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US Accused of "Unwarranted Intervention"

UN Integrated Regional Information Networks
NEWS
October 21, 2002
Posted to the web October 21, 2002
Nairobi
Eritrea has accused the US State Department of "unwarranted intervention" after
it questioned Asmara's human rights record.
State Department spokesman Richard Boucher last week recalled that two Eritrean
employees at the US embassy in Asmara had been held without charge for a year.
"The government of Eritrea should either release the two employees of the US
embassy in Asmara or grant them due process and an opportunity to defend
themselves in a fair and open trial," Boucher told a press briefing.
He also reminded journalists of last year's detention of 11 prominent Eritrean
politicians "who had called for greater democracy", as well as the arrest of
journalists, a ban on the private media and new restrictions on freedom of
religion.
"The United States calls upon the government of Eritrea to respect the
fundamental human rights enshrined in the Universal Declaration of Human
Rights, including freedom of the press, freedom of association, and freedom of
religion, and to return to the basic values of democracy and human rights, as
it has repeatedly committed itself to do," Boucher said.
In response, the Eritrean government on Friday accused the State Department of
"rejecting [Asmara's] patient and constructive diplomacy...to preserve the
strategic bilateral ties between the two countries".
A foreign ministry statement said the US comments originated from the 1998
border war with Ethiopia.
"Contrary to Eritrea's expectations, [a] few officials in the previous US
Administration, whom Eritrea trusted to act as honest brokers of peace,
mishandled the situation at its early stages," it said. "These grave errors
ultimately contributed to the escalation of the war."
These officials were accused of employing the CIA, in the midst of war, to
"unlawfully change the [Eritrean] government", the statement claimed. To this
end, it said, some senior Eritrean government officials were "recruited" and
"conveniently portrayed as moderate or reformist opponents".
"They attempted to induce division within the ranks of the government and our
people at large using religious and regional differences," it said.
"The government of Eritrea has a sovereign right to take necessary action
against hostile elements to safeguard the sovereignty and national security of
the country," the statement added. "These legitimate acts have no links
whatsoever to democracy or human rights as the State Department insinuates."

   

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