Daya Gamage – US Bureau Asian Tribune – A Commentary
Washington, D.C. 18 November (Asiantribune.com): In a July (2007) report by the United Nations Monitoring Group on Somalia, Eritrean government was blamed as a major weapons supplier to the ousted Islamic Courts Union in Somalia against Somalia’s nascent government well supported by Ethiopia and the United States. Eritrea has been fingered as a source of arms for these insurgents in Somalia.
The U.N. report says the Islamist insurgents in Somalia have enough surface-to-air missiles, suicide vests and explosives to sustain their war against the internationally backed Somali government, largely due to secret shipments from Eritrea.
It says Eritrea has shipped a "huge quantity of arms" to the insurgents, known as the Shabab. The shipments continued despite U.N. efforts to bring peace to Somalia and the deployment of African Union peacekeepers.
Specific accusations revolved around a plane that made 13 flights from Eritrea’s capital Asmara to Mogadishu and the importation of SA-18 surface-to-air-missiles.
In a recent interview with Los Angeles Times, Eritrean president Isaias Afwerki, according to one commentator, “danced around the question” stating: “I still would like to know what is behind this allegation. Nobody is convinced. What are the accusations?”
The web site ThreatWatch.Org states, “Unsatisfied with merely supplying the Islamic Court Union with weapons, Eritrea is also harboring its leadership, a la another prominent member of the list of state sponsors of terrorism, Syria. Sheikh Hassan Dahir Aweys, the head of the Islamic Court Union, now resides in Asmara, Eritrea. Why should this concern the average American? The answer is simple as the sheikh was placed on a State Department list as an al Qaeda collaborator since shortly after September 11”.
In early September this year, a major gathering of figures opposed to Somalia’s current government was held in Asmara. The group included a number of prominent Islmists, whom at its conclusion formed the Alliance For The Re-Liberation Of Somalia. The sheikh was present at this meeting.
The assistance secretary of the United States Department of State for African Affairs Jendayi Frazer commented: “But clearly the fact that Eritrea is providing sanctuary for terrorists is best illustrated by the report that the sheikh was in Asmara.”
Dr. Frazer announced on August 17, which Asian Tribune reported, that Eritrea was being considered for inclusion on the State Department’s list of states sponsors of terrorism.
In a report prepared by the U.S. Senate Foreign Relations Committee last December it was alleged that Eritrean government was providing direct assistance to Sri Lanka’s separatist Tamil Tiger rebels.
Eritrea has been singled out by the international community, the United Nations and other international rights organizations as blatant violator of human rights, keeping a large number of ‘prisoners of conscience’ in jails for prolonged periods, its intolerance to dissent, disregard for rule of law and giving military assistance to many insurgent/terrorist groups around the world.
With this background, the Government of Sri Lanka announced Friday that it has established diplomatic relations with the Government of Eritrea, a nation in the African Horn.
Sri Lanka’s official government web site says:
“The Government of Sri Lanka and the Eritrean Government established formal diplomatic relations. An agreement to this effect was signed by the ambassadors of both countries in Cairo yesterday (15).
“Accordingly, on behalf of the Government of Sri Lanka, the ambassador for Sri Lanka in Cairo Mr. I. Ansar and on behalf of the Government of State of Eritrea, Mr. Fassil Ghebresellassie Tekle, ambassador of the State of Eritrea in Cairo signed the Agreement .
”Sri Lanka expressed its willingness to expand the existing friendly relations with Eritrea by formalizing diplomatic relations between the two countries at the high level meeting held between the delegations of the two countries during the 61st Session of the United Nations General Assembly in New York.
”Eritrea gained independence on 24th May 1993 and has been an active member of the United Nations. Sri Lanka and Eritrea have been closely working at international forums such as United Nations and Non-Aligned Movement since the creation of the State of Eritrea.
”Both countries look forward to work very closely and strengthen bilateral relations, particularly in the field of political, economic, cultural and other fields and for closer cooperation between the state institutions in both countries, a media release issued by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs informs.”
Sri Lanka is current faced with a very uncomfortable situation where major players of the international community, especially the United States, the leading members of the U.S. Congress and United Nations human rights monitoring bodies have charged that it is violating basic human rights, and that disappearances are on the rise, there is no transparency and proper mechanism to monitor, investigate and charge those who are responsible for rights violations, that the government is not adhering to international standards of human rights spelled out in the Geneva Conventions and UN Covenants to which the Rajapaksa administration is working overtime to refute the charges.
Unlike Eritrea, the international community and other major players have not branded Sri Lanka as a failed state or a ‘banana republic’ that has no rule of law or respect for human rights. The international community has recognized Sri Lanka as a vibrant democracy with periodic free and fair elections, freedom of speech with some limitations, nation largely that has rule of law and constitutional rights and right to dissent. Unlike Eritrea, Sri Lanka does not hold ‘prisoners of conscience’ except those who have been taken in to custody on national security in her domestic battle against the Tamil Tiger terrorists.
When Sri Lanka is currently waging a global diplomatic defensive campaign to clear her name it is unimaginable as to what motivated her to establish diplomatic ties with Eritrea which has no elected democratic government for the past one an half decades, no rule of law and respect for human rights, accused of providing military assistance to insurgents and terrorists in other countries, no constitutional guarantees for the 3.5 million citizens and utter disregard for dissent and free speech with thousands of ‘prisoners of conscience’ languishing in jails.
Eritrea is a member of the Common Market of Eastern and Southern Africa (COMESA) and the African Union (AU) but does participate actively in the AU. Eritrea maintains diplomatic relations with the United States, Italy, and several other European nations, including the United Kingdom, Germany, Norway, and the Netherlands. Relations with these countries became strained as a result of the 2001 government crackdown against political dissidents and others, the closure of the independent press, and limits on civil liberties. China is the only country in Asia that maintain diplomatic relations with Eritrea.
Eritrea's relations with its neighbors other than Djibouti also are somewhat strained. Although a territorial dispute with Yemen over the Haynish Islands was settled by international arbitration, tensions over traditional fishing rights with Yemen resurfaced in 2002. The relationship to date remains cordial. Relations with Sudan also were colored by occasional incidents involving the extremist group, Eritrean Islamic Jihad (EIJ)--which the Eritrean Government believes is supported by the National Islamic Front government in Khartoum--and by continued Eritrean support for the Sudanese opposition coalition, the National Democratic Alliance; however, Eritrea normalized relations with Sudan in 2006.
Does Sri Lanka, at a time when she is endeavoring to strike a balance between civil liberties and combating Tamil Tiger terrorism, want to manifest herself to the international community that she has a friend in Eritrea who could help to erase the impression of the major players of the international community that Sri Lanka’s human rights record is questionable?
What guarantee does Sri Lanka have that this new Sri Lanka-Eritrea Alliance will help enhance her image before the international community which has branded Eritrea as a ‘rogue’ state with blatant violator of human rights and Sri Lanka, despite its impressive constitutional rule, needs to improve her rights record and establish further transparency in investigations for rights violations?
Can Sri Lanka take cover behind Eritrea’s ‘impressive’ human rights record?
These are the questions Sri Lanka should have asked itself before establishing diplomatic relations with Eritrea.
Two persons would have given excellent analyses to this new found relationship Sri Lanka discovered in Eritrea: The current American Ambassador to Eritrea Dr. Ronald McMullen who served in the American Embassy in Sri Lanka as a political officer in the 80’s. McMullen assumed duties on November 08, 2007.
And the other: Ambassador Scott DeLisi, McMullen’s immediate predecessor, who served as the Head of the Political Section in the American Embassy in Sri Lanka in mid-90.
- Asian Tribune -
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