Eritrean-Ethiopian War
Part of Conflicts in the Horn of Africa
File:Eritreafiring.jpeg
Date 1998-2000 Location Eritrean-Ethiopian border Result stalemate
Belligerents
Eritrea	Ethiopia
Commanders and leaders
Sebhat Ephrem	Tsadkan Gebretensae
Casualties and losses
19,000;[1][2]20-50,000[3]	up to 60,000;[4] 123,000[5][6]

The Eritrean-Ethiopian War took place from May 1998 to June 2000 between Ethiopia and Eritrea. From 1961 until 1991, Eritrea had fought a long war of independence against Ethiopia, ultimately leading to a referendum and peaceful separation in 1993. At the time of Eritrea's independence, the border between the two countries was undemarcated, and several adjacent areas were subject to dispute. However, since the two governments were close allies they agreed to set up a commission to look into their common border and disputed places.^[7]

Background and initial attack

Following independence, the two neighbours disagreed over currency and trade issues, and both laid claim to several border regions including Badme, Tsorona-Zalambessa, and Bure. Since early 1991 they had agreed to set up a commission to look into each others' claims.^[7]

Of particular issue was the border through the Badme Plain. As a result of the Treaty of 1902 the Badme Plain is bisected by the border which runs in a straight line between the Gash and Setit (Tekeze) Rivers.^[8]

On 6 May, 1998, a few Eritrean soldiers entered the Badme region, a disputed zone, along the border of Eritrea and Ethiopia's northern province of Tigray, resulting in a fire fight between the Eritrean soldiers and the Tigrayan militia and security police they encountered ^[9][10] Eritrea, claiming that several Eritrean officials had been murdered near Badme, invaded with a large, mechanized force. Ethiopia, in what Eritrean radio described as a "total war" policy, mobilized its forces for a full assault against Eritrea. ^[11][12]

After the war the Ethiopia-Eritrean claim committee ruled that:

The Respondent [Eritrea] violated Article 2, paragraph 4, of the Charter of the United

Nations by resorting to armed force on May 12, 1998 and the immediately following days to attack and occupy the town of Badme, then under peaceful administration by the Claimant [Ethiopia], as well as other territory in the Claimant's Tahtay Adiabo and Laelay Adiabo Weredas.^[13]

Eritrea objected the legality of the claim committee does not have the mandate to determine as to who violated first, that section of investigation should be determined by an independent commission created by UNSG in collaboration with AU.^{[citation needed]}

The War

The fighting quickly escalated to exchanges of artillery and tank fire leading to four weeks of intense fighting. Ground troops fought on three fronts. Eritrea claims Ethiopia launched air strikes against Eritrea's capital Asmara while Ethiopia accused Eritrea of striking first. ^{[14] [8]}

There was then a lull as both sides mobilized huge forces along their common border and dug extensive trenches.^[15] Both countries spent several hundred million dollars on new military equipment.^[16] This was despite the peace mediation efforts by OAU and the US/Rwanda peace plan that was in the works. The US/Rwanda was a four point peace plan that called for withdrawal of both forces to pre-June 1998 positions. Eritrea refused and instead demanded for demilitarization of all disputed areas along the common border overseen by a neutral monitoring force and direct talks. ^[17][18]

With Eritrea's refusal to accept the US/Rwanda peace plan, on 22 February 1999, Ethiopia launched a massive military offensive to recapture Badme. Tension had been high since February 6, 1999, When Ethiopia claimed that Eritrea had violated the moratorium on air raids by bombing Adigrat, a claim it later withdrew.^[19]

Following the first five days of military set back at Badme, by which time Ethiopia broken through Eritrea's fortified front and was 10 kilometers (six miles) deep into Eritrean territory, Eritrea accepted the peace Organization of African Unity plan on 27 February 1999.^[20]. Ethopia did not imidiatly stop its offensive operations because it demanded that peace talks be contingent on an Eritrean withdrawal from territory occupied since the first outbreak of fighting. Ethiopia launched an offensive that broke through the Eritrean lines between Shambuko and Mendefera, crossed the Mareb River, and cut the road between Barentu and Mendefera, the main supply line for Eritrean troops on the western front of the fighting.^[21]

By May 2000, Ethiopia occupied about a quarter of Eritrea's territory, displacing 650,000 people^[22] and destroying key components of Eritrea's infrastructure. The Eritreans evacuated the disputed border town of Zalambessa and other disputed areas on the central front claiming it was a 'tactical retreat' to take away one of Ethiopia's last remaining excuses for continuing the war.^[23] Having recaptured the contested territories, Ethiopia declared the war was over.^[24]

