United Nations Security Council placed additional sanctions on Eritrea on Monday for continuing to provide support to armed groups seeking to destabilize Somalia and other parts of the Horn of Africa.

The Council imposed the extra sanctions building on the arms and travel embargoes it imposed exactly two years ago.


The new measures are contained in a resolution which received the support of 13 of the Council’s 15 members. China and Russia abstained.


It follows an earlier meeting same day at which the Council heard a briefing from the Intergovernmental Authority on Development (IGAD).


Speaking as Chair of IGAD by video conference from Addis Ababa, hours before the Council took action, Meles Zenawi, Prime Minister of Ethiopia, said the member States of IGAD had gathered to express the same opinion, namely that “Eritrea is a prime source of instability for the whole region”.


IGAD had been actively involved in drafting the text, which was tabled by Gabon and Nigeria, he said, and a failure by the Council to adopt it would imply that the countries in the region were on their own, and must defend themselves. That was not a choice they wished to make. “We ask you to act, and to act decisively,” he stressed.


Also speaking before action Monday afternoon, Gabon’s representative said that in response to the urgent appeal by IGAD for new sanctions, his country had felt it was necessary to co-sponsor the resolution.


Despite appeals by the international community and the African Union, Eritrea had failed to comply with relevant Security Council resolutions. Urging the resolution’s adoption, he said it aimed to lead to peace and security in the region.


Also addressing the Council via video- and teleconference were Ismaël Omar Guelleh, President of Djibouti; Sheikh Sharif Sheikh Ahmed, President of the Transitional Federal Government of Somalia; Moses Wetangula, Minister for Foreign Affairs of Kenya; and Mull Sebujja Katende, Ambassador of Uganda to the African Union.


In its resolution afterwards, the Council expressed its grave concern that “Eritrea has continued to provide political, financial, training and logistical support to armed opposition groups, including Al-Shabaab, engaged in undermining peace, security and stability in Somalia and the region.”


It also condemned the planned terrorist attack of January 2011 to disrupt the African Union summit in Addis Ababa, as expressed by the findings of the Somalia/Eritrea Monitoring Group in July.


The group found that the Eritrean Government “conceived, planned, organized and directed a failed plot” to disrupt the summit by bombing a series of civilian and governmental targets.


In December 2009, the Council adopted a resolution which imposed sanctions on Eritrea for supporting insurgents trying to topple the government in neighboring Somalia.


The measures included an arms embargo on Eritrea, travel bans on the country’s top political and military officials, and the freezing of assets of some of its senior political and military officials.


In its latest resolution on Monday, which was sponsored by Gabon and Nigeria, the Council condemned Eritrea’s violations of earlier resolutions.

It demanded that it “cease all direct or indirect efforts to destabilize States,” including through financial, military, intelligence and non-military assistance, such as the provision of training centers and camps for armed groups, passports, living expenses, or travel facilitation.


The Council also voiced concern at the potential use of the Eritrean mining sector as a source of finance to destabilize the Horn of Africa.


It decided that States should take measures to ensure that their companies involved in mining in Eritrea exercise “due diligence” so that funds derived from the sector are not used to destabilize the region.


In addition, the Council called on Eritrea to engage constructively with Djibouti to resolve their border dispute.

Nigeria’s representative, speaking after the resolution’s adoption, said that beyond any sanctions, the opportunity for a political solution to regional challenges should not be closed.


A comprehensive and lasting peace must be the goal, he said, and encouraged Eritrea to comply with all of the resolution’s provisions.

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