Eritrea, 2001

Please

allow me to extend to you, Sir, on behalf of the

delegation of Eritrea, warm congratulations on your

election to the presidency of the General Assembly at

its fifty-sixth session. I am confident that, under your

wise and able leadership, our deliberations will come

to a fruitful conclusion. The Eritrean delegation assures

you of its full cooperation and support.

May I also extend to your predecessor, Mr. Harri

Holkeri of Finland, our deep appreciation for the

skilful and wise manner in which he conducted the

deliberations of the fifty-fifth session.

I also wish to take this opportunity to extend

heartfelt congratulations, on behalf of the people and

Government of the State of Eritrea, to Mr. Kofi Annan

upon his well-deserved election for a second term. I am

certain that our Organization will benefit immensely

during his second term, as it did during his first, from

his vision, wisdom, competent leadership and selfless

dedication. I also wish to congratulate him and the

United Nations on their well-deserved awarding of the

2001 Nobel Peace Prize.

Allow me to express, on behalf of the people and

Government of the State of Eritrea, profound sorrow

and to extend sincere condolences to the people and

Government of the United States of America in this

their time of grief following the hateful attacks of 11

September. We also wish to extend our heartfelt

sympathy and condolences for the victims of the

painful aeroplane crash of 12 November.

The Government of Eritrea condemns the

barbaric act committed against innocent civilians by a

few craven terrorists. From the outset, we declared

solidarity with the people and Government of the

United States against those heinous acts.

Terrorism violates the most basic of human

rights: the right to life. Therefore, we must all unite in

the protection of all our citizens against these

dastardly, desperate acts perpetrated by individuals or

organized terrorist networks. There should be no

impunity for such criminals.

Humankind entered the new millennium with

optimism and hope — and for good reason. It had

recognized, through bitter experience, the folly of war

and conflict and the virtue of peace, good-

neighbourliness and cooperative relations. It had had

the opportunity to review past achievements and errors

and to identify sources of strength and weakness. It had

evolved lofty norms, values and principles. It had

established refined procedures and created effective

mechanisms to guarantee their implementation.

Unfortunately, however, humankind had not yet

mustered the necessary determination or the collective

will to translate that vision into reality. It is evident

that it has not yet learned the ways of comprehensive

peace. The full blooming of a culture of peace and

development remains so near and yet so distant.

Consequently, two years into the new millennium,

we continue to witness with dismay immense poverty

and want in the midst of massive wealth in the world,

deprivation in spite of the enormous advances in

science and technology, wilful violations of human

6

rights and manifestations of mutual hatred and

hostility.

The statistics are dismal. Yet, we must not be

unduly alarmed, if only because it is too early to be

discouraged by unfulfilled and unkept promises. On the

contrary, we must decide to confront the challenges,

including the depressing disparity between the rich and

the poor, and issues of war and peace and violations of

human rights.

We must collectively address the new forces that

are being unleashed by science and technology,

including globalization. Globalization can serve as an

effective instrument for establishing an equitable and

just relationship between the rich and the poor and for

promoting sustainable development to the mutual

benefit of all. However, this can be achieved only if a

cooperative mechanism is established immediately,

during this critically early stage of the twenty-first

century, before we are overtaken by the speed of the

technology and information revolution. It is equally

important that the capacities of the poor nations be

increased without delay in order to ensure their

effective participation in the global economy.

It must also be acknowledged that peace, security

and stability are closely linked to development. It need

not be emphasized that there is no development without

peace, and no peace without security. To this end, all

efforts must also include development concerns.

The world continues to be plagued by wars and

conflicts that have spilled over from the previous

century, in spite of the international community’s

efforts and full commitment to peace, security and

stability.

The African continent has perhaps fared the worst

in the last few years, as it has been beleaguered by

repeated economic catastrophes, political disruptions

and inter-State and intra-State conflicts.

It is a source of deep concern to us that

globalization has had a severely negative impact on

African economies. It has deepened their

marginalization and kept them from benefiting from

the global economy. Africa suffers more than any other

region from extreme poverty and, indeed, from

recurrent famine. Plagues like malaria, tuberculosis,

HIV/AIDS, diarrhoea and a host of other debilitating

and fatal tropical diseases have, in many cases, reached

biblical proportions. The decimation of populations has

had horrendous consequences on many already weak

economies.

In addition to economic crises and poverty,

conflicts, wars and civil strife have prominently

afflicted Africa during the past decade and a half. In

1999, close to 20 conflicts were wreaking havoc on the

continent. It was in acknowledgement of the gravity of

the matter that the Organization of African Unity

Summit, held in Algiers in 1999, decided to declare

2000 as the year for ending conflicts and giving

momentum to peace.

It was an auspicious year. There were

encouraging signs in the Sudan, Somalia and the

Democratic Republic of the Congo, and a

comprehensive peace agreement was signed between

Eritrea and Ethiopia. Yet much remains to be done. It is

encouraging to note that Africans are making great and

sustained efforts to resolve the conflicts in Sierra

Leone, Guinea, Guinea Bissau, the Great Lakes region,

Somalia and the Sudan at the regional level.

In the same vein, a just and durable solution to

the problem in the Middle East must be found through

the creation of a fully independent Palestinian State.

