role played by the foreign minister later on this article; but before that, we prefer to discuss about the importance of the subject. Giving the required attention for such a highly sensitive national issue, and revisiting the topic, it is presented as follows: When Ethiopians raised the issue of Access to the Sea, during the Ehio-Eritrea conflict, the naive TPLF members, who didn’t know Meles’s evil motive, were saying that Ethiopia’s introduction of the term ‘International law’ was designed to include the question of Asseb in the negotiations. His cadres were spreading false propaganda by telling people to wait and see that the issue will be raised at the final stage. After the commissions ruling, however, we have seen that such application is used to give Eritrea additional lands which are not covered by the colonial treaties under the pretext of classical boundaries and common acceptance by both parties. It simply was a pre-designed deception and sabotage. Therefore, the inclusion of ‘International Law’ seems an extra gift for Eritrea to win its case on top of colonial treaties, but not to help Ethiopia. On the other hand, Ethiopians who know the traitor organization, TPLF/EPRDF, which didn’t enforce its agreements with Eritrea to use Asseb as a free port, or apply the Meles-Isayas super flaws agreement made earlier in the jungle, was not expected to go further and put forward the question of Asseb’s ownership on the table either If an International Law exists, a trouble maker was supposed to be punished for its aggression, but not rewarded. The Hague Commission, however, awarded Eritrea a large chunk of land for flattening towns, causing the destruction of properties, killing young productive lives, and deliberately setting up the conditions for the suffering of hundreds of thousands of civilians for two years. Also make sure you understand that on some aspects the UN is a fake organization. At least, it is not what you expected it to be. Although its importance for world peace and stability as well as in areas of cooperation is unquestionable, few countries play on the stage as special actors, leaving the others for only symbolic purposes. While everything is carried out by the rich and powerful, more than 95% of member states are voiceless on world affairs. The US and its allies are always saying openly that they can interpret International Law to serve their interests, but not others. If you watch news recently, that is what the US is exactly saying to justify its attack on other nations under the slogan of fighting terrorism; or earlier against the sovereign state of Yugoslavia in support of a fundamentalist group of KLA, without the UN approval. In addition, the US has also voted down the legitimacy of the International Criminal Court and has declared that it will not abide by its ruling. It further requested that its army and government officials should be exempted from the courts jurisdictions. As a main reason, it says that the courts establishment to make criminals accountable, including its army, violates its sovereignty. If some nations get immunity, then, why weak and poor nations have to accept rulings from these and other international courts on different duties? It makes the system totally unfair. Usually, when western jurists are in charge, a country that fosters their interests will benefit from the outcome. At most, we must be naïve to expect a fair and unbiased judgment from them. So that, the message in here is clear; we must have the right to say no to the recent boarder rulings. With this understanding, let us take you to the core points of the most exigent question facing us today - the Asseb issue. The importance of a maritime outlet touches a wide range of areas than most of us have in our mind. First of all, you must know that a port is the blood-root for the national economy. The smooth flow of goods, where our economy depends, will better be served by securing our own port. Hiding his support for Eritrea, Meles tried to preach around that Ethiopia can use rented ports rather than reclaiming its own. We don’t think such an evasive answer would calm Ethiopians; instead it makes us more upset. As The Reporter magazine, in Addis Ababa puts it, Meles’s analogy is like telling a person who goes to court reclaiming his house to forget about it, and buy another one with extra expense. But, the truth is that the one billion Ethiopian Bir paid annually for port dues can help us a lot for a poor country like ours. It could be invested in other sectors. A country living with foreign aid can not afford to pay such a huge amount, unless the traitor, Meles, perceives things out of reality. Second, access to the Sea is not only a source for economical growth, but also an outlet for our national security. A nation surrounded by enemies should consider the issue as a question of survival. We have witnessed from the Ethio-Eritrea war that when a military embargo was put in place on both countries, Eritrea was able to smuggle weapons through the port of massawa, but not us. In addition, if we had a naval force in Asseb, as it used to be, the terrorist Eritrean army wouldn’t have stayed in our territories for two years, destroying our villages, and exposing hundreds of thousands of our people to be homeless and forcing them to live in caves, under harsh conditions. It is to say that the time it took us to dislodge the Eritrean terrorist army would have been much shortened. Do not forget that it is strategically important. Because it strengthens the country’s defense capability as well as can be used as a monitoring station for unpredictable enemies, such as Eritrea. On the other hand, using someone’s ports to pass through needed military hardware at a particular time will be difficult or unwise, where every container is searched by the port administrators. Third, gaining access to the sea will help us to carry out and implement other equally important Interests of the country, such as using our rivers for agriculture and