INTRODUCTORY NOTE PRESENTED BY THE CHAIRMAN, ON BEHALF OF THE OAU MINISTERIAL COMMITTEE TO THE ERITREAN AND ETHIOPIAN MINISTERS ON THE OCCASION OF THE CONSULTATIONS HELD SEPARATELY WITH THE TWO DELEGATIONS ON 1 AUGUST 1998 IN OUAGADOUGOU
Honorable Minister,
May I, first of all, welcome you once again to Ouagadougou. I would like
also, on behalf of the committee, to thank you for having kindly responded to
our invitation in spite of the short notice.
Your arrival in Ouagadougou bears witness to the attachment of your country
to the search for a peaceful solution to the conflict. Furthermore, it is a
testimony of the confidence that your country places in the Organization of
Africa Unity through its High Level Delegation.
This attachment and confidence were, besides largely shown during the visit
of the OAU High Level Delegation to your country and during the recent mission
of the Committee of Ambassadors.
As you are aware, at the end of its visit to Addis Ababa and Asmara,
immediately after the 34th Ordinary Session of the Assembly of Heads of State
and Government of the Organization of African Unity, the OAU High Level
Delegation decided, among others, to pursue its efforts at the level of
Ambassadors, Ministers and at its own level.
Within that framework, a mission was assigned to the committee of Ambassadors
to;
1. Collect information from the two Parties on the development of the
crisis and on any other additional view they would have on he ways and means
to solve the conflict;
2. Collect from the two parties or any other appropriate international
Organization and Agency, Information which would make it possible to determine
the authority which was administering Badme before 12 May 1998;
3. Reiterate the appeal made to the two parties by the OAU Delegation of
Heads of State during its visit so that they;
Continued to observe the moratorium on air strikes;
Maintained the present situation of no-hostilities;
Refrained from any action which could worsen the situation and harm further
the relations between the two countries (making the civilian population and
socio-economic infrastructures the targets measures against the nationals of
each country).
The Committee of Ambassadors carried out its mission in the two capitals from
30 June to 9 July 1998 and submitted to the committee of ministers a
comprehensive report.
In the light of that Report and the observations contained therein, the
committee of Ministers is at present endeavoring to prepare a set of
recommendations which it hopes will contribute to the search for a peaceful,
just and lasting solution to the dispute between the two brotherly countries.
In its approach, the Committee of Ambassadors was imbued by the deep desire to
contribute in and objective and serene manner to the search for a peaceful and
to the conflict and that, in an African spirit, marked by brotherhood and
generosity.
We shall wholeheartedly endeavor to propose recommendations which we deem to
be fair, taking into account the legitimate concerns of the parties and the
ideals and principles of our Continental Organization. In our approach, we
have been guided by the only concern to avoid that the irreparable take place
between the two brotherly countries and that a peaceful solution be found, as
soon as possible.
It is obvious that, in a situation like the one which is of concern to us
today, it is difficult to find a solution which will satisfy fully the two
parties at the same time. From then, we said to ourselves that it was
possible, in spite of those difficulties, to find an acceptable solution where
each party, by making a step towards the other one, would contribute to peace
building.
It is in the light of all this that I have the honor, on behalf of the
Committee, to invite your reaction to a certain number of observations which
emerged at the end of the recent mission which the Committee of Ambassadors
had undertaken to Asmara and Addis Ababa, in conformity with the mandate
entrusted to it by the OAU High Level Delegation.
1. We note that divergent points of view continue to exist between the two
parties both on the origin and evolution of the dispute and the issues which
must be considered to resolve the crisis.
For the Eritrean party, the crisis between Eritrea and Ethiopia has its
origins in the violation by Ethiopia of the colonial border of Eritrea and the
occupation of some parts of its territory by force. According to it, it is a
border dispute which can settled by technical and legal means (demarcation and
in case of controversy, arbitration). All the other issues, including that of
Badme, are aimed, according to it, at creating diversion. In that connection,
the Eritrean authorities referred to the proposals they submitted for a
comprehensive settlement of the dispute. Eritrea considers that the
Facilitation is over; consequently, it considers the efforts of the OAU as a
new initiative which must serve as a framework for all the efforts aimed at
finding a peaceful solution to the dispute.
