Washington, DC — In the U.S. Congress, Thursday, the House Subcommittee on Africa approved sending a "Resolution of the Ethiopia-Eritrea Border Dispute Act of 2003" to the full House International Relations Committee. All six members of the subcommittee and other congressional lawmakers were present.
The bill, H.R. 2760, "creates an incentive for both parties to abide by the decision of the [Boundary] Commission," said subcommittee chairman Ed Royce (R-California).
Tensions between Eritrea and Ethiopia have surged since Ethiopia refused to accept a Boundary Commission verdict on the position of the frontier between the two countries announced in April.
The incentive might more properly be labelled a disincentive. The proposed bill would suspend U.S. economic assistance to either country if they fail to abide by the Boundary Commission's findings. But Royce was at pains to stress that the bill did not mean a suspension of all aid. "What it does not do, I want to be clear, is suspend food or medical assistance, peacekeeping funding, counter-terrorism initiatives, human rights or HIV/AIDS assistance. The U.S. has been, and will continue to be, generous in these areas."
On Thursday, however, Ethiopian Prime Minister Meles Zenawi was sounding determined: "It is impossible to say that these illegal and unjust [Boundary Commission] decisions must be implemented as they stand," he told his country's parliament in Addis Ababa, although he insisted that his government would not go back to war.
Ethiopia is unhappy because the Boundary Commission ruled that the town of Badme - the site of the territorial dispute which triggered the 1998-2000 conflict - should fall on Eritrea's side of the frontier. For its part, the Eritrean government has accused Addis Ababa of a "wholesale assault" on international law.
The war cost more than 100,000 Ethiopian and Eritrean lives. Ethiopia's behavior "could once again plunge these nations into a bloody conflict," warned the subcommittee's ranking member, Donald M. Payne (D-New Jersey).
The commission to demarcate the boundary was proposed as part of the "Algiers Agreement" in 2000 which ended the hostilities. Both nations at that time agreed that its decision would be "final and binding."
The bill "is not anti-Ethiopia," said Royce, but he clearly blamed Ethiopia for the rising tensions; "...the Ethiopian leadership is doing nothing to prepare Ethiopians to accept the Commission's decision. Instead, it's whipping up anti-Commission sentiment, manipulating nationalism for its own gain and, I believe, playing with fire." said the chairman.
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"This legislation is crafted to be pro-Boundary Commission, pro-rule of law, and ultimately, I believe, it is pro-peace," said Royce. "It calls on both parties to cooperate or face consequences," said Payne.
But addressing an American University forum in Washington, DC, Wednesday, Former U.S. Ambassador to Ethiopia (1996-1999) David Shinn, called the targeted sanctions proposed in the bill, "a sledgehammer approach to dealing with the problem...They rarely work in actual fact."
An amendment to the bill proposed by Barbara Lee (D-California) was accepted unanimously. It would have the U.S. provide development assistance for the war-devastated border area that would include agricultural projects as well as "generous compensation packages for families displaced by the border demarcation and support for relocation" as well as "support for local efforts to reinforce peace and reconciliation in the border region."
The bill now goes to the full House International Relations Committee where it must also be voted for before it can be presented for a vote by the 435 members of the House of Representatives.
