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A Week in the Horn 3.10.2008 |
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Minister Seyoum said Ethiopia, as current chair of the regional organization, the Inter-Governmental Authority for Development (IGAD), was determined to ensure the reality of revitalization for IGAD, to enhance regional integration, and promote peace, security and development. The Minister said Ethiopia appreciated the progress made in the implementation of the Comprehensive Peace Agreement in the Sudan. Equally, however, he pointed out that the international community had to bear its shared responsibility in this regard. Ethiopia, he said, supported the African Union position on the handling of the ICC-Sudan issue. He noted that terrorism was a scourge that impeded peace and development in any part of the world. Its occurrence threatened global security, and he believed it had to be addressed collectively; to this end, he said, Ethiopia attached great significance to the value of dialogue among civilizations. As a founder member of the UN it remained committed to multilateralism, and to the UN reform process.
The Minister devoted much of his speech to the Millennium Development Goals, agreeing with the Secretary-General that it was alarming that no country was likely to reach all MDGs by 2015. He said decisive and timely actions must be taken by both developed and developing countries to live up to their commitments. Referring to the Monterrey Consensus on financing for development, he called on developed countries to honour their commitment to devote 0.7 % of their GDP to Overseas Development Assistance. Pointing out that the MDGs provide the critical minimum for survival, he stressed that Ethiopia's priorities remained the eradication of poverty, sustainable development, and the ensuring of good-governance, democracy, and respect for human rights. Ethiopia, he said, had laid foundations for continued growth and democratization, building democratic institutions from the grass roots, and providing the necessary political space for responsible democratization. He said Ethiopia’s average growth rate of ten percent over the previous five years was continuing despite recent setbacks. For the first time in its history, Ethiopia was making real and meaningful economic progress. The Minister made it clear that Ethiopia appreciated all external assistance, but it was very conscious of the need for continued strong and enduring partnerships for mutual benefit, and for economic relations that provided greater flexibility in development aid, in the transfer of capital and in the removal of excessive indebtedness.
The observations and conclusions of the joint ministerial Troika on Somalia were positive and consistent with the spirit of partnership being forged between Africa and Europe. The two sides underlined their commitment to continue the deployment of AMISOM, and called for the international community to reinforce its support for the African Union's effort in Somalia, particularly within the framework of the UN. This is, undoubtedly, welcome solidarity and support for the Somali people. However, this spirit of partnership also needs to be followed by more vigorous action on the ground. It must be underlined that time is a critical factor in all these efforts. While at the end of the day, it is the responsibility of the Somali people and Somali political actors to decide the destiny of their nation, nevertheless the concerted and timely support of the international community remains crucial.
Significantly, for the first time the EU briefed the meeting about conflict situations in Europe; on previous occasions, briefings about these have always been one-way affairs. On the crisis over food and oil prices, the joint Troika expressed concern over the impact of the high prices on low income food-deficit and oil net-importing countries, and the adverse effect on the achievement of the MDGs. In this regard, the joint Troika reminded donor nations of the need to realize their pledges made at such international forums as G8 summit at Gleneagles and at this year’s Hokkaido G-8 summit. Climate change and migration were also on the agenda.
In Ethiopia, similar progress can be observed in the goal of achieving universal primary education and in the area of health. Primary School Enrollment reached 91% in 2006. It had been only 32% in 1990, and child mortality has decreased drastically. These achievements are attributable to sound macro-economic management, an agriculture led development strategy, a pro-poor development plan, infrastructural developments, and investments in agriculture, education, and health over a number of years. These have now all started to pay off.
Equally, it must be remembered that the efforts of African nations will have to be supplemented by the international community if the desired goals are to be achieved. As the latest reports have emphasized, the support needed from the international community has simply not been as expected, or needed. The most obvious example is the commitment by developed countries to allocate 0.7% of their GDP to overseas development assistance (ODA). So far, only five countries have met this proclaimed objective. In any case, it might also be noticed that Africa has been the least favored recipient of this aid so far. Following the High Level Event to discuss the MDGs in New York last week, Ethiopia certainly hopes this will now change. It is not in the interests of either Africa or the international community for this situation to be allowed to continue. Ethiopia is, in any case, determined to achieve its Millennium Development Goals, not merely for the sake of achievement, but because reaching these goals is an integral part of our broader development strategy. As we have frequently underlined, it is poverty that is the country's number one enemy.
