Eritrea: Even UN peacekeepers are not immune from Government abuse.

Cruel and inhuman treatment has, by and large, been set aside for helpless and oppressed Eritrean citizens of all walks of life. They range from 12 year olds to a diabetic 80-year old patriarch, from students to government ministers and parliamentarians, housewives and journalists and any body else in between. Terror and intimidation are part of an official policy to eliminate political and religious dissidents who dare to question the whims of Eritrea´s strongman, Mr. Isaias Afewerki and his henchmen.

It should not be surprising that the Eritrean government has used similar intimidating measures against UN peacekeepers inside its territory intended to deprive them from access to food and fuel supplies. The move was aimed to show the international community how enraged Mr. Afewerki had been at the impasse over the issue of the border conflict with Ethiopia. Critics agree that starvation and widespread fuel deprivation are also among the tools used to intimidate and terrorize the general Eritrean population.

Eritrea has the right to fight to ensure that its border with Ethiopia is demarcated according to a 2002 final and binding international ruling. But lack of progress is not in any way an excuse for the vulgar treatment of UN peacekeeping troops who were just doing their job according to a clearly defined UN mandate. Nor does non-demarcation justify endless repression of the Eritrean citizenry.

The tragedy is the UN has also failed to provide a bold leadership and guidance on whether or not it will put the necessary pressure on Ethiopia to abide by the international legal finding. If the UN determines that this is not workable, then the world body should tell the Eritrean government in no uncertain terms that it should sit down and talk with its Ethiopian counterpart on how the border ought to be marked.

Experts now suggest that in retaliation against Eritrea´s repeated obstruction of UN peacekeeping operations, the world body will not only impose appropriate sanctions but may also be inclined to side with the Ethiopian position which calls for "border demarcation after first engaging in talks."

Still, even if such a move was to lead to a resolution to the satisfactionof of the Eritrean side, it is unlikely that Mr. Afewerki would accept it. He fears an outbreak of a popular revolution as soon as the border dispute is over. If there is any Eritrean who thinks that at the end of the dispute, Mr. Afewerki would willingly allow full implementation of the principles of rule of law, justice and democracy, they are simply wrong. But an end to the dispute is long over due and it will certainly hasten the end of tyranny in Eritrea.

UN threat of use of sanctions is already having an impact. The Eritrean government has now changed its initial plan not to allow the departure of UN peacekeepers until the Ethiopians have, in the words of the Eritrean Ambassador to the UN, "withdrawn from our sovereign territory." Eritrean authorities have also toned down their rhetoric and are talking about their readiness to serve plenty of food to the blue helmets. They have been fastening the blame on unsubstantiated "technical problems" for their ´inability´ to provide fuel to the UN troops since December – a position ostensibly resulting from fear of severe UN action against the Asmara government.

However these political and diplomatic maneuvers play out, the UN peacekeepers will soon gain their freedom albeit leaving behind a lonely, betrayed, impoverished and terrorized population without any hope for peace and freedom any time soon. The UN should take concrete measures to stop the widespread human rights abuses inflicted on the Eritrean people.

Woldu Mikael is freelance writer and is former employee of the US-Dept. of Homeland Security.