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IS
UNMEE NEUTRAL? WE DOUBTED FROM THE START AND WE DOUBT IT NOW MORE THAN EVER. According
to several news sources of October 11, 2002, the UNMEE made an official protest
to the Ethiopian government that a group of Ethiopian villagers and militiamen
entered the so-called Temporary Security Zone (TSZ). According to the press releases, the UNMEE accused the
Ethiopian villagers and militiamen of entering into Eritrean territory. We
contacted people in the area to find out what exactly happened. Thus, we
gathered the following report by interviewing local people.
According to their accounts, some Eritrean villagers, accompanied by
Eritrean militiamen and by the UNMEE soldiers, came with their cattle to the
Ethiopian side of the border and intermingled their animals with the Irob cattle
that were already on the grazing meadow. When an Ethiopian herdsman, who was at
the pasture with his cattle, asked them why they came and what their intentions
were, a UN soldier approached the man as if he were going to explain to him
something and abruptly assailed the man and started to take hold of him. The
traumatized Ethiopian managed to free himself from the control of the UN soldier
and screamed for help. At that point, another Ethiopian who was in the area and
happened to be armed, shot in the air to warn the intruders. When they heard the
gunfire, some Ethiopian militiamen who were in the vicinity rushed to the area
shooting in the air. Shortly thereafter, the UN soldiers and the Eritreans
retreated to the Eritrean side of the border.
According to the interviewees, the Ethiopian militia did not follow after
them. According
to our sources, therefore, the incident did not happen in the TSZ,
but actually on the Ethiopian side of the border as a result of the
confrontational incursion of the UN soldiers and the Eritrean militia. It is
evident, thus, that the Ethiopian villagers in the area were simply acting in
self-defense when the intruders crossed over to Ethiopian territory in an
unusual and menacing demeanor. Hence, the UNMEE distorted the matter and
misinformed the world community regarding the factual occurrence, apparently to
conceal their biased practices. Furthermore,
we came to find out that the incident did not even occur in the locality called
Aromo, which lies by the northern border of Irob, as referred to by the UNMEE.
The incident actually took place several kilometers away from Aromo in
the western section of Irob in the locality named Gamado. The
partiality of the UNMEE is not new and has been going on since it started its
mission in the area. Now, they are telling us that the incident that took place
on the Ethiopian side of the border, because of its own provocation, happened in
the Temporary Security Zone (TSZ). This is totally unexpected from a force that
is supposed to be neutral. The motive cannot be other than a pro- Eritrean
preliminary gambit for the upcoming demarcation. Armed
men from the Eritrean side have been entering deep into the Irob territories and
abducting people and rustling cattle for the last several months. Just to
mention a few, two young men, Mr. Kidane Halibo Hagos and Mr. Gerey Abraha
Gebray, were abducted from the Irob village of Wankabo last August. Eyewitnesses
informed us that the abductors handed the abductees to Eritrean authorities in
Senafe. The source confirmed that the Eritrean authority took them to the
Eritrean town of Adikeyih. No further information about them has been received
since then. In another incident, last September armed men entered the Irob
village of Waratle at night and kidnapped two other men, Mr. Dawud Abrahim and
Mr. Fessuh Debessay Zeweldi, at gunpoint. Nobody knows anything about their
whereabouts since then. These are in addition to hundreds of Irob farmers
abducted during the occupation who are languishing in Eritrean prisons and labor
camps. Nevertheless,
the Chief of Staff of the UNMEE said, in his media briefings of October 11th,
“I do not think that there is any pending investigation in which a person
still remains abducted”. During the same media briefing, the Director in
the office of the SRSG said: “when someone reports that someone is abducted it
is taken seriously by the Force until it turns out not to be so --- it is
not easy for the ordinary person to know when they are on the other side which
is not their country”. First of all, the people in the area know their land
very well; therefore, what the Director is trying to convince us of is
completely baseless. Second, the UNMEE officials admitted, during the press
briefing, that the “villagers along the border had complained about abductions
at gunpoint and widespread cattle rustling.” Nonetheless, they are telling the
world that there is no person that remains abducted. The whole pretense of the
UNMEE, therefore, demonstrates total disregard for villagers on the Ethiopian
side of the border. The
Irob people have been repeatedly appealing to the UN peacekeeping forces in the
area to do something to stop the frequent incursion into their territory by the
Eritreans and the abduction of people and rustling of their domestic animals.
But, the UNMEE did not do anything to stop it, nor did they protest it to
the Eritrean authorities. On the contrary, it officially protested about the
resistance the Ethiopian militiamen demonstrated when Eritrean militia
accompanied by the UNMEE forces crossed into their territory and unscrupulously
stated that that territory belonged to Eritrea. The
UNMEE has been partial since it was dispatched into the area and this time it
made public its bias. Specific comments made by the Chief of Staff, Colonel
Rajesh Arya of UNMEE in response to this incident were completely inappropriate
for a body that is supposed to be a neutral party. This clearly
demonstrates the UNMEE’s partiality in this issue. He stated, “The villagers had made threatening gestures
and abused the Indian battalion’s peacekeepers, who had approached them to order
them to return to Ethiopian territory.”
Is it Colonel Arya’s job to determine what is Ethiopian territory and
what is not? Is he acting in his
impartial role by making such statements? Obviously
not! This is irresponsible
favoritism. We would like to remind them that deciding which piece of land
belongs to whom is not the UNMEE soldiers’ mandate. We
just hope that the series of unjust events that are taking place in Irobland and
other border areas are not simply a pretext for the UN to eventually carry out
some predetermined plans to make Eritrea appear a victim and thereby to entitle
her to what is not hers. Unfortunately,
time and time again evidence from the area is pointing in that direction.
It is sad that the defenseless villagers were pushed to the point of
raising axes and sticks to call on the authorities who have lent deaf ears to
their cries. The
Irobs are frustrated because of continuous abuses and injustice taking place
against them. Hence, there is no other choice for them but to defend themselves,
their territory and their possessions with anything available to them, and they
will definitely continue to do so whatever the cost may be. We would like to
point out that there cannot be reconciliation of the two peoples nor can there
be peace in the region by suppressing one side and favoring the other. We
condemn any forced eritreanization of the Irob people, misappropriation of their
land and possessions or displacement of them from their territory. As
we repeatedly said, there will never be a permanent peace in the area without a
fair settlement of the conflict and we warn that that will affect both sides. We
appeal to all Ethiopian organizations and Ethiopians at large to support the
plight of the Irob and other Ethiopians affected by the Eritrean invasion and
subsequent arbitrary decision by The Hague. We also appeal to the world
community to follow closely the demarcation process in the area, engage in it,
and pressurize the powers implicated in it so that justice prevails against
partiality. We call on the
Ethiopian government to follow the situation closely and to take appropriate
actions in defense of its people and territory.
This is a chance for the Ethiopian government to speak up about the
abuses befalling the Irob people in particular, and all Ethiopians living on the
border areas in general by the Eritrean armed forces and the so-called
peacekeepers. Back to main page! |