The Prime Minister described Gandhi as a towering political figure and social reformer who played the pivotal role in India's achievement of decolonization, and as a major influence in the anti-apartheid struggle in South Africa. He was a humanist, a visionary and a spiritual leader,with his concepts of truth and firmness, non-cooperation, and non-violence. It was Gandhi who gave practical shape to the ideas of passive resistance, non-cooperation and truth as weapons to fight tyranny. The Prime Minister noted that these concepts could also be abused and even used for anti-democratic purposes by mobilization of bias and prejudice. He pointed out that Gandhi was often misunderstood, even accused of secretly supporting British imperialism.
The politics of non-violence and truth originated in Indian philosophy, but they were defined during Gandhi's twenty years in South Africa when he was exposed to African cultures that try to resolve conflict through truth and reconciliation and which accept responsibility and apology to allow for compensation and reconciliation. Gandhi was never parochial and he drew on the ideas of the great Russian writer, Leo Tolstoy, and the American, Henry Thoreau. This, Prime Minister Meles suggested, in part explained an influence acknowledged by Nelson Mandela, Archbishop Desmond Tutu, even De Klerk in South Africa, by leaders of the anti-colonial struggle in Africa, among them Kenneth Kaunda, Kwame Nkrumah and Julius Nyerere, by Martin Luther King, and most recently,Senator Obama who says he looks to Gandhi as an inspiration because he embodied the transformational changes that can be made when ordinary people come together to do extraordinary things. Mahatma Gandhi, indeed, truly straddled Asia and Africa, providing a bridge between continents, the Prime Minister emphasized.
Gandhi was committed to the dignity of humanity, to the downtrodden and the untouchable, indeed to everybody. He supported genuine and complete emancipation. He was insistent in his belief that poverty could and should be overcome, and in this, the Prime Minister stressed, as in so much else, he spoke directly to Ethiopia's war on poverty. His ideas, indeed, are central to the promotion of good governance, to peace and stability, to the provision of agriculture and food security, even to the Millennium Development Goals to which Ethiopia is committed.
For Gandhi, truth was a most potent force. Truth, knowledge and understanding, and reality, played a major role in calming conflicts, but, as the Prime Minister noted, it must be accurate knowledge and understanding, genuine truth and authentic reality, not false or invented. Non-violence as practised by Gandhi bore little resemblance to the activities of some recent “colour” revolutionaries.
The Prime Minister also spoke of the relevance of Gandhi today. He left no formal school of thought or political party, yet he remains exceptionally influential with his insistence on the value of dialogue and on the necessity for non-violence and peace, without which no development is possible. This, Prime Minister Meles noted, was particularly apposite for the Horn of Africa, a region which had suffered so much from lack of development and violence. Violence, he said, had become almost a habit, with too many benefiting from it, as for example in Somalia as the current upsurge of piracy along the Somali coasts underlined. Ethiopia had a long history of violence and conquest. It was only in the last two decades, the Prime Minister said, that it had begun to break away from this, but even then the climate of conflict between Eritrea and Ethiopia remained, despite the undisputed need of both states for peace and stability as the basis for development. He deplored the failure to reach any resolution of the dispute through dialogue. Africa, he noted, had also had a long tradition of violence imposed on it by the slave trade and colonialism and then decolonization. This went far to explain the lack of development and left Africa with the images of drought and famine, war and disease. It underlined the impossibility of resolving the problems of the Horn of Africa and Africa as a whole. We are well aware, he said, that it is impossible to resolve the problems of our region or of Africa without a climate of peace.
The Prime Minister made it clear the international community could also benefit from Gandhi’s ideas. We may, he said, have moved beyond the cold war, and away from the possibility of annihilation, but there remain plenty of problems, including today's major financial crisis with its world-wide implications, where Gandhi's concepts of non-violence and truth could hardly be more relevant. He mentioned India's role in the setting up of the Non-Aligned Movement which by definition involved a central element in Gandhi’s thinking. The Prime Minister noted that the Delhi Declaration and the Africa-India Framework for Cooperation, agreed in April, had underlined the strategic partnership between Africa and India. They provided a vivid exposition of their commonality of values and aspirations. It was he said a partnership infused with the principles of Gandhi, the universal values of solidarity, truth, dignity and self-respect, all needed to help create the associations and collaboration needed in an increasingly globalized and interdependent world.
Mahatma Gandhi may have been born in India, said the Premier, but he belonged to the world, to the international community. His message remained relevant to everyone; his legacy had to be protected. Gandhi's methods were, perhaps, not always relevant to every situation but Prime Minister Meles underlined that it was no exaggeration to say that the very survival of society and of the international community depended upon the truthful and accurate use of the Gandhian tradition of non-violence, in the Horn of Africa as anywhere else.
