The United Nations Security Council today voted to expand
sanctions on Eritrea and warned mining companies to exercise greater
“vigilance” in doing business with the African nation.
The 15-member council approved a resolution 13 to 0, with
Russia and China abstaining, that broadens the scope of an asset freeze and
travel ban imposed on Eritrean individuals and entities in 2009. In addition,
UN member states “shall undertake appropriate measures to promote the exercise
of vigilance” in their dealings with Eritrea’s mining industry.
Eritrea’s $2.59 billion economy relies on mining and gold
that has drawn investment from companies including Canada’s Nevsun Resources
Ltd. (NSU)
The push to punish Eritrea was triggered by a UN report in
July that said its government planned a failed plot in January to disrupt the
African Union summit in Addis Ababa by bombing civilian and governmental
targets.
The resolution ties Eritrea directly to the attack. The
government of Eritrea denies any involvement in the plot.
The current text is watered down from an October draft that
banned companies from investing in mineral resources and prohibited the payment
of a remittances tax.
The resolution now “condemns” the use of a 2 percent tax
paid by Eritreans abroad “for purposes such as procuring arms and related
materiel for transfer to armed opposition groups” and “decides Eritrea shall
cease these practices.”
Eritrea has been ruled by President Isaias Afeworki, a
former rebel leader, since it gained independence from Ethiopia in 1993. The UN
has already sanctioned the Horn of Africa nation for supporting al-Qaeda-linked
terrorists fighting to topple the Western-backed government of Somalia.
In a Dec. 4 statement from its foreign ministry, Eritrea
said there “is absolutely no justification for rushing a sanctions resolution
that is designed to inflict suffering on the Eritrean people.”
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