The international community must be involved

more meaningfully in assisting the peoples of these

countries. Yet, the primary responsibility for resolving

conflict, achieving national reconciliation and

establishing peace, security and stability lies with the

peoples and leaders of these countries. It must also be

emphasized that, while any regional assistance

rendered is to be appreciated, it must be predicated

upon the sovereignty and the territorial integrity of the

assisted countries. Such assistance should be based on

lofty principles and aimed at serving the interests and

well-being of the countries in question.

The Horn of Africa has been a zone of conflict

for the past four decades. Peace, security, stability and

development are the collective responsibility of the

States of the region. It behoves them to earnestly

promote, protect and consolidate cooperative relations

on the basis of mutual respect for each other’s

sovereignty, unity and territorial integrity, renunciation

of the threat or use of force, peaceful settlement of

disputes, good-neighbourly relations and peaceful

coexistence.

Since its independence in 1993, the State of

Eritrea has espoused national security and development

7

policies and programmes based on the premise that our

security and development interests are closely linked to

regional security and prosperity. To this end, it actively

engaged itself in the revitalization of the

Intergovernmental Authority on Development (IGAD)

and the propagation of IGAD’s new mission. IGAD is

now fully engaged in peacemaking and conflict

resolution and coordinating cooperative efforts among

its member States. In this context, my delegation

wishes to extend special thanks to President Daniel

arap Moi of Kenya and President Ismail Omar Guelleh

of Djibouti for their dedicated, unbiased and untiring

efforts to bring peace to the Sudan and Somalia

respectively.

The search for durable peace, security and

stability must be the collective commitment of all

member States of IGAD and it must be anchored solely

in the welfare and best interests of the peoples

concerned. Peace in Somalia is vital, and it should not

be held hostage by any Government under the pretext

of preserving its national security. History and the

Somali people will make them responsible if they

become an obstacle or try to hinder peacemaking

efforts in the region.

The world welcomed the signing of the

Agreement on Cessation of Hostilities, a

comprehensive peace Agreement between Eritrea and

Ethiopia. It has expressed the hope that the

implementation of the Agreement will proceed

smoothly and will lead to a durable peace.

Both countries owe it to their people and to the

entire international community to establish a durable

peace as soon as possible. We face the challenge of

meeting the hopes and great expectations of our people

and of the international community. Eritrea solemnly

reiterates not only its abiding commitment to the peace

Agreement and its speedy implementation, but also its

undertaking to fully cooperate with all its partners in

the peace process.

The peace process has made significant progress.

However, I should like to inform the Assembly that key

provisions of the peace Agreement remain

unimplemented because the Government of Ethiopia

has failed to comply with its obligations. It has, to date,

obstructed the establishment of the temporary security

zone and the establishment of a direct air route

between the capitals of the two countries. Moreover, it

has refused to submit operationally useful information

on its minefields in the temporary security zone and to

release civilian detainees and war prisoners.

It has also resumed the deportation of Eritreans

and Ethiopians of Eritrean origin, in blatant violation

of the comprehensive peace Agreement between the

two countries. The last round of deportation occurred

on 25 June 2001 and was strongly condemned by the

United Nations Mission in Ethiopia and Eritrea

(UNMEE) and the International Committee of the Red

Cross.

Under these circumstances, it is surprising that

Ethiopia has recently accused Eritrea of placing its

army on high alert and of deploying its troops along the

common border. This baseless accusation, refuted by

the Secretary-General’s Special Representative in

Eritrea and Ethiopia, is designed to hide Ethiopia’s

plans and intentions to sabotage the peace process by

provoking hostilities.

The Government of Eritrea has consistently

undertaken, in good faith, to comply fully with the

provisions of the Algiers Agreement, in spite of the

intransigence of the Government of Ethiopia and its

violation of it.

The Government of Eritrea wishes to extend

sincere appreciation to, and applauds the effort of, the

peace partners, particularly the United Nations, the

European Union, the Organization of African Unity

and the Governments of the United States and Algeria.

It also extends its profound thanks to the friends of

UNMEE for their immense contribution to the peace

process. At the same time, it urges the international

community to exert extra effort to persuade the

Ethiopian Government to fulfil its legal obligations

under the Algiers peace Agreement and the United

Nations Charter without delay.

Eritrea has always been consistent in its

condemnation of terrorism, irrespective of the

perpetrators or victims. It has itself become the victim

of terrorist attacks by elements organized, financed,

trained and armed by the Ethiopian Government. These

terrorists are often joined by Ethiopian troops and

militias in their heinous crimes against innocent

civilians. We urge the international community to

condemn these barbarous acts and to demand that the

Ethiopian Government cease its activities and hostile

acts as soon as possible.

8

In conclusion, despite its regrettable experience

with the United Nations in the early days, Eritrea is

fully convinced that the Organization has played a

crucial role in the maintenance of international peace

and security and has contributed immensely to the

promotion and protection of human rights, as well as to

economic development and social progress.

Eritrea is fully and unequivocally committed to

strengthening the United Nations. To this end, we

believe that the United Nations must proceed with a

process of change and reform that will reinforce the

principle of equality among all its Members and

guarantee its impartiality and neutrality. Hence, we

fully endorse the position of the Non-Aligned

Movement on membership of the Security Council and

the question of a periodic review of its structure and

functions. We are confident that much will be achieved

under the visionary leadership of Mr. Kofi Annan

during his second term of office.