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A Week in the Horn 10.10.2008 |
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Earlier in the week, on Tuesday, the United Nations Security Council unanimously adopted Resolution 1838 calling on “…all states interested in the security of maritime activities to take part actively in the fight against piracy on the high seas off the coast of Somalia, and to deploy naval vessels and military aircraft…”, and to employ “…all necessary means, in conformity with international law…” to repress piracy. In June, the Security Council adopted a resolution to empower states to send warships into Somalia’s territorial waters to repress piracy and armed robbery at sea. There have been growing expectations this week that a deal is being reached to release the Ukrainian vessel, M V Faina, with its cargo of tanks and other weapons, seized on September 25.
Meanwhile, journalists reported there had been a mortar attack on Villa Somalia, the Presidential palace in Mogadishu, on Monday, causing four casualties among TFG security forces. Al-Shabaab admitted the attack. The reports also claimed that a response by TFG and Ethiopian forces against the Bakara market had killed 15 civilians and injured 42. In fact, as an AMISOM press statement pointed out, there had been no involvement of any Ethiopian troops in any actions in and around the Presidential palace. AMISOM also pointed out Al-Shabaab had been expelled from the Bakara market area some days before. TFG security forces were, of course, very well aware of this. It appears, however, that journalists failed to notice this or else deliberately ignored the decision of elders in Bakara market to order Al-Shabaab out of Bakara and surrounding areas. The fact that Al-Shabaab has been expelled from Bakara makes it far more probable that the shelling of the market was carried out by Al-Shabaab in response to its expulsion.
In fact, the Al-Shabaab units expelled from the Bakara market by the local population retired to the Medina district and to Danyile. There was a successful security operation in the Medina district over the weekend; and among the results were the capture of two mortars and the destruction of another with Al-Shabaab suffering six casualties in the process. Medina, like the Bakara market, is now clear of Al-Shabaab, something welcomed by the local inhabitants. Significantly, the new Benadir administration is now being given full access in and around the Bakara market and in Medina as well as elsewhere in the city. It might also be noted that Al-Shabaab’s attempt to close Mogadishu airport, although unsuccessful, has been widely criticized by all parties. Mogadishu airport is, of course, used by commercial and humanitarian traffic, and businessmen in Mogadishu have been angered by Al-Shabaab’s attempt. Another Al-Shabaab operation that has been universally condemned was the seizure last week of offices of the International Medical Corps and the looting and destruction of medical supplies and equipment, as well as of supplementary and therapeutic foods for malnourished children. Al-Shabaab’s claim that the IMC and CARE International, which have been operating in Bay and Bakool regions since 1991, had to leave because they were “dangerous” is regarded with derision by the population of those two regions. In neighbouring Hiiraan region, there were demonstrations following the assassination of the chairman of an elders’ council in Belet Weyne, a day after he had denounced Al-Shabaab’s threats against IMC and CARE International.
In fact, Ethiopian forces have, as a matter of policy, been limiting their military activity for months, leaving almost all security operations to the TFG’s forces. Over recent weeks, Ethiopian troops have also been largely involved in the restructuring, reorganization and training of the TFG security forces. This follows the decisions taken with the signing of the ‘road map’ in Addis Ababa in August. As part of the agreement, experts from Addis Ababa have been co-ordinating the reorganization of TFG security forces with officers on the ground. They have made considerable progress, as demonstrated by recent TFG security successes.
UNMEE, in fact, is now rapidly winding down its activities and withdrawing its last military elements from Ethiopia, following the UN Security Council's termination of its mandate at the end of July. The Mission has been removing its equipment and assets, including the last 320 military personnel from Ethiopia in recent weeks. Contingents from Jordan, Kenya and India left in August. The Uruguay aviation contingent went at the beginning of this month and the remainder of the Indian force will go this weekend. The last uniformed member of UNMEE will have left by the end of the month. Some non-uniformed, civilian staff will, however, still remain a little longer. All contingent-owned military equipment has now been transported from Adigrat to Djibouti, though details of the redeployment of a helicopter and two Antonov transports, and of other non-military UN equipment, has yet to be decided.
