ADDIS ABABA- The Biden Administration’s proposed sanctions on Ethiopia and Eritrea are illegal and deviate from international law, a renowned Canadian defense attorney said, adding that the U.S. does not have the right to intervene in the internal politics of the two sovereign states.
During his stay with La Progressive News letter, the defense attorney John Philpot stated that the H.R.6600 Congressional Bill is an interventionist tool to meddle in the internal politics of a sovereign nation, namely Ethiopia.
Under the guise of peace and democracy, the Bill intends to make Ethiopia answerable to the U.S. interest. “It is legal for the UN to impose sanctions on a country when it is violating certain rules, most of all if it violates another nation’s sovereignty by invading or bombing its territory.
Also, if a certain government is deemed to be committing genocide or crimes against humanity within its own borders, it is justifiable for the UN to intervene.” Unjustifiably, the U.S. wants to impose sanctions on Ethiopia’s trade with other countries, but also third-party sanctions that would punish nations for choosing to trade with Ethiopia.
They want to control who Ethiopia does business with, he elaborated. “And in this bill, they are also talking about Eritrea, because obviously, the evolution of Eritrea, an egalitarian state often called “the Cuba of Africa,” is very important for the entire Horn of Africa region.”
Chapter Seven of the UN Charter allows the UN Security Council (UNSC) to organize an intervention when it determines there exists “any threat to the peace, breach of the peace, or act of aggression.” This intervention can be economic under Article 41 or full intervention under Article 42.
The U.S. refused to censure, sanction, or take military action against the sovereign governments of both Burundi and Syria, and now they are doing the same with regard to Ethiopia and Eritrea, Philpot remarked.
BY ESSEYE MENGISTE
The 3 March 2022
