Security Council Urges Ceasefire After Deadly Clashes Between Eritrea, Djibouti

UN NEWS (New York)

13 June 2008

The Security Council has called on Djibouti and Eritrea to agree to a ceasefire after several days of fighting along their joint border that has led to several deaths and dozens of wounded.

Voicing “strong concern about the serious incidents that occurred on 10 June,” the Council condemned Eritrean military action against Djibouti in Ras Doumeira and Doumeira Island, according to a statement read out last night by Ambassador Zalmay Khalilzad of the United States, which holds the rotating Council presidency this month.

“The Security Council calls upon the parties to commit to a ceasefire and urges both parties, in particular Eritrea, to show maximum restraint and withdraw forces to the status-quo ante.

“The Security Council urges both parties, in particular Eritrea, to cooperate and engage in diplomatic efforts to resolve the matter peacefully and in a manner consistent with international law.”

The 15-member panel welcomed the efforts of the African Union, the Arab League and individual States to end the crisis and encouraged Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon to use his good offices and reach out to both countries “to determine arrangements for decreasing the military presence along the border and to develop confidence-building measures to resolve the border situation.”

 

Egypt begins mass deportations of Eritreans – Amnesty

By Cynthia Johnston

CAIRO, June 13 (Reuters) -

Egypt has deported 400 Eritrean asylum seekers back to Asmara and plans to forcibly return 1,200 more who are being held in detention in Egypt, putting them at serious risk of torture, Amnesty International said on Friday. The London-based human rights group said a first batch of 200 asylum seekers was flown back to Eritrea on Wednesday on a special Egyptair flight after being denied access for months to representatives from the United Nations refugee agency, UNHCR.

Another 200 were flown to the Horn of Africa nation on Thursday night, and more flights appeared to have been scheduled to deport the remaining Eritreans, Amnesty said. “Most asylum seekers returned to Eritrea are likely to be arbitrarily detained incommunicado in inhumane conditions from weeks to years … They will be at serious risk of torture or other ill-treatment,” Amnesty said.

“The asylum seekers knew they were being deported and started to beg the security forces not to deport them, and even threatened to kill themselves,” Amnesty activist Mohamed Lotfy said, adding that women and children were among those deported. UNHCR said Egypt had cut off its access to detained Eritrean migrants in February, leaving it unable to assess any asylum claims. UNHCR was also unable to confirm any had been deported.

But UNHCR said it was concerned for the fate of up to 1,600 mainly Eritrean migrants it believed were being held who had been caught slipping into the country either by land from Sudan or directly from Eritrea via the Red Sea.

“We remain seriously concerned about the situation, again, because the group includes women and children, said Abeer Etefa, a spokeswoman for UNHCR in Cairo. “Our office continues to request access.”

Deportation of Eritreans is in direct contradiction to U.N. guidance that advises states against deporting even rejected asylum seekers to Eritrea on the grounds that they may be ill treated, according to UNHCR.

Egyptian Foreign Ministry officials had no immediate comment.

Egypt, already home to tens of thousands of African migrants, has seen a surge of Eritreans arrive in recent months, including Pentecostal Christians fleeing religious persecution and others trying to avoid military conscription, activists say.

The surge comes as Egypt faces pressure to block the flow of mostly African migrants over its Sinai border into Israel. Egyptian police have shot dead at least 13 migrants at the Israel border this year and detained scores more.

UNHCR described the success of some migrants in using Egypt as a base to reach neighbouring Israel as a “pull factor” in drawing more Eritreans to Egypt, but also cited a deteriorating human rights situation in Eritrea. (For full Reuters Africa coverage and to have your say on the top issues, visit: africa.reuters.com/ ) (Writing by Cynthia Johnston)

Tsvangirai harassed at every turn

Reuters | Friday, 13 June 2008

Zimbabwe police impounded two buses used by opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai on his campaign ahead of the June 27 presidential run-off election, the Movement for Democratic Change said.

Tsvangirai, who has been detained four times in the past week, is continuing his campaign, MDC spokesman George Sibotshiwe said.

“The police have impounded the two buses that we were using. They are saying the buses are not properly registered, but that is not true, just harassment.

“But (MDC) President Tsvangirai is continuing with his campaign here. We are using other cars that we had in our convoy,” Sibotshiwe said.

CALL FOR UN INTERVENTION

The United States called for urgent UN Security Council talks on Zimbabwe because it said President Robert Mugabe had ignored international calls to end political violence ahead of a presidential election run-off.

Zimbabwean police arrested Tsvangirai twice on Thursday, making a total of four times in about a week. Tsvangirai’s spokesman said the arrests were part of a harassment campaign in the run-up to the June 27 election.

Tendai Biti, secretary general of Tsvangirai’s Movement for Democratic Change (MDC), was also arrested and would face a treason charge that could carry the death penalty, police said.

White House spokeswoman Dana Perino, accompanying President George Bush on a visit to Rome, criticized the “continued use of state-sponsored violence in Zimbabwe and the regime’s actions, including unwarranted arrests of opposition figures”.

“We believe the time has come for the United Nations Security Council to take up immediately the issue to prevent further deterioration of the region’s humanitarian and security situation,” Perino told reporters on Thursday.

A group of prominent African leaders joined the international chorus for an end to political violence in Zimbabwe, once a regional bread basket but now in economic meltdown.

“It is crucial for the interests of both Zimbabwe and Africa that the upcoming elections are free and fair,” former U.N. Secretary General Kofi Annan and 39 former African heads of state and civic leaders said in an open letter on Friday.

Diplomats said South Africa opposed UN Security Council involvement and was receiving support from China and Russia.

 

UN council condemns Eritrean attack

UNITED NATIONS (AP)

13/06/08

The U.N. Security Council joined the United States Thursday in condemning Eritrean military action this week that left nine Djiboutians dead.

A statement approved by the 15 council members urged both sides to refrain from a troop buildup and singled out Eritrea to show “maximum restraint” and withdraw forces from the border along Red Sea shipping lanes.

The separate comments from the U.N. and the U.S. State Department came after fighting between the African neighbors on Tuesday killed nine Djiboutians and wounded 60 others.

“These hostilities represent an additional threat to peace and security in the already volatile Horn of Africa,” State Department spokesman Gonzalo Gallegos said.

The council called on the nations to resolve their differences “in a manner consistent with international law.”

The statement read by U.S. Ambassador Zalmay Khalilzad, who holds this month’s revolving council presidency, also invited peace efforts by the African Union, the Arab League and Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon.

The U.S. has more than 1,200 troops stationed in Djibouti, where an anti-terrorism task force for the Horn of Africa is based. France also has a base in Djibouti, its former colony.

“We call on all the parties to cooperate, particularly Eritrea, with all efforts designed to help minimize and reduce tensions on the border,” Deputy U.S. Ambassador Alejandro Wolff said.

“There’s been a pattern of irresponsible, destabilizing behavior by Eritrea in the past,” he told reporters. “This latest incident … was launched from the Eritrean side.”

Eritrea dismissed U.S. criticism and charged that the American government was “currently embroiled in instigating, compounding and inflaming regional conflicts.”

In a separate statement, the U.S. Embassy in Djibouti also warned American citizens against traveling near the border with Eritrea.

Djibouti’s foreign minister has said Eritrea has launched a major military buildup on their border overlooking critical Red Sea shipping lanes.