Friday, September 28, 2007

Millennial Challenges: Making new Borders within established nation states to facilitate Human Right Abuses in

Global Strategic Enterprises, Inc for Peace and Prosperity- www.globalbelai4u.blogspot.com


Re: Millennial Challenges: Border demarcation without the concept of the locals?

It has become almost a new phenomenon of creating discord, some semblance of civil war and then asking for a new set of nation states run by militaristic war lords to then convert the community into almost United Nations sanctioned hostages.

The experience of the Red Sea Coast region part and parcel of Ethiopia is a case in point. The recent meeting of the Boundary Commission and then the report of the new US Ambassador to these forsaken and tortured communities is reported below.

One wonders, what is the point of having an artificial nation state; if the war lords convert themselves into dictators who take their own people hostage. This is the sad story of people of the Red Sea Cost in the horn as reported in these stories.

It is critical that in the New Millennium, the international communities should seek to liberate individuals and communities from dictatorships and cruelties regardless of how and when they assumed their criminal roles.

The recent massive demonstrations in Mynamar or the Old Burma Country and the Military Dictatorship's sadistic cruel response is a case in point. Many members of the Red Sea community are kept in food containers in isolated places where even the so called war lords criminal agents cannot account for them. These sad realities are ignored regardless of all the congressional and State Department and UN reports.

How long does it take the world to act? Will this be allowed if it is in Western Europe? It is a sad testament of the world we live in.

The African Union, the United Nations have the responsibility to act to liberate these isolated populations who continue to be abused by criminal elements posing as hosts to international terrorists who bombed US Embassies in Kenya and Tanzania.

The Pirates in the Horn of Africa holding sea crew and business people hostage and asking huge ransom money has become a new business in the area.

The same is true in the Eritrea region where the legalized pirates hold the community hostage by asking all the Diaspora members to pay 2% of their income as ransom money for their families who are kept hostage either in isolated prisons or generally walking aimlessly in the country beseiged with fear of identification.

The religious and press freedom is beyond recognition and the container hostages are mainly professional journalists or religious worshippers of one sort or another.



It is in the interests of all humanities and international justice to pay heed to the unfortunate circumstances of United Nations sanctioned boundaries that keeps the population in those borders with out protection.

Please review the following report to visualize the plight of people of the Horn and specially those in the Red Sea Coast region.



1. http://www.pca-cpa.org/upload/files/Press%20Release%2012%20September%202007.pdf

2. http://africa.reuters.com/country/SO/news/usnL27192086.html

3. http://usinfo.state.gov/xarchives/display.html?p=texttrans-english&y=2007&m=September&x=20070919142117xjsnommiS0.5663111




Source: Eritrea-Ethiopia Boundary Commission
1. Press Release: ERITREA-ETHIOPIA BOUNDARY COMMISSION

Full text as released is in the attached pdf file.

12 September 2007


The Commissioners (from left to right): Sir Arthur Watts, KCMG QC; Professor W. Michael Reisman;

Sir Elihu Lauterpacht, CBE QC; His Excellency Prince Bola Adesumbo Ajibola; Judge Stephen M. Schwebel.

(Photo credit not provided.)

1. ERITREA-ETHIOPIA BOUNDARY COMMISSION
Press Release, 12 September 2007

The Eritrea-Ethiopia Boundary Commission1 met with Representatives of Eritrea and Ethiopia at The Hague on 6 and 7 September 2007 to ascertain from them whether any progress had been, or could be, made towards pillar emplacement on the
ground.

Prior to the meeting, the Commission notified each Party of the conditions required to be fulfilled for the Commission to carry out pillar emplacement. Having heard the views of the Parties, the Commission was obliged to conclude that no further progress could be made towards the emplacement of pillars on the ground.

The Commission reminded the Parties of the effect of paragraph 22 of its 27 November 2006 Statement in which it determined that if by the end of November 2007 the Parties had not by themselves reached the necessary agreement and proceeded ignificantly to implement it, or had not requested and enabled the Commission to resume its activity, “the boundary will automatically stand as demarcated by the boundary points listed in the Annex hereto and the mandate of the
Commission can then be regarded as fulfilled.”

The Commission also reminded the Parties that the determination of the boundary points listed in its 27 November 2006 Statement followed consideration of the views of the Parties and was in accordance with the Delimitation Decision of 13 April 2002.


In the meantime, however, the Commission remains willing to resume pillar emplacement on the ground if both Parties request and enable it to do so, give the
necessary assurances of free access to the border zone and security for the Commission’s personnel, and meet their financial obligations.

1 The Eritrea-Ethiopia Boundary Commission (the “Commission”) was established pursuant to the 12 December 2000 Algiers Peace Agreement between Eritrea and Ethiopia. The Members of the Commission are Sir Elihu Lauterpacht CBE QC (President), Prince Bola Ajibola SAN KBE CFR, Professor Michael Reisman, Judge Stephen M. Schwebel, and Sir Arthur Watts KCMG QC.

The Permanent Court of Arbitration (PCA) in The Hague serves as registry to the Commission.

_________________

2. UN welcomes French offer to counter Somali pirates
Thu 27 Sep 2007
NAIROBI, Sept 27 (Reuters) - The U.N. World Food Programme (WFP) has welcomed an offer by France to help guard ships from pirates as they carry desperately needed food aid to Somalia.

