Eritrea and the Responsibility to Project
The primary factor driving these sanctions has been the persistent security situation in Somalia and Asmara’s alleged support to Al Shabaab militants that control the Southern regions of Somalia, as well as other groups in Djibouti, Ethiopia and the Sudan. A July 2011 report from the Security Council’s Monitoring Group in Somalia and Eritrea details support for armed opposition groups by “a small but efficient team of officers from the National Security Office, the Eritrean military and the PFDJ [the People’s Front for Democracy and Justice] leadership under direct supervision of the President’s Office, ” in violation of the arms embargo imposed by a previous sanctions.
Resolution 2023 passed 13-0 (with Russia and China abstaining, as they did during successive rounds of sanctions against Libya) on 5 December and serves as a reminder more than anything else. Following on from Resolutions 1844 (2008) and 1907 (Christmas eve, 2009) that prohibit