allAfrica.com: Eritrea: Letter to UNSG; President of the UNSC; UNSC Member States; Witnesses, EU (Page 1 of 4)

Eritrea: Letter to UNSG; President of the UNSC; UNSC Member States; Witnesses, EU

To: UNSG; President of the UNSC; UNSC Member States; Witnesses, EU

It has come to Eritrea's attention that, by letter dated 22 September 2007, the Ethiopian Foreign Minister has indicated Ethiopia's intention to attempt to renounce the two Algiers Agreements by which the Eritrea-Ethiopia border war of 1998-2000 was put to an end.

Ethiopia circulated this letter immediately to the public and the media -- the audience for which, undoubtedly, it was primarily intended -- without communicating it to the Eritrean government first through appropriate diplomatic or legal channels. The substance of Ethiopia's letter and its timing underscore that it is intended simply as another effort to subvert the implementation of the final and binding Award of the Eritrea-Ethiopia Boundary Commission.As such, it is clearly unlawful under the Vienna Convention on the Law of Treaties and other principles of international law, as well as highly detrimental to regional peace and security.

Before addressing the substance of Ethiopia's public letter, let me emphasize, for the record, certain basic principles.

The sole legal forum for resolution of matters pertaining to the delimitation and demarcation provisions of the Algiers Agreement is the Eritrea-Ethiopia Boundary Commission situated at the Permanent Court of Arbitration in the Hague. This principle is enshrined in Articles 4.12 and 4.15 of the Algiers Peace Agreement. Neither Ethiopia's Foreign Minister, Eritrea's Foreign Minister, nor any other party has the legal authority to submit or to litigate these issues in any other forum.

Article 4.2 of the Algiers Agreement provides for a "final and binding" decision by the EEBC, without appeal and without any parallel mechanism to review, replace, or supplement its functions.

The UN Security Council has legal and security obligations to enforce the final and binding decisions of the EEBC.

The letter of Ethiopia's Foreign Minister must be understood within the spirit and framework of these fundamental points.

The Timing and Motivation of Ethiopia's Letter

Ethiopia's letter was deliberately timed to create maximum disruption and to distract attention from its uncooperative position at the most recent EEBC meeting. What transpired at that meeting, held on 6-7 September in The Hague, was personally witnessed by the EEBC and is a matter for the Commission itself to report to the United Nations in accordance with its customary procedures. In writing and immediately releasing his letter, Ethiopia's Foreign Minister is self-evidently attempting to pre-empt the Commission's report.

Ethiopia's motivation in doing so is clear:

i) Obviously dissatisfied with the conclusions reached by the Eritrea-Ethiopia Boundary Commission - and perhaps with those of the Eritrea-Ethiopia Claims Commission as well - Ethiopia hopes, by these means, either to force Eritrea to renegotiate the "final and binding" boundary Award of 13 April 2002, or to remain in perpetuity in occupation of all of the territory recognized in the Commission's Award as Eritrean.

ii) Ethiopia further wishes to create a new forum or mechanism to substitute the EEBC and to set in motion a process of endless wrangling to sow confusion in the international public opinion.

iii) Ethiopia wishes, ultimately, to undermine the legal and peaceful processes embedded in the Algiers Agreement.

Indeed, Ethiopia seems to be planning to use its unlawful attempt at renunciation of the Algiers Agreements as a precursor for initiation of renewed hostilities.

Ethiopia's Repeated Violations of the Algiers Agreements

Ethiopia has refused to cooperate with the Boundary Commission's lawful orders almost since the day that the Award was first announced in April 2002:

In July 2002, Ethiopia began to move Ethiopians from the central highlands of Tigray into territory recognized as Eritrean only months earlier. After factual investigation and full legal consideration, the Commission ordered Ethiopia to remove such settlements, and this order was endorsed by Security Council Resolution 1430 (14 August 2002). Ethiopia never complied with the order, and its unlawful settlements remain to this day.[1]

In January 2003, when the parties were asked to supply the Commission with technical comments, Ethiopia instead responded with 141 pages demanding that the boundary line be altered. According to the Boundary Commission, "[Ethiopia's] comments amounted to an attempt to reopen the substance of the April Decision, notwithstanding Ethiopia's repeated statements, made both before and since, of its acceptance of the Decision."[2]

Also in January 2003, Ethiopia halted the Commission's demarcation work on the pretext that one of Eritrea's two Field Liaison Officers was (supposedly) a spy. It offered no evidence for this manifestly implausible (and untrue) contention. In February 2003, Ethiopia then failed to appoint new Field Liaison Officers notwithstanding the Commission's instructions to do so.[3]

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