other purposes. We can’t let our people starve to death every 10 or 15 years neglecting the use our rivers for irrigation. According to Aid agencies and Western sources about one million Ethiopians lost their lives in hunger, from 1984-1985. Thousands have also died in the Eastern part from 1998-1999. World climate experts, on the other hand, has reported that the change of directions of the Monsoon Wind, that carries rain to Ethiopia and around the region, due to global warming, industrial pollutions at a distant that interferes with the formation of clouds, is causing draught, covering all the geographical area from East Africa all the way to India. Therefore, we must have a plan to use our rivers as an alternative. This also means self reliance. We can’t live with foreign aid forever; we have to change things around and be able to produce enough food to feed all our people. But also keep in mind that, based on their own selfish interests, there are countries that do not want us to use our rivers for agriculture. This leads us to think about a strong army including a sea outlet with a naval force; which is a needed prerequisite to protect our projects that will be constructed using our share of water. Blocking our access to the sea, however, will make us vulnerable for attacks, or put us in a square box surrounded by enemies and weaken our capacity to defend our nation and its interests. In the coming decades, it is believed that conflict between nations will arise due to scarcity of water than any other causes; so that we have to open our mind. We owned the Red Sea Coast long before modern Europe, or fascists and colonialists came into being. We should not also block ourselves from the sea coast by accepting flawed Colonial Treaties, designed by fascist Italy, using force. Meles and associates tried to down play the importance of Asseb as a simple corridor of transporting goods back and forth. But their approach is an intentional agitation to hide the truth and confuse their people. What about its importance for security? And why not we consider the issue of the people who shifted hands and held forcefully against their will? Doesn’t a government answer the call and rescue its citizens stranded in the desert, encircled by wild wolves? Not only the port, but also our people can not be forced to change their Ethiopian citizenship by the force of arms. Before we take you to the details of the possible consequences of this given point, please take a quick glance at the following addendum. An addendum to the Third point The utilization of our rivers for agriculture along with the mechanism and preparation needed for its implementations remains one of the top listed items of Ethiopia’s National Interests. This issue has been raised almost in every generation; but due to conflict of interests with the lower end countries and financial constraints, it has never been materialized. The eradication of poverty or a sustainable economical development arises when we get an answer to this question and begin to use it. It will serve as a supplement to the rain fall. Having said that, to understand how a disastrous scenario a colonial treaty brings, here is a very important attachment we want you to know: Regarding the recent mass demonstration in Addis Ababa, led by the Ethiopian Democratic Party, and which has to do with the recent boarder ruling at The Hague, the Addis Tribune reported the following: The leaders pointed out that the ruling party has disregarded popular interests and opinions and selected those colonial agreements and that would mean obviously make Ethiopia on the losing side ”if this situation continues and our country accepts all colonial treaties, there is the possibility that we could lose other equally important national interest in the near future. This means that in accordance with the agreement in 1902 between Britain and Ethiopia, Ethiopia could lose the right of the Abay River without consulting Egypt and Sudan, “the party chairman Admassu Gebeyehu noted.. Let us interpret this on our own words. Egypt and Sudan, both of which are former Britain colonies, have a colonial agreement to share the Nile water between them, leaving out Ethiopia. Therefore, if a century old unfair Colonial Treaties are taken to resolve the Ethio-Eritrea boundary problem, then, we will be heading against the same wall tomorrow to deny ourselves from using our rivers. When one Colonial Treaty blocks our access to the sea, another one will follow to deny us the right to use the Abay River. This treaty, which was designed by Egypt and Sudan with the help of their master, Britain as a cosigner, gives an exclusive right to both countries at the expense of Ethiopia and other nations. Therefore the clear message we get from the above statement, or the warning is this: don not open the gate by accepting colonial treaties that will make us arrested from exercising our rights and affect other Interests as well. Think twice before you move in. Of course, if there is a listener. The closure of our outlet to the sea will give enemies a possible close range for confrontations than ever before. It can also be used as a staging ground to attack our nation, in the years to come. For example, the whole world knows that Egypt is behind Eritrea’s separation from Ethiopia for its own interests. It was pumping millions of dollars to the Eritrean ‘liberation’ movements earlier. It was also Egypt’s citizen, Boutros Butros Gali, who sat as the UN General Secretary at a critical time in our history, and gave legitimacy for Eritrea as a separate nation. And now, another citizen of Egypt sitting as secretary general of the Arab League, Amir Musa is trying his best to make his country profit in areas of extending its influence in the Horn of Africa. He uses the organization’s power and resources to interfere in the region. These includes sabotaging Somali reconciliation conferences designed by neighboring countries, passing unfair resolutions against our nation on behalf