"We are grateful to the government of France for this generous offer, which would reduce the threat of piracy and allow WFP to feed more hungry people in Somalia," WFP Executive Director Josette Sheeran said in a statement on Thursday.

The Horn of Africa country's coastline is the world's most dangerous waterway, reflecting widespread instability onshore, where a fragile interim government is struggling to impose its authority while fighting off Islamist-led insurgents.

Violence in the capital Mogadishu this year has uprooted tens of thousands of residents, with many living in shelters in atrocious conditions outside the city and surviving on handouts.

Under the French proposal, WFP said, French navy ships would escort vessels carrying WFP food in Somali waters for two months, accompanying them to Mogadishu port, which is guarded by Ugandan troops from an African Union peacekeeping force.

Outlining the dangers, the International Maritime Organisation says there were 17 pirates attacks on craft off Somalia in the first half of 2007, compared with eight during the same period last year. Two of the recent attacks were on ships that had just unloaded WFP supplies in the country.

"Some 80 percent of WFP food assistance for Somalia moves by sea, and pirate attacks have threatened to cut WFP's main supply route, jeopardising rations for the 1.2 million people WFP expects to be feeding by the end of 2007," the statement said.

Most pirates attacks did not seem to be aimed at stealing cargo, it said, but were rather designed to force ship owners to pay a ransom for vessels and crew held hostage.

The pirates are highly mobile, it added, using fast vessels and satellite navigation equipment to assault ships far out at sea, sometimes more than 200 nautical miles off the coast.

An earlier upsurge of piracy in Somali waters in 2005, including the hijacking of two ships contracted for WFP, forced the U.N. agency to suspend all deliveries by sea for weeks.

_______________

Source: US State Department

19 September 2007

3. Bush nominee’s statement at Senate confirmation hearing

Ambassador-designate Ronald McMullen to Eritrea

Statement of Ronald K. McMullen
Ambassador-designate to the State of Eritrea
Before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee
September 19, 2007



Mr. Chairman and Members of the Committee,


Thank you for the opportunity to appear before you here today. I am honored that President Bush has nominated me for the position of Ambassador to Eritrea and am grateful to Secretary Rice for her confidence and trust.

With the Chairman's indulgence, I would like to acknowledge the presence of my wife Jane and our son Wyatt.

Our son Owen, who is studying in Australia, could not be with us here today. During nearly twenty-five years as a career diplomat, I have developed a deep appreciation of the hardships and sacrifices faced by Foreign Service families around the world.

The support I have received from my wife and sons has been invaluable; they have also made important contributions to enhancing America's standing abroad.

Mr. Chairman, if confirmed, I will work to promote U.S. interests, drawing on nearly twenty-five years of diplomatic service, much of it hardship posts in the developing world, and in particular on my experience as Deputy Chief of Mission in Rangoon.

In Burma I strongly supported persecuted ethnic minorities and the oppressed democratic movement headed by Nobel Peace Laureate Aung San Suu Kyi while maintaining a working relationship with the ruling junta.

If confirmed by the Senate, I will do my best to advance America's multiple goals in Eritrea amid a very challenging environment. The cooperative bilateral relationship we once enjoyed with Eritrea has grown strained over the last decade.

Eritrea once cooperated with the United States on regional stability in the Horn of Africa. This cooperation was important and appreciated.

However, the unresolved border dispute between Eritrea and Ethiopia poses a threat to regional stability; a repeat of the bloody 1998-2000 war would be ruinous to all involved and would undermine a number of U.S. objectives in the region and beyond. Reports of Eritrean support for militant extremists in Somalia, including individuals and groups with links to designated terrorists, are very concerning.

If I am confirmed, I will work to advance our national interests, to reestablish cooperation with Eritrea on these issues, and to ensure that the message of strong U.S. opposition to terrorism and its sponsors is consistently and unambiguously sent to all.

Mr. Chairman and members of the Committee, we have grave concerns about human rights issues in Eritrea, including democracy, rule of law, freedom of the press, and religious freedoms.

Thousands of individuals have been imprisoned, including two Eritrean employees of the U.S. Embassy detained since 2001. Several thousand prisoners of conscience are being held without charge in indefinite and incommunicado detention.

If confirmed, I will seek to promote greater respect for human rights, the establishment of a democratic political culture, and conditions conducive to addressing the country's diverse human development needs.

I strongly believe that the national interests of both the United States and the State of Eritrea would benefit from a return to the more cooperative bilateral relationship that characterized the early years of Eritrean independence. If confirmed, I will ensure that we undertake a strong public outreach program emphasizing mutual respect, shared interests and obligations, and our common humanity.

Finally, Mr. Chairman, while the United States and Eritrea do not enjoy the close cooperative relationship of the past, Eritrea's strategic Red Sea location, its active regional role, and its economic and human potential require us to remain engaged.

Working with you and other members of Congress, in conjunction with the dedicated employees of Embassy Asmara, I trust that we can move toward achieving key American objectives while encouraging Eritrea to realize its considerable potential.

Thank you for this opportunity to appear before you today. I look forward to answering any questions you may have.




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