For their part, the Peace and Security Council and the Permanent Representatives Committee stressed that the UN Security Council had the primary responsibility for the maintenance of international peace and security, and underscored the urgent need for predictable, flexible and sustainable funding for any AU-led peace support operations, as well as for the mobilization of required logistical support. This was particularly the case given the provisions of Chapter VIII of the United Nations Charter and the fact that, in any deployment of peace support operations, the AU would be acting on behalf of the entire international community, including the United Nations. The PSC and PRC stressed the commitment and efforts deployed by AU member states towards the promotion of peace and stability in Africa as already demonstrated by the peace-keeping mission in Darfur, and in Somalia, Burundi and Comoros. What Africa lacked, they underlined, was not political commitment but the finance and logistics which donors, and particularly the United Nations, had available. They emphasized that Africa, facing diverse socio-economic problems, simply didn’t have the capacity to contribute finance to peace support operations at the moment. Regarding the capacity of the African Union to manage human and financial resources, they reiterated the AU’s determination to rectify any shortcomings and detailed current efforts to do this. They stressed that such problems should not be an excuse to avoid financing AU peace support operations. The PSC and the PRC expressed their disappointment over the attitude of the United Nations towards Somalia. The UN Security Council was still not ready to deploy peacekeeping forces. When the UN is requested to deploy peacekeeping forces, it usually states that there is no peace to keep. This raises certain questions: whom else the United Nations could expect to bring peace to Somalia? What has to be done to get the UN's support? Why is the UN interested to send peacekeeping forces to some places and not others? Obviously, Mr. Prodi was in no position to answer these questions at the time.
During his visit, Mr. Prodi also met with Prime Minister Meles. They discussed ways to strengthen the AU’s peace-keeping brigades. The Prime Minister emphasized the importance of improving the capacity of these units through the provision of training, material and technical assistance. He also stressed the need for the international community to devise a lasting solution for Sudan and provide financial, material and diplomatic support to ensure peace and stability in Somalia.
Trade between Ethiopia and India has increased exponentially since the entering into force of a bilateral trade agreement in March 1997. Under that agreement both countries are expected to offer Most Favoured Nation (MFN) treatment to each other's export items. However, both recognize that the increase in trade has been mostly in favour of India, and the restoration of an improved balance of trade between them was high on the agenda of the JTC meeting. Indeed, the objective of the visit of the high-level Indian delegation to Ethiopia was precisely to address this issue. One possible solution, among others now under consideration, is the inclusion of items of Ethiopian export interest in India's list of Duty Free Tariff Preference (DFTP) commodities. Among the items which are not currently enjoying preferential access but are significant Ethiopian exports to India are sesame seed, gum arabic, cotton, kidney beans and chick peas. Placing these on the DFTP list would certainly benefit Ethiopia and help redresses the negative trade balance. India is now seriously considering this possibility. Both sides also agreed to finalize a double tax avoidance agreement early next year, to build confidence and enhance investment and trade.
India is at present the second largest foreign investor in Ethiopia, with its investments now reaching to over $3.5 billion. The major areas of investment include floriculture, infrastructure, agriculture, mining and sugar. The Tendaho Sugar Enterprise being built with a $640 m. soft loan, the largest ever granted by India. This involvement can be attributed to the conducive investment climate now created in Ethiopia. According to Ato Ahmed, Indian investors are engaged in some 349 projects, now at different stages; some 75 Indian companies have received investment licences in the agriculture and floriculture sectors alone. India intends to expand its investment into the areas of telecommunications and IT development, leather, textiles, and tea farming in the next five or six years. Mr. Ramesh's visit was preceded by the visit of a 17 person delegation from the Indian leather industry. The minister noted that India also hoped to invest in power-generation, including the setting up of the 38 MW Awash IV hydro-electric project, and bio-fuels. Indian state-owned banks have been in the forefront in making loans available to Ethiopia, and it is expected that the financing of a railway construction project will materialize soon.