of the Somali transitional government based on fabricated accusations, creating confusion among IGAD members, and so forth. To gain its interests at the expense of the Somali people, Egypt pushes them to protest against Ethiopia and supports terrorists in the Ogaden area, which it has created. To carry out this task, it uses Eritrea and Somalia as corridors. Egypt always wants to see a weaker and divided Ethiopia; and this confrontation has been prevailed for lots of centuries without being resolved. Fourth, in terms of both geographical location and historical accounts, the land of Asseb and its environs along with the population is Ethiopian. It must be clear that Eritrea has nothing to do the people of Afars. Let everybody know also that the Afar people are the make up threads of the Ethiopian empire that one can’t pull out. To start with, no Eritrean lives on this surrounding except on a visiting status. Only the Afar people dwell on this arid geographical location since the beginning of time. Their citizenship is unquestionable — Ethiopian. Shabiya’s unlawful occupation of this area in collaboration of Meles Zenawi can’t convince Ethiopians to forget about it. It is a simple sell out without any justifications. The voices of the Ethiopian masses, however, invalidated Meles’s gift. We strongly believe that a state sponsored kidnapping of a large number of people has taken place against their will, and it must be undone. You should also know that Asseb is constructed to serve central Ethiopia. In addition, as far as import and export is concerned for its nation, Shabiya or its master, Italy, clearly knows that Asseb and its environs has no use for Eritrea, since it is too far from the main land. But, Eritrea wants the area for the purposes of collecting huge service revenues from us, as well as destabilizing Ethiopia - such as dividing the Afars, creating clashes between the brothers of the Afar and Essa people, helping terrorists closer in the Ogaden area, and recruiting religious fundamentalist Oromo groups (the Islamic Oromo front). It is also to block Ethiopia’s access to the sea permanently, and to make it bleed to death - squeezed in all corners. To favor Eritrea, the TPLF/EPRDF leaders have played double standard on this case. They denied the Ethiopian public the right to decide or vote on the fate of Eritrea in 1993, but gave a blank check to the Eritrean Mafia to pass any decision on behalf of the Afars, denying their Ethiopian citizenship and ignoring a strong opposition. This actually contradicts TPLF’S political view of ‘Ethnic-democracy’ it has put in place; it works for friendly one’s but not others. This doctrine of tribal-politics that they have gained from the University of Dedebit, seemed flawed and partial than serving a clear purpose. Therefore, no matter how many times the government of Meles tries to delude its people using the name Ethiopia, or saying “our people” in its statements, its actions talks louder and clearer than its words. Please tell them not to do so. If they didn’t get it, someone has to tell them with no uncertain terms - the damages they brought to the nation, or read out aloud what they have testified on behalf of Eritrea, at the Hague court. To put things in perspective, neither the Ethiopian people nor their elected government approved the Eritrean cessation. The TPLF has carried it out at its own risk. We know also the referendum was a fake one. But, Although the Ethiopian people give greater attentions for the question of the Afar and the Kunamas, reclaiming the whole Eritrea perhaps will put us in a difficult position to convince the international community, given that the Woyane’s betrayal in 1993 to make it a separate government with world wide recognition. In addition, our perception is changed after the recent war. Eritrea’s aggression was motivated from a deep hate to the people of Ethiopia that consider them as their brothers. What they dream every night is the destruction of our nation. Therefore, we are better of without them. On this context, we need our citizens that have been sold out for Eritrea, against their will. We must also get a fair share of the land they owned, including a sea outlet, to bring a lasting peace. The whole world knows that the border was not demarcated at the time of separation. This includes the port of Asseb and its coastal region. Both the TPLF and EPLF had categorized Ethiopia as the black colonizer, and the Eritrean question also as a colonial one. If that is the case, then, negotiations are supposed to be on Ethiopian terms, but not Italian Treaties. Based on this assumption, then, any piece of land in Eritrea should have been open for negotiations, but it didn’t happen. In addition, the Red Sea coastal area, Asseb and its environs was put under an autonomous region of Afar Ethiopians before Eritrea’s independence. Given this picture, this surrounding was supposed to be under the sovereignty of Ethiopia, but not Eritrea. To our surprise, this situation is ignored in the court proceedings by the so called ‘Ethiopian leaders’, who work in our land using Eritrean passports. When it comes on critical boarder issue, changing course, Meles went to Europe, has found a white colonizer, and accepted a century old Colonial Treaties, to make Eritrea’s case winnable. For your information, after the war ended, Seyoum Mesfin was challenged by this assumption of categorizing Ethiopia as a ‘colonial power‘, during his visit in the US; but no answer was forthcoming. He felt embarrassed to say something and preferred not to touch it at all. If you understand this, then, that is also the same point what we are asking Meles, their advocate, to tell us why he put the black colonizer, Ethiopia, out of the picture, at this stage of the negotiations? What happened to his demagogic speeches he has made for years? If he thinks that approach was wrong, we would like to tell him that every path he followed also is wrong; intended to mislead the people and rule the country