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Joint Declaration of Peace and Friendship between Eritrea and Ethiopia

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  07 March 2019

Scott W. Lyons
Scott W. Lyons*
Affiliation:
Senior Lecturer and Africa Regional Program Lead for the Defense Governance and Management Team, Naval Postgraduate School. The views in this article are solely of the author in his personal capacity and do not represent the views of the U.S. Department of Defense, any other agency, or the United States.
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Extract

Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed and Eritrean President Isaias Afwerki signed a historic agreement on July 9, 2018, in Asmara, Eritrea, ending over two decades of open hostilities and war. The Joint Declaration of Peace and Friendship (Joint Declaration) marks a fundamental change for the Horn of Africa, with the reconciliation possibly altering the economic and political dynamics of the region. The Joint Declaration resulted from several key developments occurring over a few weeks from June through early July 2018. Ethiopia announced its acceptance of the original Algiers Agreement, dated December 12, 2000, which had never been implemented, and its willingness to abide by the 2002 international Eritrea-Ethiopia Boundary Commission (EEBC) ruling that awarded disputed territory to Eritrea, including the border town of Badme. Previously, Ethiopia had rejected the ruling and asked for a new ruling. Ethiopia had also previously insisted that relations must be restored before any territorial resolution. President Afwerki agreed to negotiate, after stating for years that Ethiopia had to withdraw its troops from the disputed town of Badme first. A few weeks before the signing of the Joint Declaration, the Eritrean foreign minister visited Addis Ababa, the capital of Ethiopia, marking the first bilateral meeting between the two since the war began.

Type
International Legal Documents
Information
International Legal Materials , Volume 58 , Issue 1 , February 2019 , pp. 237 - 239
Copyright
Copyright © 2019 by The American Society of International Law 

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References

ENDNOTES

1 Joint Declaration of Peace and Friendship Between Eritrea and Ethiopia, Eri.-Eth., July 9, 2018, http://www.shabait.com/news/local-news/26639-joint-declaration-of-peace-and-friendship-between-eritrea-and-ethiopia [hereinafter Joint Declaration].

2 Agreement Between the Government of the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia and the Government of the State of Eritrea, Eth.-Eri., Dec. 12, 2000, 2138 UNTS 94, UN Doc. S/2000/1183 [hereinafter Algiers Agreement]. This agreement followed the Agreement on Cessation of Hostilities Between the Government of the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia and the Government of the State of Eritrea, Eth.-Eri., June 18, 2000, 2138 UNTS 86.

3 See Decision Regarding Delimitation of the Border Between the State of Eritrea and the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia (Eri.-Eth.), 25 Int'l Arb. Awards 83 (Apr. 13, 2002).

4 See Joint Declaration, supra note 1.

5 See Algiers Agreement, supra note 2.

6 See Michael Matheson, Eritrean-Ethiopian Claims Commission Damage Awards, ASIL Insights (Sept. 4, 2009), https://www.asil.org/insights/volume/13/issue/13/eritrea-ethiopia-claims-commission-damage-awards [hereinafter Matheson]. Article 4 of the Agreement created a neutral Boundary Commission to demarcate the boundary based on relevant colonial treaties and international law. Article 5 set up a neutral Claims Commission to arbitrate claims by the two governments against each other and by nationals of each of the two countries.

7 The Boundary Commission consisted of Sir Elihu Lauterpacht (president), Bola Adesumbo Ajibola, Professor W. Michael Reisman, Judge Stephen M. Schwebel, and Sir Arthur Watts. The Claims Commission consisted of Judge George Aldrich, John Crook, Professor Hans van Houette (the president), James Paul, and Lucy Reed. Most were important figures in the founding and history of the American Society of International Law.

8 Partial Award: Jus Ad Bellum - Ethiopia's Claims 1–8 (Eri.-Eth.), 2006 ILM 430 (Perm. Ct. Arb. 2005).

9 By August 2009, the Claims Commission had delivered fifteen partial and final awards on liability totaling hundreds of millions of dollars to individuals and their respective governments, but had no mechanism to enforce payment and collect funds.

10 See Matheson, supra note 6.

11 Ethiopia and Eritrea Blame Each Other for Border Clash, BBC News (June 13, 2016), https://www.bbc.com/news/world-africa-36515503.

12 Horn of Africa: UN Chief Welcomes Djibouti Agreement Between Eritrea, Ethiopia and Somalia, UN News (Sept. 8, 2018), https://news.un.org/en/story/2018/09/1018811.