UNITED
NATIONS, July
17 -- The
dysfunction of
the UN's
sanctions
committees is
exemplified by
the current
Eritrea
report. There
was no
consensus on
releasing it,
as some argued
there was no
evidentiary
support for
its claims.
But it was,
predictably,
leaked to
Reuters which
rather than
put it online
cherry picked
its view.
We
have previously
noted that
since Reuters
bureau chief
Louis
Charbonneau
has been
conclusively
shown to have
leaked to a UN
official an
anti-Press
document
that was
labeled and
promised to be
internal to
the ostensibly
independent UN
Correspondents
Association,
him reporting
leaks that go
the other way
must be seen
in that
context.
See document
here, story
here, audio of
Charbonneau
here.
But
tellingly the
country at
issue,
Eritrea, tells
Inner City
Press it has
not been
provided with
a copy of the
report. That
is
dysfunction.
For once with
a country
mentioned (and
slandered, it
says) in
sanctions
reports is a
member of the
Council:
Rwanda. And
the questions
it has asked,
for example of
Department of
Peacekeeping
Operations
chief Herve
Ladsous, have
not been
answered.
But at least
Rwanda is in
the room.
Eritrea is
not. Given
that
imbalance,
Inner City
Press will for
now publish
this from the
Eritrean
Mission to the
UN:
Eritrea
has
not yet
received the
report
although it
is, and
remains, a
concerned
State. This
regrettable
pattern has
almost become
a norm as
Eritrea
continues to
be denied full
and timely
access to the
periodic
reports
submitted by
the SEMG. The
situation
further
provokes an
important
question: why
resort to
elaborate
measures of
preventing
timely and
full access to
the accused
party if the
contents of
the report are
indeed a
result of
rigorous,
verifiable and
professional
investigation?
The
report failed
to produce
material
evidences that
establish
Eritrea's
support for
armed groups
in Somalia in
violation of
the relevant
UNSC
resolutions.
This fact is
critical
because
Eritrea’s
alleged acts
of stoking
instability in
Somalia were
the 'principal
justifications'
for
the original
imposition of
the sanctions
still in
place.
The
Group failed
to respect its
mandate: On
several
occasions,
Eritrea and
many members
of the Council
have expressed
their serious
misgivings on
the proclivity
of the SEMG to
exceed its
mandate and
probe into
matters
outside its
purview in the
course of
preparing its
periodic
reports. This
unwarranted
demeanor is
again
manifested in
the SEMG’s
current
report. A case
in point is
unsolicited
analysis of
the internal
political
situation in
Eritrea and
issue human
trafficking.
The Group’s
tendency to
overstretch
its mandate on
Eritrea goes
contrary to
its
unwillingness
to investigate
Ethiopia’s
low-intensity
war against
Eritrea aimed
at “regime
change”.
·
Failure to
respect
minimum
evidentiary
standard: As
usual it
relies on
sources such
as
“defectors”,
“unnamed
diplomats”,
and
“authorities
in an East
African
country”.
a.
Although the
report does
not provide
any material
evidence of
Eritrea
extending
financial
and/or
military
support to
Al-Shebaab or
any other
armed group in
Somalia. It
nonetheless
insinuates the
existence of a
continuing
threat to
peace and
security in
Somalia by
misconstruing
incidental
contacts that
may have been
historically
cultivated
with certain
individuals.
Eritrea
supports
earnestly the
efforts of the
Government of
Somalia to
stabilize the
country.
Eritrea
upholds the
unity,
sovereignty
and
territorial
integrity of
Somalia and
supports the
Federal
Government. It
encourages all
Somalis to
engage in
constructive
dialogue and
national
reconciliation,
and opposes
all negative
intervention
in the
internal
affairs of the
country. Yet,
the report
speculates, in
disparaging
tones, that
Eritrea’s
relations with
the Federal
Government of
Somalia must
be based on
‘tactical
considerations’.
This is
presumptuous
and raises
serious
questions on
the manner and
substance of
the SEMG's
judgment and
conclusions
b. The
report also
accuses
Eritrea of
possible
violation of
the arms
embargo. The
conclusion is
predicated on
the fact that
the central
government
garage enjoys
business
relations with
several
countries. The
government
garage
mentioned in
the report
houses
civilian
transportation
vehicles as
well as
construction
and
agricultural
machineries.
Naturally, it
has
cultivated,
throughout the
past years,
technical
cooperation
arrangements
with several
companies
based in
different
countries in
order to
ensure and
enhance the
government’s
efforts to
build its
infrastructure.
These
technical
cooperation
arrangements
have no
military
components
whatsoever.
The SEMG has
not produced
any contract
that the
government
garage has
executed
anytime in the
past for the
purchase of
weapons for or
on behalf of
Eritrea.
Accordingly,
there are no
grounds for
the SEMG to
recommend “an
import
notification
of certain
categories of
civilian
equipment and
spare parts"
on the central
government
garage.
Eritrea
discerns in
this
recommendation
another
malicious
attempt to
impede its
development
efforts.
· The
sanctions were
imposed
hastily and
are totally
unjustified.
And now there
is absolutely
no basis to
maintain them.
The main
original
reason for
their
imposition was
Eritrea’s
presumed
support to
Al-Shabaab,
which has long
been proven to
be
non-existent.
On Djibouti,
Eritrea
remains
committed to
the
facilitation
of the State
of Qatar on
all aspects of
the
differences
between the
two neighbors.
The time,
therefore has
come, if it is
not overdue,
to lift the
unfair, unjust
and
counterproductive
sanctions on
Eritrea.
Sanctions are
supposed to be
an extreme
measure and
there is no
legitimate
reason for
this extreme
measure to
continue to be
imposed on
Eritrea. The
arms embargo
on Eritrea
contravenes
its
inalienable
right to
self-defense
when its
territories
remain
occupied in
breach of
international
law and
relevant
provisions of
the UN
Charter. Its
economic
implications
on a country
that is making
modest but
solid economic
and social
progress
cannot be
understated.
NOTE:
Beyond
publishing the
above provided
by the
Eritrean
mission, we
question: when
it is shown
that the major
Western wire
service's
representative
has gotten so
close to the
administration
he is supposed
to cover that
he leaks
documents to
the
authorities,
what happens?
Charbonneau
immediately
gave to the
UN's top
accreditation
official an
internal
document that
he and the
other
Executive
Committee
members had
promised three
minutes before
would remain
only inside
UNCA. Click
here for
document, here
for
story.
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