by deception. But Ethiopians are still challenging him on the later front. Given Italy’s invasion of the whole Ethiopia in 1936, those previous colonial treaties are nullified and voided. Even the 1964 Cairo summit and its resolutions, which regards African boarders as binding on the colonial scenario at the time of independence , is not applicable to the Ethio - Eritrea situation; because Eritrea has never been an independent state. But no one in the Ethiopian leadership mentioned this fact to defend its territorial claims in the court. It is known that Ethiopia has lots of clear evidences on this matter. We also argue that Ethiopia’s access to the sea stands as a legitimate right, which is located within hailing distance from the Ethiopian town of Burie. As the EDP puts it, “What Ethiopia lacks is not historical facts to support its case, but leaders who respect its Interests and represent the country”, which is not the case in today’s picture. As a matter of fact, not only Asseb and Badme, but Meles doesn’t mind to sell the church of Axum Zion or the Grand Palace of Emperor Minilik to Eritrea, if it is possible to do it. His sinister motive seems to kill the people’s morale by any means he can get. In order to make a lasting peace, Ethiopians were expecting meaningful negotiations. But ‘thanks to Meles’ it didn’t happen. Instead things have gone awry. The prospects for peace appear to be slim. While Eritrea owns Massawa, Dahlak, Smaller Hanish and several other spots of land that can be turned into ports, with a population of 3.5 million, denying access for 60 million people doesn’t make a sense of a deal, Ethiopia has lost out. For sure, awarding Ethiopia’s port of Asseb with our people to Eritrea, in addition to what it has, remains a tragic mistake made by the International Community, and a political prostitution for the TPLF/EPRDF government. Such misguided policy of the government, then, has left out our National Security and Interests at risk. The use of other ports is not as easy as Meles and Seyoum tried to sell their views. Before we go further and conclude the argument between opposing views, on using other ports, we are perceiving big problems on the ground that are created by the owners - in front of our eyes. To support our case, let us show you how things changed dramatically with in the last couple of years in the neighborhood. As soon as the war with Eritrea ended and Meles told VOA that the Asseb port will remain as Eritrean port, ‘thanks for his advocacy’ – against the voice of the masses of the Ethiopian people, Djibouti made a swift change. It knew that all Ethiopia’s import-export transactions have to flow through its port, and that means more profit. Then, it hired an outside company and brought a tariff-increase, knowing that Ethiopia will not have any choices other than accepting its terms. It seems that Djibouti was on board supporting our side earlier thinking that we will seize Asseb; so that it will convince Ethiopia to also use its facilities. When that failed, it drove in the reverse gear. As a result, the much talked about agreements and relations between the two countries (Ethiopia and Djibouti) has faded away. Last year, in a turning diplomatic climax, there were occasions that we have seen articles posted on the Internet, where Djibouti wanted to consult Egypt first, before it makes trade negotiations with Ethiopia. Egypt still uses Djibouti, the Somali transitional government as well as Eritrea as instruments to extend its influence in the region. Ethiopian reporters have made available interviews made with Djibouti government officials at different times, including the recent one posted out there. But, what the officials are saying seemed totally different from what they are engaged in. Ethiopians remember what the current Djibouti leader said when he was as chief of staff. The message here is do not trust anyone. Confidence emerges when you have your own port. We remember that the foreign minister has said, “the issue of Asseb will be negotiated using international law”, in his tour in the US, long before the verdict is revealed, back in 2001. But it was not true; instead they agreed to reward it for Eritrea. His speech was a clap trap. After the April 13 international ruling, again, and knowing perfectly well what they have testified, Seyoum came out openly and said, “ Ethiopia has gained all its territorial claims, including Badme and its environs, but Eritrea has lost the ruling as it did the battle” Ethiopians, however, have found out that he is deceiving the public. They stayed in concealment until the last minute. But after dancing in the streets of Addis Ababa and making false celebrations, they changed course in the opposite direction and filed a 21 page document. This approach actually has exposed their intentional lies. And now, as the UN affiliated news source, UN-IRIN posted it, Ethiopia’s last minute vague document that has been intended for public relations purposes is rejected by the Commission. But the foreign ministry as usual is in denial. Addis Zemen, the government’s official magazine coating the foreign ministry announced that Ethiopia’s request is accepted. What a disaster! Are the Ethiopian people listening? It is embarrassing to see that Seyoum Mesfin has lied three times with in a short period of tine and becomes addicted in doing so. In light of this, therefore, history must record our strong words. The big blame on this area mainly goes to Seyoum Mesfin, who is a defaulter and has neither the political conviction nor the benevolence expected from a foreign minister to help his country. To our dismay, Syoum has found to be one of the main traitors who interpreted the question of Asseb as war-mongering faster and louder than others. His ‘team of experts’, who had been sent to the Hague, are caught red-handed testifying on behalf of Eritrea, in a dirty deal of giving up Ethiopian lands to the enemy. He sits in a position where highly respected nationalist figures, such