Questions for the International Community on the Ethiopia-Eritrea Border Demarcation

We would like the International Community to answer for us the following questions that would result from implementation of the blunders contained in the uncorrected Hague decision.

1. A major newspaper in Italy has exposed the horror of Eritrea's compulsory military camp known as Sawa and labeled it a "Rapes Camp". It is not only this Italian newspaper, but also consistent reports from news agencies and foreign observers inside Eritrea that have confirmed the situation: - fear of rape by the Eritrean military is the number one concern of young Eritrean women.

2. The President of Eritrea, Isaias Afeworki, has publicly accused the CIA of trying to overthrow his regime. He has publicly accused the US government mediator, Anthony Lake, of coordinating treasonous actions against his rule. He has arrested two US embassy employees on the charge of spying and jailed them indefinitely. There are no legal procedures for the accused in Eritrea - they just disappear. How many young Irob men will be falsely accused of spying for Ethiopia? How many will spend years of torture in Eritrean jails after the Eritrean army is allowed into Irobland?

3. Over four thousand Kunama refugees fled Eritrea after the war. Along the Badumma plain, many more Kunama lives will become endangered thanks to the nonsensical Hague ruling. The Kunama community in Eritrea is already suffering severe repression.

4. The 9/11 terrorist attacks delivered a sharp blow to the Boeing Corporation, a major component of the USA's industrial base. Ethiopian Airlines' (EAL) order of 12 planes, with options for 5 more, represented over 5 percent of the work for the airline manufacturer in 2002 - a year when the severe decline in airline orders threatened to cause mass layoffs for American workers. Sanctions against EAL would abrogate the Boeing contract, and it would then be the responsibility of the US government to cover the cost of the 350 million dollars already spent by Boeing. The first planes are scheduled for delivery in November.

5. For China we ask what will happen to the major contracts won by Chinese companies. Some of these represent the first steps in international expansion by Chinese telecommunications and construction firms. These jobs, including the 300 million dollar Tekeze dam, were won under highly competitive bidding with European companies.

6. At this very moment, a battalion of Ethiopian defense forces is being airlifted to Burundi to bring peace to the civil war there. Further thousands are being readied for deployment in Liberia to ease a crisis that has occupied world attention in the past months. The provocative Hague decision is an incitement to conflict all along the Ethio-Eritrea border. Under these circumstances, the important peace-keeping services that Ethiopia is performing for the international community cannot proceed. The troops must be called home to protect the communities that will be torn to pieces along the border.

7. Along the border with Somalia, highly trained Ethiopian commandos continue their quiet but effective work on this important front in the international war on terror. In strategic terms Ethiopia stands out as a critical link in the East African theater of operations against Al-Qaeda. No other country can deliver this security to the international community.

8. Finally we ask the international community do you stand for justice? Do you stand for peace? If so then we think you will agree that the peaceful path proposed by Ethiopia is the only possible solution. The Ethiopian people have already made it abundantly clear that they will not be intimidated.

The Hague decision is an internally contradictory document that is demonstrably at odds with recognized principles of international law. The existence of large communities of Ethiopians that the Hague decision placed inside Eritrea is itself proof of this.

Implementation of this fatally flawed document is a total violation of the human rights of the affected people. It is nothing more than a mandate for ethnic cleansing and the extermination of minority ethnic groups in Eritrea.

The international community has no obligation to risk its interests to sort out the mess created by the Eritrean dictator and the Hague commission. Ethiopia has proposed a peaceful alternative. This is the way forward.