The Ethiopian side considers that there are two distinct issues involved in
the present conflict. First, there is what it considers as the act of
aggression perpetrated by Eritrea which, according to Ethiopia must be undone
and not rewarded. Then there is the problem of the border dispute which must
be considered once Eritrea will have withdrawn its forces from Badme and its
environs. Ethiopia continues to accept the recommendations of the
Facilitators and to consider the role of the OAU High Level Delegation to be
the implementation of the decision adopted by the Summit of the Organization
in Ouagadougou and which it accepted amount reservation.
2. With regard to the authority which was administering Badme before 12 May
1998 and on the basis of the information at our disposal, we have reached the
conclusion that Badme town and its environs were administered by the Ethiopian
authorities before 12 May 1998. This conclusion does not obviously prejudge
the final status of that area which will be determined at the end of the
delimitation and demarcation process and, if necessary, through arbitration.
3. With regard to the appeal made by the OAU High Level Delegation to the
two parties to exercise restraint, we note with satisfaction the reaffirmation
made by the two parties about the readiness to accept the appeal of the
African Leaders:
-With regard to the moratorium on the air strikes, the two parties respected
the moratorium;
-The two parties also maintained the situation of no hostilities. However, a
substantial mobilization of troops on both sides of the border must be noted.
*With regard to the appeal made to the two parties so that they refrain from
any action likely to worsen the situation and harm further the relations
between the two countries, the Committee was hardly encouraged by what it
observed about the treatment of nationals.
*Concerning the situation of Ethiopians in Eritrea, the Committee obtained
information on the summons and, in some cases, the detention of Ethiopians.
Information reaching the Committee also mentioned the expulsion of Ethiopians
from the Assab area. The Government of Eritrea denied the information and
pointed out that it was ready to allow an independent verification of those
reports. The Committee could not establish the reality of a systematic or
official action directed against Ethiopians in Eritrea.
*As regards the situation of Eritreans in Ethiopia, the Committee met the
deported Eritreans in Asmara, and the detainees in Ethiopia. The Ethiopian
Government justified its action with motives of national security, mentioning
the fact that, according to it, the persons concerned were either EPLF
combatants or persons who had a military training or still persons who had
contributed financially to the war efforts of Eritrea. However, the
conditions in which those deportations were carried out, the decision to
extend those measures to the families of the deported persons and the fate of
their properties are a source of deep concern.
4. The attention of the Committee was drawn to the reservation expressed by
the Eritrean Government on point (b) of the Terms of Reference of the
Committee of Ambassadors on the Administration of Badme and its environs. The
reservation of the Eritrean Government stressed the fact that the OAU would
prejudge the dispute if it investigated to establish which authority
administered Badme without doing the same for the areas such as Adi-Murug
before July 1997; Eritrea considered that as unacceptable, Furthermore, the
Government of Eritrea maintained that "the administration in itself was not
valid if the process by which that administration had been established was
illegal. What is of capital importance is to establish where Badme, Adi-Murug
and other areas were situated within the recognized borders."
Our Committee understands the viewpoint of Eritrea on the origin of the
conflict and notes, in this connection, its concerns about the incidents which
would have taken place at other places on the common border in July 1997, it,
further, takes note of the evolution of the conflict due to the escalation
which occurred after 12 May 1998. It is, nevertheless, of the view that what
happened in Badme between 6 and 12 May constitutes a fundamental element of
the crisis. Consequently, the challenge to be taken up is to find solution to
that particular problem and that within the framework of a comprehensive
settlement of the conflict in all its dimensions.
In so doing, it will be to allow the spirit of compromise prevail, which will
make it possible to respond to the fundamental concerns of each of the parties
while respecting the principles of our continental Organization.
Before concluding, May I stress the important fact that all the eyes of the
world are on Africa and all the hopes are based on the outcome of the mission
entrusted to the OAU High Level Delegation so that a peaceful solution can be
found to the conflict. But beyond the hope placed in the OAU, the solution to
this crisis depends, first and foremost, on the common will of the two parties
to make profitable use of the good office s of our Continental Organization.
I thank you.