as Ethiopia’s Aklilu Habtewold once occupied * with a remarkable job performance. But on his part, the party appointed, Syoum Mesfin is used by Meles as a propagandist in charge, with no clues what serving a nation means all about. But, wait a minute; although he has not acquired a profound knowledge in the field of diplomacy and lacks the political will to promote a genuine cause, it might be wrong to make conclusions that the Foreign Minister from Dedebit, is completely ignorant. If he has the concern, at least he couldn’t fail to understand what ordinary Ethiopians know - the importance of the subject as well as what to do on the diplomatic front. It rather has to do with the opportunist attitude he has to the king of TPLF, Meles, a lack of courage to read his conscious, and a calculated method of payment for what he gets, in a system of political-bartering involved. Seyoum Mesfin is a man of failure, who sits in the wrong position and brought an incomprehensible damage to his nation. If he was concerned with the boarder issue and for a better outcome to the country, there was a way out that he didn’t use. His limited knowledge would have been compensated with other Ethiopian experts. Our intellectuals, historians, and former Ethiopian diplomats residing within the country and all over the world, were available and willing to offer a helping hand. But, they are sidelined and had no say on matters concerning their country. Critics say that the main reasons for the foreign minister’s betrayal and the sale of his pride, seems an exchange for holding his position and to protect the financial empire he has built through the scheme of corruption in the name of his son. Ethiopian news papers in Addis Ababa, specifically Amharic versions, after assessing the situation on the function of the foreign ministry, recently reported that the image and political standing of the leading official, Seyoum Mesfin, has been damaged severely. Although he is unknown before, during the war with Eritrea - and under the supervision of the dissidents, he was on top of the world. The day-to-day diplomatic briefings he gave out had put him on the center stage. Based on his speech during the war, large number of Ethiopians gave him the benefits of the doubt. But he did not live up to his words. Recently, he barked in the wrong tree, changed tune, and degraded himself way down to the bottom through his actions. He promoted himself from the position he has before to the minister of propaganda and deceit. The clownish dress he put on makes everybody laughed at him. Be it, the brutal murder against the AAU students, the question of Asseb, or the recent court verdict; he becomes totally the mouse piece of Legesse Zenawi. Ethiopians detest people who deceive and tell lies. By engaging into such cheap political games, not only he invited humiliation to himself, but also has put the nation and its people in the blush. Because of this, the people at large are despondent about his role as a foreign minister; and even his sympathizers consider him as a lame duck official. Perhaps you might think that everybody loves his country and the people with in it. But, the picture we see looks different. There are lots out there with no emotional attachments to the land of their birth, the society they come from, and have no concern about the Nation’s Interests or the destiny of its people at all. They can go further and attack their own people if you pay them to do it, and give the instructions how to carry it out. It is unfortunate to say that the foreign minister, Syoum Mesfin fits in the top list of this group. If that was not the case, his team of experts wouldn’t have been told to say the question of Badme’s environs, where the war had been started is irrelevant to the Commission, or they may not hold Ethiopian historical documents (memorials) purposely until the last minute to help Eritrea win the ruling. The same goes true when they abandon our Red Sea Coast, and said that Ethiopia doesn’t need a sea outlet, in favor of Eritrea. It is sad to understand how a wrong leadership in the wrong time that works in favor of Eritrea, while sitting in our palace and using our resources, exposed the nation to such a great damage that didn’t happen in its entire history. It is also a sad story to tell the coming generation, how unwanted guests, Meles and associates sold out the country to make others happy at the expense of our people. While Meles mapped out Eritrea’s future at the expense of Ethiopians, using every advantage he has in the TPLF government; introducing themselves as blatant traitors, his political associates have also fired a bullet against their people, applauding his destructive role with blind loyalty. But no matter what political gimmick they played in a coordinated fashion, the controversial ruling has failed to hold up in the court of public opinion. Perhaps you may not believe until you see it. Here is what the Commission revealed about the TPLF/EPRDF government’s shocking testimony that has put our country on the losing side. 4.69 The qualification as to the northern sections relates to Tsorono. In its reply, Ethiopia stated that a number of specific places mentioned by Eritrea as the location of incidents on which Eritrea was relying were irrelevant, since they were in any event in Eritrea. The words used by Ethiopia were that " Fort Cardona, Monoxeito, Guna Guna and Tsorona "were" mostly...undisputed Eritrean places". While Monoxeito and Guna Guna are on the Eritrean side of the Treaty line as determined by the Commission, the Commission finds that, on the basis of the evidence before it Tsorona and Cardona are not. 4.70. As to Tsorona, the Commission cannot fail to give effect to Ethiopia's statement, made formally in a written pleading submitted to the Commission. It is an admission of which the Commission must take full account. It is necessary, therefore, to adjust the Treaty the line as to ensure that it is placed in Eritrean territory. ".... The meaning of the "coast" 6.19 The first question that arises in the application of Article 1 of the Treaty is the definition of the coast. Ethiopia abandoned its conception of the coast as including islands and submitted in its concluding argument that the coastline should be understood as "adhering continuously to the continent itself, and not any coastline of islands as such". This was also the position presented by Eritrea. As the parties are in agreement on this point, the Commission will take as the coastline in the line adhering to the continent itself, and not any coastline of islands. Excerpts from The Hague based Border Commission decision Taken from Bens web pare-with credits Excerpts from the Haige ruling 5.92