Eritrea claimed that 19,000 Eritrean soldiers were killed during the conflict,^[25] while Ethiopia is reported to have had 123,000 soldiers killed principally in the two major assaults in February-June 1999 and May-June 2000.^[26] Both these figures have been contested and some news reports simply state that "tens of thousands" or "as many as 100,000" were killed in the war^[27]

The fighting led to massive internal displacement in both countries as civilians fled the war zone. Ethiopia expelled 77,000 Eritreans and Ethiopians of Eritrean origin it deemed to be security risk, thus compounding Eritrea's refugee problem. ^{[28] [29]}

The economies of both countries were already weak as a result of decades of cold war politics, civil war and drought. The war exacerbated these problems, resulting in food shortages. Prior to the war, much of Eritrea's trade was with Ethiopia, and much of Ethiopia's foreign trade relied on Eritrean roads and ports.^{[citation needed]}

The widespread use of trenches has resulted in comparisons of the conflict to the trench warfare of World War I.^[15] This trench warfare led to the loss of "...thousands of young lives in human-wave assaults on Eritrea's positions..."^[30] The Eritrean defences were eventually overtaken by a surprise Ethiopian pincer movement on the Western front, attacking a mined, but lightly defended mountain (without trenches), resulting in the capture of Barentu and an Eritrean retreat. The element of surprise in the attack involved the use of donkeys as pack animals as well as being a solely infantry affair, with tanks coming in to secure the area only later.^[31]

The governments of both countries are widely accused of using the conflict as a basis for suppressing internal dissent.^{[citation needed]}

Regional destabilisation

The fighting also spread to Somalia as both government tried to out flank one another. The Eritrean government began supporting the Oromo Liberation Front, a rebel group seeking independence of Oromia from Ethiopia that was based in a part of Somalia controlled by Somali warlord Mohamed Farrah Aidid.^[32] Ethiopia retaliated by supporting groups in southern Somalia who were opposed to Aidid, and by renewing relations with the Islamic regime in Sudan – which is accused of supporting the Eritrean Islamic Salvation, a Sudan-based group that had launched attacks in the Eritrea-Sudan border region – while also lending support to various Eritrean rebel groups including a group known as the Eritrean Islamic Jihad.^[33][34]

Cessation of hostilities

On 18 June 2000, the parties agreed to a comprehensive peace agreement and binding arbitration of their disputes under the Algiers Agreement. A 25-kilometer-wide Temporary Security Zone was established within Eritrea, patrolled by United Nations peacekeeping forces from over 60 countries (the United Nations Mission in Eritrea and Ethiopia, or UNMEE). On 12 December 2000 a peace agreement was signed by the two governments.^[35]

On 13 April 2002, the Boundary Commission established under the Algiers Agreement in collaboration with The Hague Court agreed upon a "final and binding" verdict. The ruling awarded some territory to each side, but Badme (the flash point of the conflict) was awarded to Eritrea.^[36] Both countries vowed to accept the decision wholeheartedly the day after the ruling was made official.^[37] A few months later Ethiopia requested clarifications, then subsequently rejected the decision, violating the final and binding peace accord. Although there is a specific article in the peace accord stipulating to punish the party refusing to accept the "final and binding" ruling, but it remains nothing but an empty threat. In November 2004, Ethiopia accepts the ruling "in principle".

On 10 December 2005, Ethiopia announced it was withdrawing some of its forces from the Eritrean border "in the interests of peace".^[38] Then, on 15 December the United Nations began to withdraw peacekeepers from Eritrea in response to a UN resolution passed the previous day.^[39]

On December 21, 2005, a commission at the Permanent Court of Arbitration in The Hague ruled that Eritrea broke international law when it attacked Ethiopia in 1998, triggering the broader conflict.^[40]

Ethiopia and Eritrea have since remobilized troops along the border, and as of 2006, there is new fear that the two countries could return to war.^[41][42] On 7 December 2005, Eritrea banned UN helicopter flights and ordered Western members (particularly from the United States, Canada, Europe and Russia) of the UN peacekeeping mission on its border with Ethiopia to leave within 10 days, sparking concerns of further conflict with its neighbour.^[43]

Arbitration

As agreed in the Algiers Agreement, the two parties presented their case at the Permanent Court of Arbitration to two different Commissions:

1. Eritrea-Ethiopia Boundary Commission

The International Bureau serves as Registry for this Commission established pursuant to the Agreement of 12 December 2000 between the Government of the State of Eritrea and the Government of the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia, with a mandate "to delimit and demarcate the colonial treaty border based on pertinent colonial treaties (1900, 1902 and 1908) and applicable international law." Its first progress report to the UN Secretary-General was presented on June 19, 2001.

