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Human Rights Developments Defending Human Rights The Role of the International Community In an unanimously adopted resolution on June 26 the U.N. Security Council demanded an immediate end to the border conflict between Ethiopia and Eritrea, and urged both sides to cooperate with mediation efforts led by the Organization of African Unity. The resolution also established a trust fund to support any eventual U.N. technical mission for border demarcation. By late October, the U.N. still maintained a low profile in seeking a solution for the dispute at a time when it was poised to flare up again in open war. High Commissioner for Human Rights Mary Robinson on July 1 issued a statement expressing concern about the violation of human rights of Eritreans being expelled from Ethiopia, and appealing to the two countries to resolve their dispute peacefully. Ethiopia reacted angrily, and demanded an immediate amendment to what it said was a baseless statement which, the Foreign Ministry charged, was of the type that would undermine the credibility of the office of the United Nations. Contrary to the Ministrys statement, the U.N.s credibility could only be harmed by the lack of human rights considerations despite the variety and levels of its involvements in the country. Senior U.N. officials frequently visited Addis Ababa, which is also the headquarters of the Organization of African Unity (O.A.U.), and the U.N.s Economic Commission for Africa. Ethiopia ranked as the third largest recipient of the agencys Childrens Emergency Fund support worldwide, and was one of the top four beneficiaries of its Food and Agriculture Organization globally. In late April, U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan held talks with Ethiopian government officials and those of the O.A.U. on prospects for peace in east and central Africa. He voiced guarded optimism about the end of a decade of conflicts in Africa and the emergence of a new Africa which he depicted as making efforts to reject violence, embrace democracy, endorse human rights and promote economic reform. Two weeks after the end of his tour, renewed deadly conflicts exploded in east and central Africa. Regional Organizations
European Union
Taking into account all E.U. assistance mechanisms, Ethiopia was by far the largest recipient of European assistance, ahead of any other A.C.P. state. Representatives of the E.U. member states in Addis Ababa readily allowed, however, that the governments outright rejection of any overt criticism of its human rights practices had forced them to raise such concerns with the government only privately. World Bank
United States
With about $30 million in development aid and $66 million in food aid, bringing the total to about $97 million, Ethiopia remained the second largest recipient of U.S. aid in Sub-Saharan Africa, after South Africa. The U.S. failed to use its privileged relations with Ethiopia as a leverage for human rights improvements, preferring instead to raise human rights issues with the Ethiopian government only in private demarches, but not publicly. The only public statement involving human rights came on August 6, when the U.S. government expressed deep concern at the detention and expulsion of Eritreans in and from Ethiopia. The statement recalled the fundamental humanitarian and human rights concerns raised by the forcible expulsions and called on the Ethiopian government to follow appropriate due process in addressing its security concerns. The U.S. took the lead in mediation efforts shortly after the conflict flared up in early May. U.S. Assistant Secretary of State for Africa Susan Rice visited both countries in search of common grounds for a settlement, and President Clinton secured a moratorium on air raids in mid-June by persuading both leaders by telephone to halt the escalating air war. Eritrea rejected the joint U.S.- Rwanda peace plan which came to form the basis of the subsequent O.A.U. initiative and was later expressly endorsed by the U.N. Security Council. The U.S. sent former national security advisor Anthony Lake to the region in late October with new ideas for helping the two parties resolve their problems. His mission appeared doomed, however, when around the same time Eritrea publicly criticized U.S. intervention in the dispute as counterproductive and Ethiopia said it considered the O.A.U.s initiative as the only possible basis for a negotiated solution. |
Angola Burundi The Democratic Republic of Congo Ethiopia Kenya Liberia Mozambique Nigeria Rwanda Sierra Leone South Africa Sudan Uganda Zambia Stop the Use of Child Soldiers Abduction and Enslavement of Ugandan Children Human Rights Causes of the Famine in Sudan |
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