Ethiopia, Eritrea must accept border within a year – panel

Nov 29, 2006 (THE HAGUE) — An international arbitration panel ordered Ethiopia and Eritrea on Wednesday to settle their long-running border dispute within a year or accept a boundary drawn up using modern mapping techniques and aerial photos.

The independent panel — the Eritrea-Ethiopia Boundary Commission — issued a binding ruling on the border in 2002, but Ethiopia has refused to implement it. Since then, both sides have blocked moves to fix border pillars on the ground, and have come close to reviving their armed conflict.

Earlier this month, the border commission said it was drawing up maps to clearly show the border.

“It is only possible to demarcate a boundary by the fixing of boundary pillars with the full cooperation of both the states concerned,” the panel of five experts said Wednesday in a written statement.

“As the Commission evidently cannot remain in existence indefinitely, it proposes that the parties should, over the next 12 months … consider their positions and seek to reach agreement on the emplacement of (border marking) pillars,” the commission said.

If the countries fail to agree on the border, “the Commission hereby determines that the boundary will automatically stand as demarcated by the boundary points” it has drawn up.

The commission said that since neither country was willing to allow construction of pillars marking out the border proposed in 2002, it had resorted to using aerial photos and modern techniques to establish a new boundary, though it stressed the new line “does not differ significantly” from the 2002 proposal.

Relations between Eritrea and Ethiopia have been strained since Eritrea gained its independence from Ethiopia in 1993 following a 30-year guerrilla war.

The two fought again in 1998-2000 over the disputed border. A separate commission issued a ruling last year blaming Eritrea for igniting the war when it tried to seize Badme, a border town held by Ethiopia. The 2002 border ruling awarded Badme to Eritrea.

A U.N. peacekeeping force has been monitoring the buffer zone since a cease-fire agreement was signed.

The commission was set up by the Permanent Court of Arbitration, the world’s oldest international court, which is based in The Hague. The published terms of the commission make no mention of enforcement procedures should its binding decisions be ignored.

(AP)