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We might note that the United States, like the United Kingdom and other states, has immensely detailed legal guidelines for the regulation and control of charities and societies. One only has to look at the Revised Model Non-Profit Corporation Act (1987) in the US to see just how specific and detailed US regulations are. This act has 17 chapters, 33 sub-chapters and 178 sections ranging across every possible aspect of activity. The act covers everything: registration, filing of documents, the mode of selection of officials, qualifications of officials, standards of conduct for officials, procedures for meetings, requirements for membership of boards, articles for mergers, responsibilities for submission of reports to the Secretary of State, inspection of reports and of financial statements. The requirements are detailed, onerous and very tightly time-controlled. The requirement to pay any due taxes for example has to be met within 60 days. The annual reports required to be delivered to the Secretary of State have to be produced within the same time limit. Failure to comply with these regulations will lead to dissolution. And a dissolved charity, even if it retrospectively fulfils all requirements, has to wait for two years before it can be re-licensed.
The Senator also appears to have misunderstood the motives of the Ethiopian government in drafting the law, using emotive language that implies that the government is out to hurt the interests of children and the disabled, and adversely affect human rights, gender equality and even conflict resolution. All this is simply untrue. In fact, the Ethiopian constitution, which is the supreme law of the land, guarantees human rights and gender equality as well as the rights of children and people with disabilities. Senator Feingold alleges that the draft law would give the Ethiopian government “enormous discretionary powers that could easily be used to repress political opponents and dissidents.” There is no mention of “political opponents” or “dissidents” in the draft law, and it is impossible to guess what the basis of the Senator’s allegations can be. However, if he is implying that limits on foreign funding for rights-based advocacy groups, reserved to citizens and domestic civil society groups according to the draft law, would curtail funnelling of foreign funds to political parties and dissident groups in Ethiopia, it is an entirely different matter. The law in Ethiopia, as is the case in most self-respecting sovereign countries including the United States, does not allow for foreign funding of political parties, much less funding for violent dissidents or terrorists.
In his letter, Senator Feingold encourages the Secretary of State “to continue to voice opposition to this bill’. He suggests she should issue threats to Ethiopia that “passage of this legislation will have negative consequences on U.S.-Ethiopian relations.” He goes on to say that “Ethiopia is an important partner of the United States, but respect for civil society and genuine democratic progress are essential if we are to have a healthy and positive long-term bilateral relationship.” As Senator Feingold knows perfectly well, Ethiopia respects civil society and is absolutely committed to building strong institutions for a democratic state. In the last decade, it has made great progress to that end. Ethiopia believes that democracy is an organic process that should be nurtured with the full participation of all sections of society. Ethiopia will always appreciate international partnerships based on mutual respect. However, the Senator’s threat that U.S.-Ethiopia relations will suffer if Ethiopia’s democratically elected parliament passes a piece of legislation of which he disapproves, not only infringes the sovereignty of Ethiopia, it also undermines the basic principles of sovereign equality that underpin relations between countries. Threats of “negative consequences” to bilateral relations are not something to be lightly thrown around. We should like to underline that we value the good relations that exist between our country and the United States. We hope that Senator Feingold will come around to share that view.
We also appreciate the fact that there is a US presidential election under way and both Senators and Congressmen are playing their part in this. However, we do not believe that misleading comment on Ethiopia or Eritrea should be part of this process, directly or indirectly. Nor do we think Senators or Congressmen should try to influence Americans of Ethiopian or Eritrean origin misleadingly. Congressman Payne, well-known for his repeated efforts to support any and all Ethiopian opposition, this week attempted to appeal to Eritrean Americans. Considering Congressman Payne’s repeated and public commitment to human rights, his listeners may have been surprised that he failed to raise the issue of human rights in Eritrea during his three day working visit there earlier this year. Congressman Payne described Eritrea as “very remarkable,” and said he had been very impressed by the activities of the Eritrean Government, and that he had agreed with President Issayas on many points. In the light of these comments, can anyone still take Congressman Payne’s profession of support for human rights in Africa at all seriously?
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