Eritrea: Independence Day, which one?

By M. Filli A.

May 05, 2003

I deferred this question for so long because of Woyane’s aggression that placed a huge question mark behind the territorial and national sovereignty of Eritrea. Raising this issue didn’t make sense then, for it was a time when the very political existence of our country was being threatened and challenged at an international court of law- The Hague.

This year, we are celebrating our Independence Day at a time when The Hague dealt a final and crushing blow to Ethiopia’s challenge to Eritrea’s territorial and national sovereignty in no uncertain terms and our country’s territorial sovereignty has been legally reaffirmed and determined once and for all.

Yes, we are celebrating our Independence Day at a time when some Eritrean erudite, acting on behalf of every body’s guess, is belittling the significance of the international border demarcation between Eritrea and Ethiopia, which was a matter of life and death to Eritreans and for which cause tens of thousands of dear Eritrean lives were sacrificed, by equating it to a plane, artificial, and imaginary delineation that exists between counties and administrative zones as in Eritrea, trashing Eritrean pride as “whatever it is” to be meaningless unless it espouses religious ethics “to forget, to forgive, and to reconcile”, preaching things they don’t practice in their own backyard to others- hypocracy at its best, and invoking ethnic demagoguery, when the Eritro-Ethio conflict is not ethnological but political contradiction, to declare and “Let the Healing Begin” just like that.

And yes, we are celebrating our Independence Day at a time when, referring to The Hague verdict in his recent interview with RFI, our president correctly declared “For Eritrea, the chapter is closed”. Indeed, Mr. President. From now on, it is the written obligation and commitment of the Guarantor Nations to defend and implement the decision of the EEBC peacefully or by use of force if necessary, and should Ethiopia renege on the Algiers Agreement, then Ethiopia will have to go to war with the Guarantor nations, not Eritrea, for this is a decision they have to defend and implement by all means necessary as stipulated in the agreement. Hence, there is no need whatsoever, for Eritrea to shed a drop of blood over EEBC decision because the contradiction is now between Ethiopia and the international community.

Forgive me for digressing, but now to the issue at hand that was triggered by two conflicting reminders about our upcoming Independence Day: One celebrating 12 years of Eritrea’s National Independence (since May 24, 1991), and the other one celebrating only 10 years (since 1993) and details Eritrea’s accomplishment in this short period of time. To the proponents of the latter, I say strictly speaking it is even less than that because if one takes away the two years it took to repel Woyane aggression and at least one year of legal wrangling in The Hague, then the effective time period for all what our country accomplished becomes only 7 years at most? By the way, wasn’t some body doing something between 1991 & 1993? Just a humble pointer!

The event of 1993 is described as “formal”, “official”, or “legal” Independence Day of Eritrea. But, what about the event of 1991? Was it “informal”, “unofficial”, “illegal” Independence Day or simply “the other” Independence Day”? Wasn’t the human sacrifice Eritreans paid not good enough to make May 24, 1991 official Independence Day? Whether or not we celebrate one, the other, or both has significant relevance to the geo-political history (the very being) of Eritrea and the meaning and essence of our national liberation struggle. As a matter of fact, the international media keeps reminding the world that “Eritrea gained independence in 1993 following a referendum which allowed its secession from Ethiopia”, remarks consistently included at the bottom of any and every article about Eritrea without any mention of 1991, and the historical academia has followed suit as well. Now, is this a malicious destruction and distortion of Eritrea’s geo-political history or is there any scintilla of truth to it?

Since the talk is about national independence, a brief recap of how it all started is well in place.

Like all colonial territories, Eritrea was first established as a distinct political entity (Nation State) as a result of Colonialism. But unlike all colonial territories, Eritrea was not disposed of in the form self-governing, nationally independent, and distinct political entity at the end of colonialism, 1941. Instead, various and varying international forceful obstacles prevented Eritrea’s national independence (GB, UN/US, forceful annexation by Ethiopia). Eritrea had to overcome all those obstacles by whatever means necessary and against all odds in order to gain national independence. Ethiopia’s annexation of Eritrea in 1961 declaring it to its 14^th province was meant to be the last forceful means to prevent Eritrea’s national independence and an attempt to make Eritrea appear like part of Ethiopia. Ethiopia’s “final act” did not start but culminated Eritrea’s quest and struggle for national independence into an armed struggle after all peaceful means since 1941 had failed. With that, Eritrea’s rightful quest for national independence remained forcefully denied until the dawn of May 24, 1991.

