Let me first join previous
speakers in expressing my delegation’s deepest
sympathies and condolences to the families of the
victims and to the people and the Government of Kenya
on the terrorist attack at Westgate Mall in Nairobi.
It is almost two generations now since Eritrea
first begun to lodge petitions for justice with this
body. Sadly, in all of those instances, the Assembly
has persisted in ignoring Eritrea’s pleas, shuttering
its doors as a “closed monastery”. Those setbacks
notwithstanding, Eritrea remains firmly convinced
that the promotion of peoples’ rights and interests and
mutual respect among the community of nations will
remain precarious without an international body that
upholds the supremacy of international law and justice.
As such, our choice, like those of other peoples, has
been and remains the funnelling of efforts towards
expediting the reform of the United Nations.
To focus exclusively on the harm done to the people
and State of Eritrea may convey the false impression
of an aberration in an otherwise effective and well-
functioning United Nations. As it is, the particularity
of our case only amplifies the wider backdrop of a
United Nations debilitated by chronic weaknesses
and shortcomings. In any event, my message today
will focus primarily on the urgency of reforming the
United Nations and redressing the injustices committed
against the people of Eritrea as well as other peoples of
the world.
The negative experiences during the first 50
years of the existence of the United Nations and the
paralysis and constraints under which the United
Nations had to operate in the context of the realities of
the Cold War in a bipolar world accentuated the need
for structural reform of the United Nations at that time.
In Eritrea’s case, our inalienable right to independence
was trampled at the onset of the Cold War, since the
country was perceived as a mere pawn in the overriding
strategic rivalry of both super-Powers. Our liberation
struggle was likewise suppressed by both super-Powers
in an alternating fashion because of the same strategic
considerations and shifting alliances.
Yesterday’s history is too fresh in our minds to
induce in us any nostalgia for the Cold War. Our call
for reform of the United Nations is thus not influenced
by some innate preference for the return of the old,
bipolar configuration to replace the prevailing unipolar
world order. The fact is that the United Nations should
have undergone incremental reform and revitalization
during the 50 years of the Cold War. The end of the
Cold War was certainly the most auspicious moment for
undertaking that belated task.
Indeed, it is now clear in retrospect that had such
reforms occurred then, the wars and destruction that have
unfolded in the past 20 years could have been avoided.
However, the major Powers that controlled the General
Assembly and the various institutions and agencies
of the United Nations, through partial hegemony, felt
after 1991 that they were better positioned to secure and
consolidate their total domination of the United Nations.
They blocked any reform of the United Nations, and
so that historic opportunity for international peace and
justice to prevail was lost.
In the past 20 years, we have witnessed excessive
control over global resources and the creation of
spheres of influence, which has triggered international
instability; the use of force and coercion as primary
instruments for controlling global resources while
preventing and denying others the opportunity to acquire
comparable military capabilities and technology; and
the deployment of international financial institutions,
including the World Bank and the International
Monetary Fund, in order to control the global economy,
leading to an intractable global financial crisis with
lethal ramifications for the majority of the peoples of
the world. We have also witnessed the misuse of the
mass media and cultural centres in order to create
false images and to promote decadent value systems,
intimidate peoples and demonize any dissent; and the
employment of various subterfuges in order to control,
directly or indirectly, all international, continental,
regional, governmental and non-governmental bodies.
Those manifestations of the current world order can be
corroborated, beyond abstract analysis, by numerous
specific cases and evidence related to particular events,
places and time. That is precisely why the twenty-first
century requires a revitalized United Nations that
transcends a bipolar or unipolar world order, and that
is firmly rooted in the supremacy of, and respect for,
international law and justice.
As I have intimated, Eritrea, like other African
States that were formed during the colonial scramble,
should have attained its sovereign independence during
the process of decolonization that transpired in the
aftermath of the Second World War. The inalienable
national rights of the Eritrean people were, however,
compromised to serve the strategic interests of the
United States, which had emerged as a triumphant
Power. Eritrea was therefore doomed to colonial rule
by proxy. The people of Eritrea had to endure colonial
suppression for almost 40 years under successive
regimes, which were propped up, alternately, by the
United States for the first 23 years and by the former
Soviet Union for the subsequent 17 years. The Eritrean
people had to wage their liberation struggle under those
conditions, which exacted heavy sacrifices from them
to achieve their independence in 1991. That historical
truth, coupled with other similar phenomena, illustrates
the perils of a world order that is driven by the rivalry
of domineering super-Powers, and highlights the need
and urgency for an effective United Nations.
The Eritrean people were neither compensated
for the transgressions meted out to them nor given
respite in the subsequent years. As they embarked on
the arduous task of rebuilding their war-torn country,
they again became pawns in the broader Horn of
Africa/Middle East chessboard of domination and
influence and have suffered unjust and distorted policies
for the past 20 years. In that respect, border conflicts
that do not have political and legal justifications and
that were never raised prior to the independence of
Eritrea in 1991 were subtly fomented to ensnare Eritrea
in a spiral of crises.
Although the Boundary Commission had rendered
its final and binding decision in 2002, the spurious
border conflict that erupted under the Badme rubric
continued to simmer for 11 years due to obstructive
violations by the United States Administration. The
Eritrean people were also subjected to a sustained
human trafficking campaign and illicit measures aimed
at undermining economic growth and development,
as well as diplomatic and propaganda campaigns of
demonization.
Going even further, United States officials
imposed unlawful sanctions against Eritrea in 2009
through the Security Council. Four years on, they
insist on maintaining the sanctions, despite the lack of
any evidence or justification, by relying on the widely
discredited reports of the Monitoring Group on Somalia
and Eritrea.
Beyond Eritrea, the same approaches and policies
have exacerbated crises and further undermined
stability, development and cooperation in Somalia and
other parts of the Horn of Africa. Despite that massive
hostility and in the face of tremendous odds, the people
and Government of Eritrea have remained steadfast,
prioritized development efforts and the improvement
of citizens’ lives, and have worked persistently to
make their modest contribution to regional peace and
stability, including by fighting terrorism and piracy.
Their achievements, given the difficulties they faced,
have been remarkable, even though they fall far short
of their aspirations.
Looking forward, the people and the Government
of Eritrea are prepared to link hands with regional and
international partners, including the United Nations,
and to work for the betterment of their country for
peace, stability and regional integration in the Horn of
Africa and a fairer and more just world.
The transgressions that have been perpetrated
against the people of Eritrea and other peoples in the
past 20 years speak to the persistence of an unfair and
unjust global order and the absence of a strong and
representative United Nations. And yet, the telltale signs
of the advent of a new, promising era are discernible. In
that context, I add the voice of the Eritrean people to
other voices in the world to urge the General Assembly
to keep the flicker of hope alive in its current session
and to adopt timely resolutions aimed at a fundamental
reform of the United Nations. The fact is that the
Assembly has legal, moral and historical obligations
and responsibilities entrusted to it by the peoples of the
world that it cannot shrug off.
In conclusion, I urge the United Nations to adopt
practical resolutions that are commensurate with its
legal, political and moral responsibilities in order to,
first, uphold the rule of law; secondly, bring to an end
the invasion of our sovereign territories; thirdly, lift
the unlawful and harmful sanctions against Eritrea;
fourthly, terminate interventions that jeopardize the
peace and stability of the peoples of the Horn of Africa;
and, fifthly, deter all acts that breed crises, loss of life
and destruction.