US accused of "unwarranted intervention"

Eritrea has accused the US State Department of "unwarranted intervention" after it questioned Asmara's human rights record. State Department spokesman Richard Boucher last week recalled that two Eritrean employees at the US embassy in Asmara had been held without charge for a year. "The government of Eritrea should either release the two employees of the US embassy in Asmara or grant them due process and an opportunity to defend themselves in a fair and open trial," Boucher told a press briefing. He also reminded journalists of last year's detention of 11 prominent Eritrean politicians "who had called for greater democracy", as well as the arrest of journalists, a ban on the private media and new restrictions on freedom of religion. "The United States calls upon the government of Eritrea to respect the fundamental human rights enshrined in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, including freedom of the press, freedom of association, and freedom of religion, and to return to the basic values of democracy and human rights, as it has repeatedly committed itself to do," Boucher said. In response, the Eritrean government on Friday accused the State Department of "rejecting [Asmara's] patient and constructive diplomacy...to preserve the strategic bilateral ties between the two countries". A foreign ministry statement said the US comments originated from the 1998 border war with Ethiopia. "Contrary to Eritrea's expectations, [a] few officials in the previous US Administration, whom Eritrea trusted to act as honest brokers of peace, mishandled the situation at its early stages," it said. "These grave errors ultimately contributed to the escalation of the war." These officials were accused of employing the CIA, in the midst of war, to "unlawfully change the [Eritrean] government", the statement claimed. To this end, it said, some senior Eritrean government officials were "recruited" and "conveniently portrayed as moderate or reformist opponents". "They attempted to induce division within the ranks of the government and our people at large using religious and regional differences," it said. "The government of Eritrea has a sovereign right to take necessary action against hostile elements to safeguard the sovereignty and national security of the country," the statement added. "These legitimate acts have no links whatsoever to democracy or human rights as the State Department insinuates."