Eritrea Tyrant Holds UN Peacekeepers Hostage

Commentary

17 February 2008

It is firm, real and official: Eritrea tyrant Isaias Afewerki let the world body know in no uncertain terms that he is holding UN Peace Keepers in Eritrea hostage until his demands for the UNSC to enforce the boundary decision are met. He does that by immobilizing the peacekeepers after severing necessary fuel supplies and even attempts to starve them by restricting food provisions.

Talking to reporters after briefing the Security Council on Friday 15 Feb 08, Jean -Marie Guehenno, the undersecretary-general for peacekeeping said "We're in a situation where it's getting harder and harder to stay, and it's getting harder and harder to leave. And that's an untenable situation", when asked about the situation of the peacekeepers.

"they leave Eritrea once the Ethiopians have withdrawn from our sovereign territory. And therefore this temporary relocation is not acceptable.’’ Eritrea’s permanent representative to the UN, Araia Desta told reporters on the same day when asked about the UN troops.

There you have it: Textbook hostage situation. How is that short of the “T” word?

“Russia's deputy U.N. ambassador Konstantin Dolgov said Eritrea's challenge to the U.N. force's movement and operations was "unprecedented" in U.N. peacekeeping history. "It's very dire. It's totally unacceptable that a Security Council-mandated peacekeeping mission is being obstructed by one of the parties,". "Eritrea has to reconsider — seriously reconsider its posture on this issue and to lift all the restrictions", added Dolgov.

“The situation was predictable. "We saw it coming, I think, didn't we? Because of the obvious lack of cooperation from the Eritrean authorities," "This is obviously a very disturbing situation." Added Indonesia's U.N. Ambassador Marty Natalegawa coming out of the council’s meeting.

Ambassador Natalegawa hit the nail on the head. Tyrant Afewerki’s confrontation with the UN peacekeepers has been indeed predictable right from the first day when it all started in November of 2005: It was not all aimed at getting the peacekeepers out of Eritrea but using them to blackmail the UNSC into taking action vis-à-vis the boundary decision. The rationale behind this suicidal gambit is the notion that since the UN is fundamentally reluctant to disengage from a volatile conflict region, it would rather relent to blackmailing than withdrawing peacekeeping force from the area and risk re-escalation of the conflict. That might sound plausible but it hit bottom this time around and Eritrea ruler got what he wished for: The UN did not cave in to his demands. It started relocating the peacekeepers from Eritrea to Ethiopia swiftly and noticeably.

Apparently taken aback by this UN action, Eritrea ruler decided to tighten the noose on the UN peacekeepers by preventing them from leaving Eritrea and hence taking them hostage until his tyrannical demands are met. In addition to facing fuel restrictions and severed food supplies, “U.N. deputy spokeswoman Okabe said there had been one incident in which U.N. personnel were threatened and their equipment seized and other vehicles were stopped by Eritrean defense forces and prevented from entering Ethiopia”. How is that nothing but deploying terrorist means to achieve political objectives?

Isaias Afewerki has been terrorizing the people of Eritrea for over 16 years now. Today tyrant Afewerki is terrorizing the world body too. Is the UN going to let him get away with it?

Talk about “UN’s prerogative to relocate to Ethiopia and that it does not concern Eritrea”. Eritrea ruler’s action has certainly denied the UN of its prerogative to relocate and the relocation does concern Eritrea for why would they be prevented from relocating?

A statement issued Friday,15 Feb 08, by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Eritrea said the tyrannical government of Isaias Afewerki opposes the relocation of UN peacekeepers to Ethiopia because it “is at variance” with the Algiers Peace Agreement. Give me a break. “Virtual Demarcation” is at variance with the Algiers Peace Agreement for the real deal is to demarcate the border physically on the ground. But Afewerki did not object to it. In fact he accepted it as 'the best that could ever happen to the border' regardless because it works for him.

By taking UN mandated peacekeeping force hostage, Eritrea ruler is now on a head-on collision with the UN. Under such circumstances, what options does the UN have? For now “The Security Council expresses its determination to closely monitor the situation and to consider further appropriate steps for the safety and protection of the Mission and its personnel.”

For worst case scenarios please read Scott A Morgan’s article: Is Eritrea Playing With Fire by Confronting the UN?

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