Today 13th April is the day when 14 years ago in 2002 the Eritrea-Ethiopia
Boundary
Commission (EEBC) composed of five (2 British, 2 American and 1 Nigerian)
internationally renowned arbitration judges unanimously decided that the
disputed town of
Badme is a sovereign Eritrean territory.
It is to be recalled that the Algiers Peace Agreement of 12 December 2000
signed by the
leaders of Eritrea and Ethiopia, and guaranteed by the UN and OAU/AU as
well as witnessed
by the United State of America and the European Union established the
Eritrea Ethiopia
Boundary Commission (EEBC), in order to determine the location of the
boundary between
the two neighboring countries in a Final and Binding Award. Article 4.2 of
the Algiers
Agreement states:
“The parties agree that a neutral Boundary Commission composed of five
members shall be established with a mandate to delimit and demarcate the
colonial treaty border based on pertinent colonial treaties (1900, 1902,
and
1908) and applicable international law. The Commission shall not have the
power to make decisions ex aequo et bono."
In accordance to its mandate and after hearing the legal arguments of the
parties for more
than two years, the EEBC completed and delivered its Final and Binding
Delimitation
Award on 13 April 2002 and immediately commenced the process of
demarcation. The Final
and Binding Demarcation phase was as clearly applicable to the Delimitation
phase.
However, in violation of its treaty obligations Ethiopia started to
obstruct the Commission’s
demarcation activities and placement of pillars on the ground on the basis
of the historic
delimitation line that the Commission had clearly identified in its 13
April 2002 Award. The
Commission consistently ascertained Ethiopia's obstruction as nothing more
than an
expression of dissatisfaction with the Commission’s substantive findings.
Articulating this
fact, the President of the EEBC, Sir Elihu Lauterpacht, in his letter dated
27 November 2006,
that was sent to the then Foreign Minister of Ethiopia, Mr. Seyoum Mesfin,
stated “the truth
of the matter appears to be that Ethiopia is dissatisfied with the
substance of the
Commission's Delimitation Decision and has been seeking ever since 2002 to
find ways of
changing it."
Rejecting Ethiopia’s intransigence and obstruction, fulfilling its treaty
responsibility and
mandate, the EEBC Demarcated the Ethiopia-Eritrea border with highly
accurate and
technically precise coordinates in 2007. In this regard, the Commission
sent a letter to the
parties and the UN Secretary-General, Mr. Ban Ki-moon, informing them that
it has fulfilled
its mandated responsibilities and unequivocally concluded its arbitration
process. The letter
states: "the Commission hereby determines that the Boundary will
automatically stand as
demarcated by the boundary pillars points listed in the Annex hereto and
that the mandate of the Commission can then be regarded as fulfilled."
On 30 November 2007, the Commission also sent to the parties signed copies
of 45 maps on a scale of 1:25,000 containing the demarcation of the
Boundary by coordinates and deposited a copy in the Office of the UN
Cartography for public reference. Thus, Ethiopia’s diplomatic maneuver
under the pretext “dialogue” aside, the border between Eritrea and Ethiopia
is unequivocally Demarcated by the EEBC. Final and Binding means final and
binding.
Ethiopia has constantly attempted to disguise its non-acceptance of the
EEBC Final and
Binding Delimitation and Demarcation Decisions by a variety of transparent
stratagems, none of which has any legal basis. First, it claimed to be
seeking an “interpretation” of the Delimitation Award in a lengthy request
to the Commission that (as the Commission explicitly noted in its rejection
of the Ethiopian request) was nothing more than a substantive complaint
against the Commission's decision about the location of the
Eritrea-Ethiopia legal boundary.
Then it began to resettle Ethiopians who had never lived in the border
region into the territory that the Commission had just recognized and
awarded as Eritrean sovereign
territory, ignoring the Commission’s order that this illegal settlement
program be immediately terminated. Its current stratagem, such as
"dialogue", is to demand that Eritrea negotiate over the location of the
boundary, claiming that "the Commission had made errors" in its
Delimitation and Demarcation Award that the two countries had to rectify.
There is nothing to rectify. Once again it must be underlined that both
countries have signed that the Delimitation and Demarcation decision of the
EEBC to be Final and Binding.
Neither Eritrea nor Ethiopia has the veto power over the Boundary
Commission’s Final and
Binding Delimitation and Demarcation Decisions. Nothing in the Algiers
Agreement gives Ethiopia the right to reject, question and amend the Final
and Binding Delimitation and
Demarcation Decisions of the EEBC as well as to impose conditions on
Eritrea. Ethiopia is
not entitled to demand concessions of any kind as a “quid pro quo” for
vacating sovereign
Eritrean territory, including the town of Badme. Ethiopia is clearly asking
and demanding
that Eritrea cede its sovereign territory to Ethiopia in a process that it
calls “dialogue”. Such “dialogue” is nothing more than holding Eritrean
territory hostage in order to extract
concessions. If Ethiopia wants to improve relations with Eritrea, it must
respect its treaty obligations and the UN Charter by immediately and
unconditionally withdrawing from sovereign Eritrean territory it occupies
including the town of Badme. If Ethiopia is allowed to shirk its treaty
obligation by challenging the authority of the EEBC, a body which was fully
mandated by the UN Security Council to make a Final and Binding Decisions,
then Eritrea will face an infinite series of additional demands, with
Ethiopia requesting and imposing new conditions under the pretext of
“dialogue”.
The precedence that condoning such belligerent and illegal behavior by
Ethiopia would entail is immensely dangerous to the resolution of boundary
conflicts and stability of international borders, undermining the respect
that states must give to the peace treaties they sign under Chapter VII of
the UNSC. No matter how much Ethiopia wishes to exert some unlawful veto
power over EEBC’s Award under the guise of demanding “dialogue”, such veto
power is totally inconsistent with the terms of the Algiers Agreement that
is signed by the leaders of the two countries in 2000 and the EEBC’s Final
and Binding decisions that were endorsed by the UNSC.
The Security Council should make clear that Ethiopia's belligerent and
illegal behavior is
unacceptable. Ethiopia must respect the UN Charter, its treaty obligation
and the Final and
Binding 2002 Delimitation and 2007 Demarcation Decision of the EEBC.
Ethiopia must comply with Article 4.15 of the 12 December 2000 Algiers
Agreement which states:
“The parties agree that the delimitation and demarcation determinations of
the Commission shall be final and binding. Each party shall respect the
border so determined, as well as the territorial integrity and sovereignty
of the other party”.
Therefore, on the bases of Article 14 of the Algiers Agreement which
clearly calls for
“appropriate measures to be taken under Chapter VII”, the UNSC must demand
Ethiopia to unconditionally and immediately withdraw from sovereign Eritrea
territory it
occupies, including the town of Badme. The UN and AU guaranteed as well as
US and EU
witnessed Algiers Agreement must be respected. Last but not least, justice
must be upheld.
No nation big or small should be allowed to occupy a sovereign territory of
another country.
As to the issue of “dialogue”, once respecting the EEBC’s final and binding
delimitation and
demarcation decisions, Ethiopia ends its occupation of sovereign Eritrea
territory, including the town of Badme, Eritrea is ready and willing to
normalize its relations with Ethiopia and to engage in constructive
dialogue on issues that are relevant and beneficial to the people of
Ethiopia and Eritrea as well as to the stability of the Horn of Africa and
the Red Sea region.
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Received on Wed Apr 13 2016 - 12:36:40 EDT