Fly Away Home
This overhead view is of Atlantis atop a modified 747 as the craft flew over California's high desert. Atlantis and the crew of the STS-125 mission landed at Edwards Air Force Base on May 24, 2009, and departed Edwards on the journey home via ferry to the Kennedy Space Center in Florida on Monday, June 1, 2009. The shuttle landed safely the following day at 6:53 p.m. EDT. Image Credit: NASA/Jim Ross

The UK Women's International League for Peace and Freedom (WILPF), The National Alliance of Women’s Organisations (NAWO) and the International Action Network on Small Arms (IANSA)

Invites you to an event discussing
the contribution of women, violence against women and
the Socio-political and economical situation
in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC)

with

Senator Eve Bazaiba Masudi
(Chair of the DRC Senate Socio-Cultural Affairs Committee)

on

Wednesday June 10th from 17:30 - 19:30,
at
Development House
56-64 Leonard Street, London, EC2A 4LT, UK

Please RSVP to Hilde Roren at http://uk.mc274.mail.yahoo.com/mc/compose?to=info@nawo.org.uk

Light refreshments will be available courtesy of
COMMON CAUSE UK, platform of Congolese women in the UK.



May 28th and the future of the Horn of Africa

The change that took place in Ethiopia eighteen years ago and which we celebrated this week has had a major impact on the lives of the Ethiopian people and on their future. It is impossible to contest the fact that, the economic development and the building of infrastructure, carried out over the last eighteen years, is far greater than what had been achieved by all Ethiopian Governments combined in the modern history of the country prior to 1991.

But what is usually overlooked is the fact that it is in the political area that the progress has been so historic and momentous. It is only in the last eighteen years that Ethiopians, for the first time in their history, have had the opportunity to enjoy political rights which have made it possible for them to see their leaders criticized openly, either in parliament or in the media, sometimes in ways which some would regard less than decent and civil.

Let it be said immediately that, with little doubt, Ethiopia 's democracy is still young and fledgling. Humility is therefore in order. Nonetheless, in light of the long history of autocracy that the country had previously experienced, the eighteen years of democracy that Ethiopia has enjoyed is of great historic significance, including in terms of ensuring the viability of the nation. That autocracy and dictatorial rule almost destroyed Ethiopia may have been forgotten by some, but that was the real challenge that had become vivid during the last years of the military government.

May 28th also has real meaning for the Horn of Africa and for the people of our sub-region, and, frankly speaking, for Africa as a whole. It is now becoming incontrovertible, that Ethiopia is one of the pillars for peace, stability and security in the Horn of Africa. More than eighteen years ago, during the last years of the Derg regime, it was not a few who had doubts about the future of Ethiopia . The OAU summit of 1990, in Addis Ababa , decided to convene the following one in Abuja . That explains why the 1991 meeting of the African Heads of State and Government had to take place, as the EPRDF forces were entering Addis Ababa , in the new capital of Nigeria . It is to be recalled that for many years prior to 1991 all OAU Summits were taking place in Addis Ababa . Why the sudden change of procedure in 1990 and the decision to take the summit out of Addis Ababa ? It was felt that Ethiopia would not be safe to host OAU meetings after 1990.

In the course of the past eighteen years, a country which many thought had entered into another turbulent period of its history - a period which might indeed test its very viability - has been able to morph into a state which may now be seen as a bulwark and a pillar for peace and stability in the Horn of Africa, a lynchpin for effective economic co-operation, and a force for sanity and civility in inter-state relations in our sub-region.

The Horn of Africa is one of those regions of the world which is vulnerable to all sorts of threats, perhaps, among other factors, its proximity to the Middle East contributes to this sad state of affairs. Add to this the inscrutable psychological phenomenon that the sub-region has to contend with in the form of a leadership in Asmara which continues to be a curse for the region. That in itself would be enough to constitute a formidable source of instability in any region of the world. That should underscore how much of a challenge Asmara is to the Horn, thus also the increased responsibility Ethiopia has come to assume, together with others with similar commitment, for the peace and stability of the Horn. This is not limited to what is done in the security area, on the ground. It also includes political and diplomatic work and the mobilization of opinion supportive of the creation of conditions for peace and stability. It might suffice to look at the latest position taken by IGAD and the Peace and Security Council of the AU on sanctions on Eritrea . As this issue of A Week in the Horn is going to press, the AU PRC (the Permanent Representatives Committee, Consisting of all AU Ambassadors) heard the position taken by the PSC on Eritrea and endorsed it with not even a single dissenting voice. To reiterate, the Horn is not a safe neighborhood, but, thanks to May 28th its future cannot be said to be bleak. It will not be easy, but despite Eritrea and all those who see salvation in Asmara 's acts of destabilization, the resolve and joint efforts of the peoples of the Horn can indeed make our sub-region a source of hope for its people. With little doubt, without May 28th, all this would not have been possible.

