SHOULD ASSAB AUTONOMOUS REGION BE PART OF ERITREA?

This was the question that should have been asked in 1991. Did the TPLF bother to consult the inhabitants of the area? Do they not have a right to self-determination? Why did the TPLF reject their aspirations and actively fight to suppress indigenous anti-EPLF organizations such as ARDUF?

Let us not try to hide the real factors that went into TPLFs action. The TPLF had long ago submitted to the EPLFs demand that the question of Eritrea was a colonial question. Virtually all other Ethiopian political groups active at the time refused to submit to the EPLF on this issue.

Regarding the "colonial question" theory, the EPLF uses this phrase to indicate that Eritrea was an African colony and should have been decolonised and become independent like virtually all the other African colonies. This argument is easily rebutted by the fact that Ethiopia was an independent nation - a member of the prior League of Nations and then of the UN. Ethiopia is virtually unique in this respect and people from the area known today as "Eritrea" contributed to the maintenance of Ethiopian independence. Ethiopia's rights were no less than any other nation victimized by the Axis powers in World War II. Its situation is similar to that of China vis-a-vis the Japanese colony of Manchuria. In addition, most of Eritrea was part of Ethiopia prior to the Italian period, and this gave Ethiopia a strong claim when the UN decided the fate of the former Axis territories. A final point was the strong Unionist movement which existed in Eritrea at the time. Over a period of several years, UN commissions visited Eritrea and gauged the feelings of the local population. It is nonsense to state that the Eritrean peoples wishes were not considered at the time. The UN Federation decision of 1952 was accepted and endorsed by all segments of the Eritrean population.

In summary, the "colonial question" theory has no validity and the UN already dealt with it comrehensively and rejected it in 1952. In 1993, the Eritrean question was, in international terms, a question of government-sanctioned secession. Ethiopia was fully within its rights to determine the boundaries of the entity that was seceding. It could have kept Assab, Barentu, Om Hager or whichever territory that it believed should belong to Ethiopia.

Sadly, the decision of the TPLF to submit to the EPLF on this issue was then imposed on the rest of Ethiopia. The consequence of this was that Assab Autonomous region was given to Eritrea.

Now, the reason the TPLF did this was for its own self-interest. (Note to be absolutely clear - this was not based on the interests of the Tigray population, but based on the narrow interests of a single political party which viewed its alliance with the EPLF as more important than its ties and obligations to the Ethiopian people, [including the Afar people]).

This is why the TPLF fought shoulder-to-shoulder with the EPLF to overturn the 1952 UN federation decision for Eritrea. This is why the TPLF refused to recognize the international law that placed Eritrea as part of Ethiopia.

The above statement should not be viewed as an attack on the TPLF. It is just the way it happened. These were the actions of the TPLF. They can't be covered up, erased, explained away etc. We will always remember this, but we would like to move on. However the TPLF doesn't give itself or the Ethiopian people a chance to right the mistakes it made with regard to the alliance with the EPLF. TPLF propaganda is still trying to sell the following points to the Ethiopian people:

(1) The TPLF continues to claim that the Eritrean question is a colonial question, thus Ethiopia has no rights or special claims with regard to Eritrea. Specifically, the TPLF rejects the 1952 UN Federation decision - a legal act taken by the supreme planetary body concerned with international territorial issues. While rejecting the international law of 1952, the TPLF today states (hypocritically) that it is against international law for Ethiopia to assert a claim on Assab. Thus we arrive at the curious state of affairs where the current government of Ethiopia is less interested in protecting Ethiopia's interests vis-à-vis Eritrea than was the UN General Assembly in 1952.

(2) The TPLF says that its support for the EPLF was necessary to end the long and bloody Eritrean war. Yet, the TPLF began fighting alongside the EPLF at a time when a military victory by the EPLF was a distant prospect. In fact, in 1982, the TPLF sent half its force to Nakfa to save the EPLF which was on the verge of defeat. Thus we see that the TPLF was committed to a military solution of the Eritrea conflict (EPLF victory) early on - it was not interested in facilitating a negotiated solution involving the Ethiopian people. Clearly, the TPLF is itself partly responsible for furthering the war and destruction.

