The following press release was issued by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia.

The Eritrea-Ethiopia Claims Commission has determined that Eritrea committed frequent and serious violations of international law against Ethiopian civilians during the two-year armed conflict initiated against Ethiopia.  Yesterday evening the Commission issued Awards (“Central Front Awards”) concerning the unlawful treatment of civilians and civilian property in the area known as the Central Front, which includes the woredas (districts) of Mereb Lekhe, Ahferom, Gulomakheda, and Irob and five adjacent Eritrean sub-zobas.

With respect to every one of the four Ethiopian woredas comprising the Central Front, the Commission found Eritrea liable for frequent physical abuse of civilians by means of intentional killings, beatings and abductions as well as widespread looting and destruction of civilian property in the areas occupied by Eritrea’s armed forces. In Irob woreda, the Commission further found Eritrea liable for “a recurring pattern of excessive violence by Eritrean soldiers against civilians,” “frequent severe beatings” and “intentional killings.” The Commission particularly condemned Eritrea for two serious violations of international law which affected a significant number of Ethiopian civilians: Eritrea’s bombings of school children in Mekele town in June 1998 and Eritrea’s intentional destruction of the important Ethiopian border town of Zalambessa. 

With respect to Eritrea’s unlawful bombings, the Commission determined that Eritrea violated international law when it bombed the Ayder Elementary School in Mekele, not once as claimed by Eritrea, but on two successive occasions on June 5, 1998.  The bombings killed fifty-three (53) civilians, including twelve (12) school children, and injured 185 civilians, including forty-two (42) school children.

Concerning the important Ethiopian border town of Zalambessa, the Commission found that Eritrea’s “deliberate, unlawful destruction” of the town buildings and widespread looting of property in the town constituted clear violations of international law. The Commission determined that, following Eritrea’s brutal occupation and destruction of the town, “scarcely a single building remained intact.”

In contrast with these findings of serious violations by Eritrea, the Commission determined that Ethiopia was not liable for most of the violations alleged by Eritrea. Of particular note, the Commission found no violations of international law had been committed by Ethiopian military forces during their military operations in Eritrea. The only violations found against Ethiopia occurred in limited areas during the subsequent occupation. 

Eritrea submitted claims for violations in five Central Front sub-zobas (districts), and the Commission dismissed outright Eritrea’s claims for all of those sub-zobas, except for certain claims regarding three towns.  With respect to the three towns, the Commission found that Ethiopia was liable for a percentage of the property damage to a few, named structures and damage caused by looting.  The Commission acknowledged, however, that some of the property damage could have been caused by combat or by Eritrea’s own forces and that some of the looting could have been caused by Eritrean forces or Eritrean civilians. Eritrea's claims of widespread physical abuse against Eritrean civilians throughout the five Central Front sub-zobas were rejected.

The Commission also found that Ethiopian occupation authorities had not prevented damage to an Eritrean monument, the Stela of Matara, although Ethiopia did not intend such damage.

The Central Front Awards were issued after the Commission’s consideration of evidence and written submissions by the Parties and two weeks of hearings in The Hague in November 2003. 

The Central Front Awards are the second set of Awards issued to date by the Commission. The Commission was established pursuant to the 12 December 2000 Agreement between Ethiopia and Eritrea signed in Algiers.  In July 2003, the Commission issued Awards concerning claims by both Parties of unlawful treatment of prisoners of war during the conflict. These Awards, like the Awards for the Central Front, found that Eritrea had committed numerous violations of international law, including the killings of Ethiopian prisoners of war at capture, the pervasive physical abuse of prisoners of war at Eritrean prisoner-of-war camps from May 1998 until their release in August 2002, and denial of access to the International Committee of the Red Cross (“ICRC”) to Ethiopian prisoners of war throughout the conflict. In contrast, the Commission found that Ethiopia was not liable for the killings or physical abuse of prisoners of war and did not deny ICRC access to Eritrean prisoners.

The Commission will continue to receive evidence and argument on additional claims over the following year.

The Government of the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia expresses its appreciation to the Commission for its work in holding Eritrea accountable for its inhumane and unlawful abuse of Ethiopian civilians on the Central Front. 

The Central Front Awards will be made publicly available by the Claims Commission and may be found at www.pca-cpa.org

ENDS