Two recent important developments have once again focused attention on the character and nature of the regime in Asmara . The first of these was the adoption by the Council of Ministers of the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia of a measure concerning the property and interests of Eritrean nationals expelled from Ethiopia during the conflict in 1998-2000 for reasons of national security. This move by the Government seeks to provide a legal framework for the resolution of issues that have been pending on this matter for several years. The directive does not create new entitlements or rights but provides the legal basis so that persistent and legitimate concerns can now be handled. Ethiopia in fact is taking a legal and peaceful measure that will have a lasting impact in improving people-to-people relations. This may be something of a surprise to some as it does not match actions being taken by the regime in Asmara . Some people have wondered why Ethiopia should take actions that address pending issues with a particular group of Eritrean nationals with no direct association with the Eritrean regime or its security apparatus at a time when Eritrea has been intensifying deliberate acts of destabilization against Ethiopia and coordinating the actions of international terrorist groups in the region. In fact, of course, Ethiopia ’s actions cannot be evaluated nor examined in the light of what Asmara may or may not do. Ethiopia ’s actions are not reciprocal. They deal with matters in Ethiopia that need to be addressed on the basis of the right principles upheld under Ethiopia 's Constitution. Such commitment to the rule of law is inconceivable in Eritrea which does not even have a constitution. Any comparison with a country so brutally controlled by the personal whims of its leader is highly inappropriate.

The second significant development recently has been the bold action taken by regional bodies against the regime in Eritrea . First, IGAD unanimously voted to call for sanctions against Eritrea . This was followed by the African Union Peace and Security Council asking the United Nations Security Council to adopt punitive measures against Eritrea for its active involvement in support of terrorist elements in Somalia against the TFG and the African Union Peacekeeping force, AMISOM. For any objective observer this has been long in coming although Eritrea , while acting surprised, continues to play its spoiling role. Now it is up to the United Nations Security Council to deliver a remedy which might take the first step in curing a malaise that began to affect Eritrea almost immediately after its hard won de jure independence sixteen years ago.

This call by the regional bodies against one of their own is unprecedented. It is a clear demonstration that both IGAD and the African Union have exhausted their patience and lost hope that Eritrea might return to peaceful ways of its own accord. The United Nations Security Council should be equally well placed to understand this situation as it has had to deal with similar transgressions by Eritrea against UNMEE, and more recently, against Djibouti . The call by the three top international envoys, involved in the Somali peace process, the UN envoy to Somalia, his AU counterpart and the facilitator of IGAD on Wednesday May 27th in Nairobi, expressing their joint support for the position taken on the sanctions against Eritrea by IGAD ministers and the Peace and Security Council of the AU show how seriously Eritrea's destabilizing role is taken by the region and by Africa in general. The world will now be expecting strong, effective and unambiguously punitive measures to be taken by the Council against the leadership in Eritrea . Indeed, the Security Council can hardly afford to fail these regional organizations or the entire people of the region yet again.

Eritrea's response to the criticisms has been, as usual, defiant. On Tuesday this week, the Eritrean Ministry of Foreign Affairs called the AU’s statement “outrageous”, “illegal and utterly irresponsible”, an “irresponsible and cynical flouting of the rule of law”, and a “deplorable act …. symptomatic of the fundamental structural malaise that has gripped the African Union right from its inception.” In fact, far from being “made on the basis of groundless accusations” or being “irresponsible”, the statement, unanimously agreed by the AU’s Peace and Security Council, was based on extensive and detailed evidence provided by Somali ministers as well as UN and other sources. One of these sources is actually one of the main opposition leaders in Somalia, Sheikh Hassan Dahir ‘Aweys’, now the leader of Hizbul Islam, Al Shabaab’s main ally in the extremist attacks on the TFG. Sheikh 'Aweys', has openly admitted that the opposition is being helped by Eritrea, and, of course, Sheikh ‘Aweys’ himself was in Asmara for over two years until he was sent down to Mogadishu last month, and followed shortly afterwards by several plane loads of arms supplies. Against such evidence, Eritrean denials of assisting Al-Shabaab and Sheikh ‘Aweys’ look increasingly threadbare.