However, there is one specific body of material to which the
Commission has given careful consideration, namely, the Ethiopian evidence of
its activities in the area west of Eritrea’s claim line. The Commission notes
that no evidence of such activities was introduced in the Ethiopian Memorial.
The evidence to be examined appeared only in the Ethiopian Counter-Memorial. It
was not added to or developed in the Ethiopian Reply After reading the above testimony, you couldn’t fail to understand how the TPLF leaders consented to help Eritrea, undermining its people. It is sad to tell the home front how the government failed Ethiopians by abandoning the sea outlet - with its own concessions, and the representatives of the TPLF/EPRDF ended up as lawyers of the Eritrean regime. The state sponsored conspiracy of such testimony and favoritism vindicates that the suspicion of the people against Meles is true, which has been at the center of controversy since he took office. The intrusion of Eritrean agents, on the other hand, has been organized to carry out such actions on the name of the Ethiopian government. The government’s written pleadings and testimony has sold out the vast agricultural land of Badme’s surroundings, Tserona, lots of villages in the vicinity of Zalambesa, part of Irob and Alitena, and to the most Asseb and its environs. At the same time, this has put the town of Badme, the most symbolic place of the cause, also in limbo or perhaps in Eritrean hands. Beyond doubt, this is designed to make Eritrea get out of the hook without paying compensations it has caused on so many lives and property damages. It is also to let Eritrea sit on the grave sites of our dead youngsters and sing as a winner. If the government has ignored the sacrifice of our martyrs, and the land they have defended, paying blood, is deliberately transferred to the enemy; why tens of thousands of our brothers and sisters were taken to the battle zone and died in the first place? You may wonder like us how the Hague decision ended up in such a dramatic wrong way. It requires critical thinking to understand it. Note also that the Ethiopian delegate said, “A number of specific places, mentioned as the location of incidents… are irrelevant to talk about, since they were in any event in Eritrea”. In the first place, make sure you understand that these localities are Badme and its environs. And next, the interpretation doesn’t stop by giving up all these lands to Eritrea, but also the delegate is telling the Hague experts to invalidate the cause of the war itself. In other words, the war that destroyed lots of lives was caused by Eritrean aggression, when it put its foot on Ethiopian sovereign lands. The Meles-Syoum delegates, however, have told the Commission indirectly as instructed by their bosses something that helps Eritrea - to leave out the question of Eritrean aggression in the court proceedings, by simply saying all the areas where the incident occurs are all Eritrean territories. The international arbitrators are smart enough to interpret this easily. Without any doubt, you can tell that the Meles-Isayas delegates were sat in conclave to bring such a result. Based on the incomprehensible testimony and support that the TPLF/EPRDF government gave to the commission, to favor Eritrea, please allow us to assert a statement on behalf of our beloved people. There are lots of countries that suffer in the hands of dictators all over Africa and else where in the world. But what makes unique the TPLF dictatorial regime from others is a highly sophisticated design of dismantling its nation, on top of a complete totalitarian rule. A regime that has incorporated ethnic-apartheid as a means of divide and rule, a government which loves to compromise its sovereignty at the expense of its people to look good on the eyes of foreigners, a blind political organization that has placed its citizens out for sale to others without remorse; a leadership that doesn’t have any clues what National Interests are all about, and takes all these events as an entertaining adventure. In other countries political differences arise in choosing methods how National Interests are carried out; but in Ethiopia, on the question of respecting the National Interest itself, as simple as right and wrong, between the people and its government, respectively. If you take Eritrea, Egypt, or Sudan, for example, although they exercise an autocratic rule against their people, they give great attentions to their national interests; but not the so called Ethiopian government. The fascist Derg, which everybody loves to hate, wouldn’t have done a total sell out like this. Even further, colonialists were engaged in fighting with others to keep the interests of the nation they controlled, to cool down the people and gain public support; but not Meles’s TPLF to its country. What a sad story! Had it not been the case that Meles and associates are true agents of Eritrea, they wouldn’t celebrate Eritrea’s victory in our capital, undermining the people. In addition, the mistake made in 1993 wouldn’t have been repeated this time. In other words, if Meles is an Ethiopian and works for the country, he might have not stopped our advancing army short of its goals, to protect Shabiya, using foreign pressure as a