To say the sanctions on Eritrea are “politically motivated” is to state the obvious because all sanctions are politically motivated. The question is: does the Government of Eritrea have the political chops to navigate its way in a political world? The answer, very clearly, is it does not. But the government and its supporters have been saying, no, this does not signify the Eritrean government is inept; it means the United Nations, and particularly the United States, is unfair.It would be redundant to discuss the genesis of the sanctions but we can discuss where we are, and the way forward:
On the sanctions:
1. Recently, the Eritrean MoI argued that the real question is not whether they should be lifted but why they were placed to begin with;
2. I would argue, as Ambassador Andeberhan wrote in his book, that the Isaias Gov “virtually dared the Security Council to sanction it.” I would go a bit further and say it practically begged the Security council to sanction it;
3. In a continent whose member states instinctively recoil at any Western or UN sanction of an African country and, when it happens, ignore it (eg: Libya, Zimbabwe), the Isaias regime did the unthinkable: it somehow managed to get Africa to set a precedent and endorse sanctioning an African country, which it hadn’t done since Apartheid South Africa;
4. The PFDJ wasn’t done getting Eritrea sanctioned. Its continuous defiance ensured even tougher sanctions in subsequent years. Whereas the first sanction was specifically targeted against the regime (arms embargo, asset freeze and travel bans on “individuals to be named”), the subsequent sanctions carried with them the stigma of discouraging investment (in theory at least: given the fact that the PFDJ’s investment policy ensured the country is always ranked dead last in world ranking of Ease of Doing Business, none would have come anyway particularly given the labor pool of conscripted youth);
5. This ተለኻኺምና ንጥፋእ cowardly policy of the regime was consistent with the policy it pursued during the war to ensure its officers were not targeted while the National Service were spared on the basis of their uniforms; in this case, the regime was using the people as “human shield” from UN sanctions;
6. Despite all its protests, the Isaias regime brought the sanctions upon itself when it allied Eritrea with armed Somali extremists determined to overthrow an internationally recognized government (Somali President “Formajio” is a product of that), as well as its refusal to acknowledge its conflict with Djibouti and deal with it which it started doing AFTER it was sanctioned (!);
7. Despite all its protests, the sanctions were not fully enforced as the US intervened to spare the “individuals to be named later” who were going to be listed in the UN’s travel ban (none were ever listed and they moved about freely), just as it would later do by preventing the UN from disclosing and bringing to trial officials at “the highest level of government” who committed crimes against humanity, when the UN’s Commission of Inquiry identified them and was ready to present them to a tribunal;
8. As it often does, the Isaias regime only makes things worse. While the Somalia issue is largely off the table now (one of the two causes of the sanctions), the Djibouti case remains, supported by the Africa Bloc;
9. The only outstanding issue is that of prisoners of war and the Isaias regime’s refusal to be forthright about the issue. It is entirely possible that it has accounted for every POW, but because it had been caught in a lie before (whereas it claimed it had no POWs, 2 escaped and testified to the Somalia Eritrean Monitoring Group, then later 4 were released with Qatari mediation/bribe) its credibility on the issue is shattered;
10.After repeated refusals to comply with the sanctions resolutions, its refusal to meet with the Chair of Sanctions Committee and even reply to the letter he sent the Permanent Representative, show that the Isaias government has learned nothing, and it continues to stumble its way through this. As does its miscalculation that once Ethiopia and Somalia sign off (thus the hurried invite to the Somali president to visit Eritrea), the sanctions were guaranteed to be lifted. Thus the MoI editorial that the question is not whether the sanctions should be lifted but why they were imposed to begin with (hint: because you are politically so inept you should not hold any power higher than traffic cop, if that.)
11. Finally, here’s something that is a shame of not just the government, not just its supporters, but a stain on the entire population of Eritrea. In all the talk of whether there were 6 or 12 Djibouti POWs, there are long descriptions of their names and ranks, and pictures and stories and the government’s alibis. Meanwhile, the Djibouti government has said that it held 17 Eritrean POWs. And it released their names to the SEMG. Nobody, except 2 opposition-affiliated individuals and orgs, has ever raised their issue. Their names are as follows:
1. Binyam Mengistab,
2. Mohamed Mahmud Abrahim,
3. Shishay Zejarayas Weldemariam,
4. “Kuwaja” Halemikael Gebreslade,
5. Yonas Berektb Msgna,
6. Tesfu Habtezgy Nuguse,
7. Ahmed Mohamed Feki,
8. Fishaie Kubrom Tekle,
9. Asfaha Araia Teklesenbet,
10. Tesfu Beyne Gebreab,
11. Merhawy Teklehaymanot,
12. Nuguse Mana Andu,
13. Beraki Tekleab Gebrekidan,
14. Kesete Sbhatu Nuguse,
15. Tekleweyni Hadgu Abadi,
16. Ayob Haileab Habtemariam
17. Tesfu Weldemikal Fruzin.
12. There are many (so many) reasons why the Isaias government should resign but topping the list has to be its absolute indifference to, and callousness with, the lives of Eritreans, including those whom it sends in harms way. To-date, it has not mentioned them, never mind advocate for them, because they are inconvenient to its tall tale that nothing happened and it was all a fabrication. If you are thinking “they may have a point”, recall how inhumane the regime was when Lampedusa happened and shocked the world and we were all grieving.
13. The interests of most of the countries of the Horn and the Arab Gulf are for the sanctions to be lifted. What is sad for Eritreans is that their government has learned no lessons from sanctions: they were imposed in 2009 because it virtually dared the UN to impose them. Meanwhile, the government, its supporters and many who are not supporters, continue to argue that this was a “political” case and there was no justification for their imposition. The facts say otherwise, and to claim they are not is further evidence of the government’s abdication of responsibility and accountability.
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