May 24, 1991 marks the Day when Eritrea crushed the last forceful obstacle to its legitimate quest for national independence, the will and aspiration of the people of Eritrea to de-colonize Eritrea since 1941 bear fruits, and Eritrea emerged as a self-governing and nationally independent State. Not independence from Ethiopia, Ethiopian occupation forces posed only the last obstacle that had to be and were militarily eliminated and gotten rid of on this last Day of our bloody journey to our national independence, for which huge human sacrifice was paid. That is the Day when the world was witnessing with a great sigh of relief how Eritrea’s national independence led to the demise of communism in one more African country and the crumbling of one of the most brutal communist regime of Ethiopia. Yes, on that Day, the world witnessed how Eritrea’s national independence led to the liberation of the people of Ethiopia from the grips of the fascist Mengistu Regime. That is how and when Eritrea’s national independence was determined, decided, and attained. And as our president recently said, all that couldn’t have been achieved “without the participation of the people of Eritrea all over, inside and outside the country for 30 years”. And that is a solid testimony to the will and aspiration of the Eritrean people for national independence? And there couldn’t be any thing that is louder and clearer than the sacrifice of well over 60,000 lives to express the will and aspiration of the Eritrean people for national independence, I might add.

1993: The referendum thing.

This is not about whether the referendum was right or wrong. There is nothing wrong with consulting the public about the issues it must decide in any form or shape. It is rather about the implications of the referendum that have become a subject for malicious destruction and distortion of the geo-political history of Eritrea and the essence, significance, and meaning of our liberation struggle.

Between April 23 and 25, 1993, a referendum was conducted in Eritrea under the auspices of the UN and following is my understanding of it. I will stand corrected if wrong:

It was my understanding that the referendum was merely an act of formality to put on paper what has already been decided and achieved militarily in 1991 because a referendum whose outcome was obvious not only to Eritreans but also to Ethiopians and the international community has no other purpose but pro forma.

It was also my understanding that the purpose of the referendum was not to concede to secession from Ethiopia thereby admitting that Eritrea was part of Ethioipia until 1991 and hence justifying and validating Ethiopia’s annexation of Eritrea in 1961.

It was my understanding as well that Eritrea was conducting the referendum voluntarily.

That being what it is, I recently got to hear that the rationale behind the referendum was to seek political legitimacy for Eritrea’s national independence! Now, wait a minute, no country(s) challenged the political legitimacy of Eritrea’s national independence in 1991 unless certain conditions were met? In fact the biggest of all countries, the USA accepted Eritrea’s independence (G.W.H.Bush) then. Nor did the international community in any form threaten to deny Eritrea political legitimacy unless it meets certain conditions? Why would they challenge Eritrea’s political legitimacy when they know Eritrea’s patented answer is to conduct a referendum whose outcome is obvious to all of them? So, what is the rationale behind seeking political legitimacy when the international community did not and had no reason to question it? Beat me on this, guys.

In my humble opinion, Eritrea didn’t get anything out of the referendum that Eritrea wouldn’t get without it. Political legitimacy is a matter of skilled diplomacy. While I am proud of the referendum of 1993, it remains only part of our past history. May 24, 1991 is part of our past and future history and will be celebrated as long as Eritrea exists for generations to come.

The Woyane look at the referendum through their wishful glasses and consider it to be a kind of “victory in defeat” and add it to their archive of lies and sell it to their people as if Eritrea was part of Ethiopia but let it secede via a referendum in conformance with the right of nation to self-determination, a right they only preach but will never practice when it comes to the nations they are oppressing. The international media bought into these lies not because there is any truth to it but as a face-saving measure for mighty Ethiopia whose army was crushed by tiny Eritrea.

Long live May 24, 1991, the Day Eritrea was born as self-governing and nationally independent State

Congratulations all on our 12^th Independence Day

Eritrea will prevail.

M. Filli A.