pretext. Also, he could have seized Asseb during the recent battle, or at least could have raised the issue on the negotiations – that took place after the war; rather than leaving it out to reward Eritrea. Doing so would have expiated – to some extent, his previous faults and fouls. Meaning, the Ethiopian people would have taken that step as a positive sign to reduce the level of suspicions they have against him. On the contrary, he is a man recidivist behavior, bought by Eritrean interests. The relentless dictator, Meles, and one of his proponents – the renegade Syoum Mesfin, also say that asking Asseb is an intention to regain the whole Eritrea, or a provocative call for a war. This actually is a fictitious and fraudulent conception that the Ethiopians wouldn’t buy. It simply serves dual purposes for Meles – to favor Eritrea and look good on the eyes of foreigners to gain a false peace-maker image at the expense of the Ethiopian people. When ever the Asseb issue is raised, Meles shows a frowned face, and gets upset. His opinion is always concurrent with Shbiya’s as regards to Asseb, leaving out the sovereign and legitimate rights of the nation he is ruling. Thus, let Meles know that Ethiopians are not interested in the feudal land of Seraye, his mother land, or that of Hamassien; so that he should not wage war with us misreading the map, and twisting things around. What we need is ours, Asseb with its people. Therefore, it is better to conclude that the proconsul Prime Minister is not one of us – not Ethiopian. But, although the country lacks a leadership to promote its cause, we will not stop from raising what the people demands. The deliberate conspiracy carried out behind door, to sell out Ethiopia’s landmark of the Red Sea Coast by the TPLF/EPRDF, and in particular by Meles and associates, remains as the biggest damage to the nation. It poses a threat to our national security. As you see it on page 11, the so called Ethiopian government not only failed to raise the issue, but also agreed with Eritrean terms on the conception of the coast and has gone an extra mile to say that Ethiopia has abandoned the claim of its coastal territories to permanently secure Eritrean benefits. The greatest obstacles facing Ethiopia today, with respect to this issue or the sovereignty of the nation in general, therefore, are found to be the agents of Eritrea led by Meles, who are acting in contravention of the law. They must be held accountable for all the sell out they did. As Professor Tecola Hagos, indicated it on his article, on 18 May 2002, titled “Rhetoric of Deception” about the Hague decision, Meles and associates have committed a serious crime, treason, punishable to the degree of the highest charge in the court of law which make them eligible to face it. Given this situation, therefore, they are supposed to be arrested immediately. But surrounded by highly paid traitor generals and opportunist cadres, they are still at large armed and dangerous. We are waiting that day to come. Meles and associates have made lots of political blunders. But, in order to see the tallest picture, leave aside the monopoly of the state power, the brutal mass murder perpetrated by the TPLF against its people, the mass imprisonment, absence of the rule of law, and financial embezzlement that the leaders are engaged in, for the moment; what angers Ethiopians the most is how they ignored highly sensitive issues that the survival of the country depends on, their shocking testimony, and on top of that, the active campaign of harassment and intimidations to keep everybody’s mouth shut — for the sake of implementing an unfair court ruling.. Ethiopians believe that a ruling where one party greatly benefits at a huge expense of the other will not bring a lasting peace; but a civilized way of having a dialogue for solving problems that affects both people, and a workable remedy in a win-win situation does. If that fails however, a confrontation seems unavoidable. We also know that war is ugly and destructive. But if there is no alternative what can you do? Asseb and its coastal environs must come by any means possible. If we keep our heads down and the hands tied up, the other natural enemy, starvation, will not stop from visiting our house, again and again, to take our people away as much as it wants. We argue that an access to the sea will help us to move in the direction where we wanted to go, and do something to our people; such as using our rivers for agriculture and reducing poverty. One of the components on this aspect is eliminating the huge port service cost that goes out from the Ethiopian side to the other party. If you don’t ask nobody gives, and if you fail to advance forward, no one retreats. We have to keep the ball in motion. In the final analysis of this topic, we would like to bring your attention to the focal point of the problem, we started with. The burning issue that we would like to see resolved or negotiated is shadowed by the false Algers agreement, negotiated by Syoum Mesfin and signed by Meles. On the Algers agreement, the TPLF/EPRDF government of Legesse Zenawi used his 30-member central committee to decide the fate of the 60 million Ethiopians in the wrong way. In playing this role, no one in the TPLF central committee would be exonerated. Even the dissidents, whom we give a credit for playing a decisive role during the recent war with the Shabiya, whose split originated from handling of the Eritrean issue itself, and divulged lots of information about the inner circle and power squabble to the public, seem shortsighted on the question of Ethiopia’s legitimate right to have access to the sea. Note also that Eritrea’s demand to use colonial treaties was passed at the presence of the dissidents. It is that miscalculation and unavailability of a single person amongst them to defend the nation, or to expose Meles’s repeated malicious act that brought such a shocking result of unexpected scenario we have now. When the dissidents talk about the