Saturday - March 11, 2000

Semere Russom, Ambassador to the US from Eritrea speaks at Truman College

Article by Larry Pyrz

Ambassador to the United States from Eritrea, Semere Russom visited Truman College on Chicago's north side to address community leaders and representatives of the press, to bring all concerned parties up to date on the reasons behind the conflict between Eritrea and Ethiopia.  In addition to the background, he provided an overview on the current status of the shuttle diplomacy carried out by the Organization of African Unity (OAU), United Nations and the US.    According to the facts available, Eritrea and Ethiopia define the conflict as a 'border dispute'.  The reality of the situation goes far beyond what might be considered merely a border incursion.

As part of the shuttle negotiations carried out under the supervision of the OAU, UN, and US, Ethiopia has yet to identify exactly what parts of the border are in dispute.  In addition, they accuse Eritrea of aggression, demanding that Eritrea withdraw from territories claimed as Ethiopian territory before any permanent cease fire can occur.  The territory in question was demarcated in colonial times between Ethiopia and Italy, the colonial power that occupied Eritrea at the time. 

According to Ambassador Russom, the war that broke out was not expected.  Also, the Ethiopians were the aggressors while Eritrea responded by defending itself.  When Ethiopia was asked to identified the so-called occupied territories, they could not and did not.  When the first peace proposal was presented, Eritrea accepted it and in the Ambassador's words, "Ethiopia ran away from it".

During the course of the shuttle activities between Addis Ababa and Asmara, the Ethiopians continued to stall the peace effort in order to purchase weaponry, tanks, and aircraft, as well as hire mercenaries from North Korea in order to wage war.  If Ethiopia is allowed to follow through with its current actions, it sets a bad precedent for other African countries who also might wish to dispute colonial border agreements.  Since Eritrea controls the Red Sea ports, Ethiopia has been receiving its armaments through ports in Djibouti. The UN and its members have urged Djibouti to remain neutral and the outcome of these latest revelations has yet to be seen. 

By their aggressive behavior and blatant militarization, the unpopular minority ruling regime in Ethiopia has shown that it is not truly interested in peace.  In fact, elections are to be held in May of this year but this is now in question.  Ethiopia has already gone on record to say that the elections will not be open to international observers.  In addition to this posture, the Ethiopian people do not support the war though the faction in power is attempting to mobilize them through use of propaganda.  Ethiopians are being 'brainwashed' into believing that they are inferior to Eritreans.   In the opinion of this writer, such behavior causes one to wonder if this is perhaps a ploy on the part of the minority government to stay in power.

Unfortunately, the OAU has a limited capacity to deal with these situations.  Even with the backing of the EU, US, and UN Security Council, their capacity to manage crisis and conflict is questionable.  There are those who attempt to draw parallels to other crisis events such as Kosovo.  The Eritrean and Ethiopian issue is much larger yet has taken a position of less significance in world opinion.  The question is why this is so?  Somehow, this conflict needs to be brought to the front page of world awareness and not relegated to the back half of our daily news papers.  According to Ambassador Russom, the only solution to the conflict is demarcation of the border based on existing agreements.  Demands for withdrawal under the threat of war are not acceptable alternatives.  Ethiopia continues to be the aggressor while Eritrea agreed with every peace proposal put forth.  When will Ethiopia be made accountable for their actions?

Peace must come to the this issue soon.  As long as Ethiopia continues its aggressive posture, there can be no peace.  It is up to the world community to be aware of these events and make their opinions know to their respective leaders.  If you read this and are interested in commenting to your elected officials, the contact information can be found at CAPWEB in the links page of Where's It At?