ERITREA-ETHIOPIA BOUNDARY COMMISSION
Press Release,
12 September 2007

The Eritrea-Ethiopia Boundary Commission[1] met with Representatives of Eritrea and Ethiopia at The Hague on 6 and 7 September 2007 to ascertain from them whether any progress had been, or could be, made towards pillar emplacement on the ground.

Prior to the meeting, the Commission notified each Party of the conditions required to be fulfilled for the Commission to carry out pillar emplacement.

Having heard the views of the Parties, the Commission was obliged to conclude that no further progress could be made towards the emplacement of pillars on the ground. The Commission reminded the Parties of the effect of paragraph 22 of its 27 November 2006 Statement in which it determined that if by the end of November 2007 the Parties had not by themselves reached the necessary agreement and proceeded significantly to implement it, or had not requested and enabled the Commission to resume its activity, “the boundary will automatically stand as demarcated by the boundary points listed in the Annex hereto and the mandate of the Commission can then be regarded as fulfilled.” The Commission also reminded the Parties that the determination of the boundary points listed in its 27 November 2006 Statement followed consideration of the views of the Parties and was in accordance with the Delimitation Decision of 13 April 2002.

In the meantime, however, the Commission remains willing to resume pillar emplacement on the ground if both Parties request and enable it to do so, give the necessary assurances of free access to the border zone and security for the Commission’s personnel, and meet their financial obligations.

[1] The Eritrea-Ethiopia Boundary Commission (the “Commission”) was established pursuant to the 12 December 2000 Algiers Peace Agreement between Eritrea and Ethiopia. The Members of the Commission are Sir Elihu Lauterpacht CBE QC (President), Prince Bola Ajibola SAN KBE CFR, Professor Michael Reisman, Judge Stephen M. Schwebel, and Sir Arthur Watts KCMG QC. The Permanent Court of Arbitration (PCA) in The Hague serves as registry to the Commission.

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The Commissioners (from left to right): Sir Arthur Watts, KCMG QC; Professor W. Michael Reisman; Sir Elihu Lauterpacht, CBE QC; His Excellency Prince Bola Adesumbo Ajibola; Judge Stephen M. Schwebel.

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