By TesfaNews,
ERITREA strongly rejects Resolution L.23 that passed in Geneva by the Human Rights Council through a confidential procedure without a vote.
The controversial resolution was tabled by Djibouti and Somalia on behalf of arch enemy Ethiopia.
Cameroon, the third African country that was willing in co-sponsoring the draft resolution have withdrawn its support in the last minute after the UN Human Rights Council publicly admits it forged the official Eritrean government document with a paragraph from North Korea file to influence the positions of the Council members.
Russia and China are also obliged to disassociate themselves from consensus on the resolution citing it doesn’t help the human rights situation in the country.
They both suggested that interactive dialogue with the Eritrean Government is the best means to address the situation, if the concern is still human rights, including by providing technical assistance and consultative service.
Ambassador Wu Hailong of China in his statement specifically implied that “economic and management difficulties” that the government faces are the causes of the human rights situations in Eritrea and that needs to be addressed through “full consultation with the country concerned and on the basis of its consent to provide it with technical assistance and capacity building support.”
Rejecting the resolution and its recommendations, Ambassador Tesfamicael Gerahtu of Eritrea said the resolution is nothing but a continuation of the protracted confrontation against Eritrea by its architects.
He reiterates that his country will neither surrender its sovereign rights nor will abandon its independent political stance due to threats and intimidation that come under the pretense of human rights.
Below is the full statement made by the Eritrean delegation:
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Geneva, 2 July 2015
Mr. President
As a continuation of the protracted confrontation against Eritrea, another draft resolution is again tabled by the usual bidders Djibouti and Somalia on behalf of the main known architects. I commend the farsightedness of Cameroon to withdraw its sponsorship of this politicized draft resolution targeting a sisterly African state. My delegation has been aware of the blackmail of deceit made to show that the draft resolution is endorsed as an initiative by the African Group which is totally false. In actual fact, the Group’s opposition on any country specific resolution is principled and remains unchanged.
As part of the continuous hostilities, we are also dismayed to see that the Press Statement of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs has been subjected to forgery. The forgery involved a cut and paste job from an official DPRK document. The act and its spin effect by a lawyer of the HRW and the media attests to the deliberate disinformation and blackmail campaign orchestrated on our nation. While we note the apology made by the Secretariat, my delegation does not consider it a technical error and calls upon the HRC to further investigate the matter and take necessary action on the accomplices.
Mr. President
Eritrea has rejected the politically motivated mechanisms and the prescriptive reports and recommendations of the COI and SR on Eritrea. This draft resolution is only meant to legitimize these unfounded, biased and shunned reports and my delegation thus calls upon members of the Council to oppose the draft resolution.
In essence, the architects and messengers of the draft resolution dream to perpetuate the already failed hostilities aimed to thwart Eritrea’s nation building aspirations, violate its sovereign rights, compromise the independent political stance of the nation and sabotage the promising development achievements of the country. The resilience of the people and government has been ascertained as a reality and neither will Eritrea surrender its sovereign rights nor will it abandon its independent political stance under any name including under the pretense of human rights.
Eritrea is, however, earnestly redoubling its development efforts to achieve a qualitative leap in the next 3-4 years. The mainstreaming of human rights is being strengthened as an integral part of this process and reflects our commitments and efforts to promote human rights and fundamental freedoms. On the other hand, engagement, cooperation and institutional links on human rights has also been consolidated and expanded. Eritrea believes that the draft resolution is a recipe for a sustained confrontation with no dividend to the promotion of human rights.
Mr. President
Let me finally state that Eritrea is grateful for the principled position shown by some members of the Council and reiterates its commitment to work together on all human right issues at bilateral level through partnerships.
Thank You Mr. President!
