Eritrea, 2013

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.