(3) The TPLF claims that the Eritrean people should decide their own future. In fact the TPLF very specifically restricted its support to the EPLF - for the simple reason that both were Tigrean nationalist organizations. The TPLF actively fought against the ELF - the oldest Eritrean guerilla movement and the one that controlled territory adjacent to Tigray in 1982. This is largely due to ethnic factors. Furthermore, the TPLF intervened in the Eritrean conflict at a time when significant Eritrean forces were still fighting on the government side (example - the Eritrean anti-guerrilla forces, and the Kunama militia). Also the TPLF has fought ARDUF and completely rejected the issue of self-determination for the Assab autonomous region. Even the Afar Sultan Ali Mirrah called for self-determination for the Afar people in both Eritrea and Ethiopia. The TPLF rejected this. As far as the TPLF was concerned, self-determination was only applicable for its ally - the EPLF.

The above points show that the TPLFs support for the EPLF is not support for "national self-determination." The TPLF supported the EPLF because it was a fellow Tigrean nationalist organization - this is the bond that has joined them together in the past and may potentially reunite them in the future. And considering the fanatical attachment to ethnic identity exhibited by Meles, the longer he remains in charge of the TPLF, the more likely this renewal becomes. (Once again it should be emphasized that these points do not refer to the Tigray people. We are simply talking about the political party known as the TPLF)

INTERNATIONAL LAW:
The UN Federation of Eritrea with Ethiopia is the basic legal act that established Ethiopian sovereignty over Eritrea in 1952. In 1962 the Eritrea assembly in Asmara voted for full union with Ethiopia, dissolving the 1952 Federation. This act has never been challenged in international courts and was accepted by the international community as a decision of the representatives of the Eritrean people. In 1987, the Assab autonomous region was created by the Ethiopian government. In 1991, the EPLF invaded and captured the region for the first time in its history.

Now we must "assume" that the TPLF formally transferred the Assab region to Eritrea because we have no detailed document specifying when and how Assab autonomous region was placed back in Eritrea. (In general, Ethiopians have no idea of the secret EPLF-TPLF protocols that have determined Ethiopian policies over the years). The TPLF may have set Eritrea's borders in official documents specifying them as those of the federation era, but there are no detailed laws pertaining specifically to the Assab Region.

THE POST-TPLF ERA
In any case, this is all moot. The TPLF has demonstrated repeatedly that it does not listen to the Ethiopian people. Therefore, it is pointless to write articles attempting to advise or convince the TPLF of anything. All issues have already been decided long ago by the TPLF central committee.

But the TPLF is simply one political party that has limited its membership to only one ethnic group. Although the TPLF has a very strong control of Ethiopia at the current time, its reign will likely come to an end within the foreseeable future due to various factors. (Again TPLF supporters need to realize that this is simply a natural outcome of democracy so there is no need to insult and harass people who focus on the coming post-TPLF era).

The future of Assab will be decided permanently in the post-TPLF era. This is the time when the Ethiopian government should renounce all secret, illegal, EPLF-TPLF pacts which compromised Ethiopia's national interests. The post-TPLF Ethiopian government should make a formal claim on the Assab autonomous region and patiently wait for the opportune moment to exercise this claim. It may take 20 years, it may take 50 years, but the Ethiopian government should never compromise on an issue of fundamental national interest such as this.

Conclusion:
Every Ethiopian has a right to analyze the events of the past decades according to his or her own interpretation. The above is one interpretation and TPLF supporters should realize that this is an honest opinion which is widespread in Ethiopia. Holding this view does not preclude Ethiopians from participating in rebuilding their country. Most Ethiopians would like to bury the divisive issues of the past and move on to a peaceful, cooperative approach to developing their country.

The positive action to take now would be to correct the mistakes of the past, stop the culture of secrecy, and accept the fact that most Ethiopians will never believe the TPLFs spin on events.

The alternative negative action would be to label, insult, suppress and harass Ethiopians for simply expressing their views. My personal belief is that the TPLF contains hardworking, dedicated individuals who have sacrificed a great deal for their cause. However, they have no right to impose their unpopular, narrowly-held views on others.

- Dagmawi

A Few Notes:

1) Statement of Afar Revolutionary Democratic Unity Front (ARDUF) on the outbreak of the Ethiopia-Eritrea War, June 1998 -- "The Afar nationalists organised themselves in armed resistance mainly to liberate of the Western Red Sea Afars from the military occupation of the EPLF and incorporate the region with its mother land. It was not the main objective of ARDUF to raise arms against the TPLF/EPRDF regime to force it to deliver the democratic rights declared in its Charter and Constitution. This is why ARDUF was not initially waging military operations against the TPLF/EPRDF regime of Ethiopia. "

2) Assab Autonomous Region in 1987 -- map and article.

3) Afar Sultan insists on the right of his people in both Eritrea and Ethiopia to vote on uniting -- Christian Science Monitor, August 8, 1991