An open letter to the Prime minister of Ethiopia and the Secretary General of the UN from members of the Gulo-Makada community and Irob community on the UNMEE reference map.

To: The Secretary General
United Nations
New York, N.Y. USA

To: H.E. Ato Meles Zenawi
Prime Minister, Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia
Addis Ababa, Ethiopia

Dear Sirs: We, the undersigned Ethiopians are shocked and outraged by the recently released United Nations Mission in Ethiopia and Eritrea (UNMEE) reference map which clearly violates the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Ethiopia.

It has been six months since the unprovoked invasion and the occupation of Eastern Tigray towns of Zalanbessa and Alitena in Northern Ethiopia was reversed through the sacrifices of thousands of Ethiopians. As has always been true for centuries, Ethiopians from all nationalities and all corners were united to defend what is theirs. In doing so, many of their bodies remain buried in the mountains and plains of Zalanbessa, Alitena-Aiga, Badme and Bada.

After the sacrifice of thousands of Ethiopians, the invading army was forced to admit defeat and accept an Agreement on Cessation of Hostilities and allow the UNMEE to monitor a temporary security zone (TSZ) 25 km inside Eritrea. Although the UN is now in the process of deploying its troops and military observers, we are outraged at the fact that the UNMEE’s recent reference map for the TSZ shows Zalanbessa and other places not explicitly mentioned but clearly positioned within the TSZ zone. Even when this map, prepared by the Cartographic Section - Department of Public Information of the UN (Map No. 4150 Rev.1 September 2000) has now been removed from the UN web site, the replacement (Map No. 3790 Rev. 4, November 2000) still shows the same places inside the Eritrean map.

The inclusion of Zalanbessa; now a symbol of Ethiopian unity, a symbol of resistance against and victory over invading forces, inside the TSZ (Eritrea) is an insult to those brave Ethiopian Defense Forces and civilians who sacrificed their lives to raise the Ethiopian flag in this town. We find it arrogant and cynical on the part of the UN that they could simply draw arbitrary boundary lines with complete disregard to the geographic and social history of the people.

As concerned Ethiopians and as individuals who originally come from the area with a direct knowledge of the history and geography of the surrounding area, such an arbitrary drawing of boundary lines does not give us much hope that the UN mission is going to bring a lasting peace to the conflict. The Ethiopian people in general and the people in the area in particular have not yet forgotten the cluster bombs thrown on school children in Mekelle and among displaced people in Adigrat.

We are surprised that the UN while intending to bring peace between the two parties has already disqualified itself as a trustworthy nonpartisan peacemaker. By producing such reference map, the UN has already sawn the seeds of mistrust, the unrest and anxieties of a betrayed community. It has planted the very seeds that will not bring peace to the region even if the Ethiopian Government is forced to compromise.

We are equally outraged by the fact that the Ethiopian Government has not publicly rejected the UNMEE reference map if it had not approved it already. The current UNMEE Reference Map diminishes and dishonors the heroic sacrifices and patriotic contributions made by all Ethiopians in liberating these areas. In the future, we demand that border discussion be open and transparent. As concerned Ethiopians and as people who have a direct interest in the region, we believe that it is the fundamental right of the concerned communities inhabiting these areas to be directly consulted as it involves their future. The community identity and their total history of who they are cannot be arbitrarily changed at the will of a government.

We demand a public explanation from the Secretary General of the United Nations and the Ethiopian government on how the UNMEE reference map came into being. We demand also that the UN and the Ethiopian government come up publicly with a corrected version of the UNMEE reference map that rectifies the arbitrary demarcation error and that correctly reflects the territorial integrity of Ethiopia.

Members of Gulo-Mekada Community and Irob Community in North America.

Contact address: Zalambesa_Irob@yahoo.com