The Right of Rebellion and Secession in Current Eritrean Context

Abstract

Eritrea, a country which had been part of Ethiopia for 30 years, regained its independence after militarily challenging Ethiopian domination in May 1991. The liberation front that was in charge of the Eritrean independence struggle became the transitional government of Eritrea. Very popular at the start, the transitional government soon turned into ruthless dictatorship. Since the last ten years in particular Eritrea has become Africa’s North Korea. The unmatched repression has intensified opposition against the government. The means of struggle that the opposition forces have to use remains debatable and a rift exists between the violent and non-violent means advocates. In addition, some Eritrean ethnic groups feel that they are more oppressed than their compatriots. Thus they see secession as one of the solutions in their hands. This paper looks at the legality of rebellion and secession both philosophically and in current international law context. It concludes that rebelling (raising arms) against oppression is indeed a last resort human right and the right to self-determination can, in exceptional cases, warrant secession. In the application of these two rights in the current Eritrean context, the paper offers several recommendations.