The BBC did at least contact Ethiopian officials and run some comment on the allegations. HRW, as usual, did not and made a series of claims for which a close reading of its 54 page report fails to provide evidence. It frequently uses words and phrases like “many”, “large numbers”, “dozens” etc. before noting briefly that the number actually sent to Somalia from Kenya was only 85, and of these Ethiopia announced in April last year that 41 were being held on suspicion of terrorist links. They came from 17 different countries. There was no secret about this, and despite HRW claims, all were given consular access, with the exception of one or two who refused it. They were not held in secret prisons. Nor were the representatives of any country, including the US, given a free hand to question the detainees. If HRW takes its own assertions seriously about US intelligence officers being allowed to maltreat the detainees, it does not know anything about the character of Ethiopians.
Despite HRW’s claims none of these people have been mal-treated. Indeed, one publicly testified to this when questioned by journalists last year, a point totally ignored by HRW. Most of the detainees were released last year. One still held is Bashir Makhtal. Although much has been said about his mistreatment, he has been seen by the Canadian Ambassador in Addis Ababa who has testified that he was in good shape. The conditions under which all the detainees have been held are similar to those for Bashir. It is, however, true that the speed of the judicial procedures and investigations last year could, no doubt, have been speeded up. But all this is now behind us, as will be made clear in due course. Incidentally, these people were not arbitrarily arrested. They were found in a theatre of war or trying to cross the Somali–Kenya border. There were strong grounds for suspicion of terrorist involvement. Under the circumstances of the time, it would have been irresponsible to leave them at large. They were sent to Ethiopia because of the lack of acceptable or secure facilities in Mogadishu. They were not held in secret or tortured. Ethiopia has not hidden the identity, fate or whereabouts of anyone brought from Somalia for investigation.
Ethiopia does, however, admit to having failed to inform HRW which has no standing in the matter, not least because of its continued and deliberate efforts to denigrate Ethiopia and its persistent refusal to acknowledge any of the information made public by Ethiopia. It is in the light of this, not out of arrogance, that Ethiopia takes grave exception to the “recommendations” that HRW makes to the Government of Ethiopia.
Piracy is, of course, an offence under international and national laws. States are required to suppress piracy and prosecute offenders. The International Maritime Organization (IMO) is the United Nations specialized agency tasked with the responsibility of ensuring the safety of international navigation. It is now taking initiatives to counter piracy and armed robberies at sea, with a particular focus on Somali piracy insisting that the United Nations Security Council should take action. The Security Council has passed Resolution 1816 (2008) affirming the Law of the Sea of 1982 is the applicable legal framework to combat piracy and armed robbery. The Council, noting that the Transitional Federal Government of Somalia lacks the capacity to prevent piracy or patrol and secure the international sea lanes off the coast of Somalia or Somalia's territorial waters, has urged interested states “…to increase and coordinate their efforts to deter acts of piracy and armed robbery at sea in cooperation with the TFG.” It has authorized interested states for the next six months to enter the territorial waters of Somalia, in cooperation with the TFG, in order to repress piracy and armed robbery at sea.
Surprisingly, some in our region have attempted to exonerate these criminals, claiming that they have been forced into piracy to make a living. The pirates themselves have claimed they are acting as guardians of the Somali coast preventing foreign ships from looting or trespassing on Somalia’s territorial waters. Eritrea has recently issued statements claiming these piratical actions are resistance to the pillaging of Somalia’s marine resources. This association of itself with international piracy says a lot about Eritrea’s current attitude to the international community.
To succeed with the fight against piracy, mobilization of international action needs to be more coordinated and planned. In addition to the express authorization by the Government of Somalia to allow third parties to take action against pirates in its territorial waters, the United Nations should encourage the deployment of adequate resources to bring perpetrators to justice and provide the legal framework to arrest, prosecute or extradite pirates. The Intergovernmental Authority for Development (IGAD) should also take the lead to establish a framework for cooperation on the suppression of piracy in the sub-region. One step in the right direction is the upcoming meeting of legal experts to consider the draft IGAD Convention on Extradition, organized by the IGAD Capacity Building Programme against Terrorism. This would be more effective it could also incorporate a regional framework agreement to cover combating piracy and robbery at sea, supplementing actions taken by the United Nations Security Council and the IMO. It must, in conclusion, be underlined that the whole issue also highlights the fact that there has been an absence of the required international co-operation against piracy, perhaps indicating how far the international order is in flux at present.
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