sovereign right of our land, for example, their focus is limited to one corner of the nation, such as Badme, Zalambesa, and its surroundings, but totally forgetting the eastern side around Asseb. It seems that either Meles’s strong ‘anti-Ethiopia prophecy’ and life time agitations has persuaded them, or the conceptions of ethnic-federation they entertain, and which exists on the ground, blocked them not to see at a distant further than their house. As a matter of fact, the dissidents don’t consider the Asseb issue as their own, but someone’s out there in the Planet. For the common good of our people and the nation, a coordinated struggle is always the best choice. With this regard, then, the dissident’s voices in collaboration with other Ethiopians, in support of the greater cause, would have been helpful. But it seems that they are unable to get out of sectarian tendencies and to address their cause to a larger audience. Or they are not enlightened enough to have the necessary vision in order to see all the problems facing the nation. Also, be aware that we are not printing a libel here. Their actions while they were in charge, and the stand they chose to remain in silence on national issues after the expulsions, speaks for itself. Acting as the Lords of the manor, the dissidents do not seem interested for ‘a desert land of no value’ miles away from their camp, or the destitute people of Afar-Ethiopians within this surrounding waiting to be rescued. As they approved the cessation of Eritrea, in 1993, without popular support and an elected government, both the dissidents and Meles’s clique have accepted Colonial Treaties, again, to favor Eritrea, with no parliamentary debate and any public input. With this concession, the colonial treaties of 1900, 1902, and 1908 - what Eritrea wanted, are taken as the main tools for solving the boarder problem. What makes people saddening is that Ethiopia was not under any constraint to accept those colonial treaties; the TPLF leaders simply failed to represent their people, or to do the right thing. The truth, however seems that these colonial treaties were forcefully injected into us by the then powerful Italy, leaving out no choice for our nation at that time Ethiopians say, “A foolish food-server passes his relatives, fearing blame if he give.” Meaning, if he allocates a fair share, he wrongly thinks that others will complain. By the same talking, TPLF/EPRDF’s intentions, during the back-door diplomacy of the Algers agreement was to make the third party negotiators happy and give them credit as well securing a face saving opportunity for Eritrea, than to fight on behalf of the Ethiopian people. Therefore, our focus or target should be opposing the Algers agreement in particular. That is where things have fallen apart and the TPLF leaders have put a poison in the water, Ethiopians want to drink. Since we won the military part of the confrontation, things were supposed to go on Ethiopian terms. Using the strong bargaining position gained by the sacrifice of our gallant forces, the Ethiopian government was expected to put its demands in the forefront, in a take it or leave it situation, to corner Eritrea – such as invalidating the flawed Colonial Treaties and raising the paramount issue of Afar-Ethiopians in a clear way. But the wrong composition of a leadership, that includes an agent ring leader, opportunist foreign minister who handles the case, and careless collaborators, collectively have failed to use this situation brought by so many lives to Ethiopian’s advantage. Because of this, although it has lost the first round, Shabiya was able to score a point on the Algers political contest, using the PM, Meles as a backup player to net its goals. On this diplomatic maneuver, while Eritrea was able to gain the upper hand, or to make Colonial Treaties accepted, the contending party, Ethiopia has lost out for the simple reason of having no one to lead its team. Thus, the only alternative negotiators can see the different picture that we are talking about, at a different angle, will only be when the Algers agreement is removed from being used as a guide line for the ruling. For this to happen, we must struggle hard. As a rule of thumb, a government is supposed to carry out its tasks with the consent of the governed; but in our case; the position on national issues forced the government and its people asunder. The political standing is clear, and the struggle must continue - it’s us vs. them, or Ethiopia vs. TPLF/EPRDF. Our last chance and strength depends only on our people. All concerned Ethiopians around the world, political and civic organizations, Ethiopian intellectuals who guide us in dark times, teachers associations, students in all Ethiopian universities, and military commanders who believe on the Nation’s Interests rather than being used as instruments for Meles, have a big historical task and responsibility to play ahead of us. A concerted effort of all our people to stop the crime that the TPLF/EPRDF is committing, one after another, is a must. Writing and blaming is not enough as a means of deterrent, public disobedience should also be considered. We have to stand in a resolute manner. Please let us not fail the coming generation. We believe that further negotiations should take place with the exclusion of Colonial Treaties—to make it fair, by a reasonable and unbiased court; or what ever it takes should be transferred to the UN general assembly as before in the 1950’s to bring a lasting peace. Say no to Colonial Treaties. We must also oppose any relations with Eritrea, designed for the normalization process, in the form of economical, political, social or whatsoever, before the issue of Asseb and its environs is negotiated. We have to call louder to remove the mercenary dictator and his clique. Ethiopia’s access to the sea remains a legitimate right; nobody should be allowed to take it away from us. Victory to the Ethiopian people! Ethiopians in Northern California Back to main page! |