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Statement by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs on the Security Council's Latest Presidential Statement on the Situation between Ethiopia and Eritrea |
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The Security Council issued a Presidential Statement
on 30 April 2008, once again condemning Eritrea for its lack of cooperation.
The Council’s condemnation of Eritrea’s attitude is on its
deliberate acts humiliating UNMEE and driving it out of the Temporary
Security Zone (TSZ). It is indeed regrettable that the Security Council
does not want to address directly Eritrea’s flagrant violations
of the Agreement on Cessation of Hostilities of 18 June 2000.
Eritrea responded to the statement through its
Permanent Mission in New York saying, among other things, that "[d]espite
all of the exaggerated accusations and misplaced blames... Eritrea maintained
good cooperation with UNMEE." However, the Security Council and the
Secretary General know full well that this claim by Eritrea and all the
other assertions contained in their Press Statement are misleading, and
downright shameless misrepresentation of the situation between Ethiopia
and Eritrea as well as between Eritrea and UNMEE/UN.
Eritrea knows that ‘virtual demarcation’
is a legal fiction with no basis in international law, which cannot serve
as a basis for moving forward with the peace process. Nevertheless, Eritrea
prefers to hold on to the fiction because in the final analysis, what
it is afraid of is peace between the two countries whose realization would
for sure pull the rug from under the feet of the dictatorship in Eritrea.
What is regrettable is that it continues to
be difficult for the Security Council to realize that Eritrea has demolished
the Algiers Agreements. On its part, Ethiopia has stated repeatedly that
this is the crux of the matter. There can be no justification whatsoever
for the violation of a bilateral treaty which brought to an end a devastating
war between Ethiopia and Eritrea. In this connection, it should be recalled
that the Claims Commission found Eritrea liable for launching this war
of aggression in violation of the UN Charter. If reminding is at all necessary,
it should also be recalled that the TSZ which is now for all intents and
purposes taken over by Eritrea in violation of the Algiers Agreements
is a security zone established as the result of the withdrawal of Ethiopian
troops as stipulated in the Agreements. In the face of such unlawful conduct
by Eritrea, Ethiopia has repeatedly stated that it is incumbent upon the
Security Council to take punitive measures under Chapter VII of the United
Nations Charter in accordance with Article 14 (a) of the Algiers Agreement
on Cessation of Hostilities. Moreover, it should be underscored in no uncertain terms that the allegation by Eritrea of “occupation of sovereign Eritrean territories” has no basis whatsoever. It is clearly stipulated in the Algiers Agreement of December 2000 that the question of territorial transfer does not arise before the completion of the physical demarcation of the entire boundary. Again this claim by Eritrea is another confirmation of the fact that Eritrea has no interest in a comprehensive and lasting settlement of the dispute between the two countries.
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