The Eritrea-Ethiopia Boundary Commission delivered its Decision on Delimitation of the Border between Eritrea and Ethiopia to representatives of the two governments on Saturday, April 13, 2002. ...

On 19 November 2003, the Commission met in The Hague with representatives of the parties. The President of the Commission made an opening statement expressing the concern of the Commission at the lack of progress in the demarcation process, setting out the Commission’s understanding of the positions of the parties and indicating that if progress was to be made, certain rigid positions would have to be modified. Following that meeting, the Commission concluded that, until the positions of either or both of the parties were modified, there was nothing more that the Commission could do.

2. Eritrea-Ethiopia Claims Commission

The Eritrea-Ethiopia Claims Commission (the Commission) was established and operates pursuant to Article 5 of the Agreement signed in Algiers on 12 December 2000 between the Governments of the State of Eritrea and the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia (the "December Agreement"). The Commission is directed to

decide through binding arbitration all claims for loss, damage or injury by one Government against the other, and by nationals (including both natural and juridical persons) of one party against the Government of the other party or entities owned or controlled by the other party that are (a) related to the conflict that was the subject of the Framework Agreement, the Modalities for its Implementation and the Cessation of Hostilities Agreement, and (b) result from violations of international humanitarian law, including the 1949 Geneva Conventions, or other violations of international law.

In July 2001 the Commission sat to decide its jurisdiction, procedures and possible remedies. The result of this sitting was issued on August 2001. In October 2001, following consultations with the Parties, the Commission adopted its Rules of Procedure. In December 2001 the Parties filed their claims with the Commission. The claims filed by the Parties relate to such matters as the conduct of military operations in the front zones, the treatment of POWs and of civilians and their property, diplomatic immunities and the economic impact of certain government actions during the conflict. At the end of 2005 final awards have been issued on claims on Pensions, and Ports. Partial awards have been issued for claims about: Prisoners of War, the Central Front, Civilians Claims, the Western and Eastern Fronts, Diplomatic, Economic and property losses, and Jus Ad Bellum.

References

• Banks, Arthur; Muller, Thomas; and Overstreet, William, ed. Political Handbook of the World 2005-6 (A Division of Congressional Quarterly, Inc.: Washington, D.C., 2005), p.366. 156802952-7

Further reading

• Books
  • Brothers at War: Making Sense of the Eritrean-Ethiopian War (Eastern African Series) by T. Negash, K. Tronvoll, Ohio University Press ISBN 0-8214-1372-4.
• News reports
  • Ethiopia Eritrea Conflict Archive: News and Article Archive Day to day coverage of war.
  • Onwar.com: Armed Conflict Events Data: Ethiopian-Eritrean Border War 1999 (Present)
  • BBC:War blocks Ethiopia's lifeline 13 April, 2000
  • BBC:Eritrea and Ethiopia at war 16 May, 2000
  • BBC:Ethiopia's next move 22 May, 2000
  • BBC:Horn peace boost 30 March, 2001
  • BBC:Eritrean PoWs return home 29 November, 2002
  • BBC:Peace 'undermined' by Ethiopia 10 March, 2003

• Summary
  • Ethiopia / Eritrea War GlobalSecurity.org 2000-2005
  • Eritrea - Ethiopia Conflict Page This site is developed and maintained by Denden LLC and dehai.org. The site was initially developed by the Eritrean Media and Information Task Force (Badme Task Force), a volunteer group of Eritrean-Americans in the Washington Metropolitan Area.

• Analysis
  • Connell, Dan Eritrea-Ethiopia War Looms, Foreign Policy in Focus January 21, 2004
  • Gilkes, Patrick and Plaut, Martin. The War Between Ethiopia and Eritrea, Foreign Policy in Focus Volume 5, Number 25 August 2000
  • Guest, Alasdair. Preliminary Analysis of Eritrean-Ethiopian War in the International Socialist Forum October 1998, Vol. 1, No. 3
  • Hamilton, Kevin Analysis of the Ethio-Eritrean conflict and international mediation efforts in the Princeton Journal of Public and International Affairs, Volume 11 Spring 2000
  • Negash, Tekeste & Tronvoll. Brothers at War: Making sense of the Eritrean-Ethiopian War. Oxford: James Currey, 2000
  • Staff. Eritrea - Ethiopia Conflict Analysis Page This site is developed and maintained by Denden LLC and dehai.org. The site was initially developed by the Eritrean Media and Information Task Force (Badme Task Force), a volunteer group of Eritrean-Americans in the Washington Metropolitan Area. It includes documents from non-Eritrean sources as well as analysis by Eritreans.
  • Vann, Bill. Historical and social issues behind the Eritrean-Ethiopian border war on the World Socialist Web Site, 11 June 1998

Footnotes