Agreement on Cessation of Hostilities between the Government of the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia and the Government of the State of Eritrea

• Country/entity

  Eritrea
  Ethiopia
  
• Region

  Africa (excl MENA)
  Africa (excl MENA)
  
• Agreement name

  Agreement on Cessation of Hostilities between the Government of the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia and the Government of the State of Eritrea
• Date

  18 Jun 2000
• Agreement status

  Multiparty signed/agreed
• Interim arrangement

  Yes
• Agreement/conflict level

  Interstate/interstate conflict ( Eritrean Border Conflicts (1998 - 2018) )
• Stage

  Ceasefire/related
• Conflict nature

  Territory
• Peace process

  Eritrea-Ethiopia border dispute peace process
• Parties

  The Government of the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia and the Government of the State of Eritrea
  
  For the Government of the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia: SEYOUM MESFIN Minister of Foreign Affairs
  For the Government of the State of Eritrea: HAILE WELDENSAE Minister of Foreign Affairs
• Third parties

  Having taken part in the Proximity Talks called by the Organization of African Unity in Algiers from 29 May to 10 June 2000, under the Chairmanship of Algeria the Current Chair of the OAU and with the participation of its partners namely the United States and the European Union,
• Description

  This agreement provides for the cessation of hostilities and a ceasefire monitoring mechanism through the deployment of a United Nations Peacekeeping Mission.

• Agreement document

  EH_ER_000618_AGREEMENT ON CESSATION OF HOSTILITIES.pdf | Download PDF

Groups

Gender

State definition

Governance

Power sharing

Human rights and equality

Rights related issues

Rights institutions

Justice sector reform

Socio-economic reconstruction

Land, property and environment

Security sector

Transitional justice

Implementation

AGREEMENT ON CESSATION OF HOSTILITIES BETWEEN THE GOVERNMENT OF THE FEDERAL DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC OF ETHIOPIA AND THE GOVERNMENT OF THE STATE OF ERITREA

The Government of the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia and the Government of the State of Eritrea,

Having taken part in the Proximity Talks called by the Organization of African Unity in Algiers from 29 May to 10 June 2000, under the Chairmanship of Algeria the Current Chair of the OAU and with the participation of its partners namely the United States and the European Union,

Committing themselves to the following principles:

- Resolution of the present crisis and any other dispute between them through peaceful and legal means in accordance with the principles enshrined in the charters of the OAU and the United Nations;

- Rejection of the use of force as a means of imposing solutions to disputes;

- Respect for the borders existing at independence as stated in resolution AHG/ Res 16 (1) adopted by the OAU Summit in Cairo in 1964 and, in this regard, de- termine them on the basis of pertinent colonial treaties and applicable interna- tional law, making use, to that end, of technical means to demarcate the borders and, in case of controversy, resort to the appropriate mechanism of arbitration ;

Reaffirming their acceptance of the OAU "Framework Agreement" and “the Modali- ties for its Implementation” which have been endorsed by the 35th ordinary session of the Assembly of Heads of State and Government, held in Algiers, Algeria from 12 to 14 July 1999,

Taking into account the latest developments in this crisis,

Commit themselves to the following:

1 - Immediate cessation of hostilities starting from the signature of this document.

In particular the two Parties agree to the following:

1-1. cessation of all armed air and land attacks ;

1-2. guarantee of the free movement and access of the Peacekeeping Mission and its supplies as required through the territories of the Parties ;

1-3. respect and protection of the members of the Peacekeeping Mission, its in- stallations and equipment.

2 - A Peacekeeping Mission shall be deployed by the United Nations under the aus- pices of the OAU.

3 - The mandate of the Peacekeeping Mission shall be:

3-1.

monitor the cessation of hostilities;

3-2. monitor the redeployment of Ethiopian troops;

3-3. ensure the observance of the security commitments agreed by the two Parties in this document, in particular those provided for in paragraph 14;

3-4. monitor the temporary security zone provided for in paragraph 12 of this doc- ument.

4 - The size and the composition of the Peacekeeping Mission shall be adapted to the mission assigned to it and shall be determined by the Secretaries General of the United Na- tions and the OAU with the acceptance of the two Parties.

5 - The Peacekeeping Mission shall terminate when the delimitation-demarcation pro- cess of the border has been completed.

6 - A Military Coordination Commission shall be established by the OAU and the United Nations with agreement of the two Parties in order to facilitate the functions of the Peacekeeping Mission.

It shall be composed of representatives of the two Parties and chaired by the leader of the Peacekeeping Mission.

7 - The mandate of the Military Coordination Commission shall be to coordinate and resolve issues relating to the implementation of the mandate of the Peacekeeping Mission as defined in the present document.

The Commission shall deal with military issues arising during the implementation period.

8 - Upon the signing of the present document, both Parties shall conduct demining ac- tivities as soon as possible with a view to creating the conditions necessary for the deploy- ment of the Peacekeeping Mission, the return of civilian administration and the return of population as well as the delimitation and demarcation of their common border.

The Peace- keeping Mission, in conjunction with the United Nations Mine Action Service, will assist the Parties' demining efforts by providing technical advice and coordination.

The Parties shall, as necessary, seek additional demining assistance from the Peacekeeping Mission.

9 - Ethiopia shall submit redeployment plans for its troops from positions taken after 6 February 1999, and which were not under Ethiopian administration before 6 May 1998, to the Peacekeeping Mission.

This redeployment shall be completed within two weeks af- ter the deployment of the Peacekeeping Mission and verified by it.

10 - In accordance with the principle established in paragraph 3 of the Framework Agreement, it is understood that the redeployment of Ethiopian forces will not prejudge the final status of the contested areas, which will be determined at the end of the delimitation and demarcation of the border and, if need be, through an appropriate mechanism of arbi- tration.

11 - Upon verification of Ethiopian redeployment by the Peacekeeping Mission, Eri- trean civilian administration, including police and local militia, will be restored to prepare for the return of the population.

12 - In order to contribute to the reduction of tension and to the establishment of a cli- mate of calm and confidence, as well as to create conditions conducive to a comprehensive and lasting settlement of the conflict through the delimitation and demarcation of the bor- der, the Eritrean forces shall remain at a distance of 25 km (artillery range) from positions to which Ethiopian forces shall redeploy in accordance with paragraph 9 of this document.

This zone of separation shall be referred to in this document as the "temporary security zone."

13 - The Eritrean forces at positions defined in paragraph 12 of this document, as well as Ethiopian forces at positions defined in paragraph 9 of this document, shall be monitored by the Peacekeeping Mission.

14 - Ethiopia commits itself not to move its troops beyond the positions it administered before 6 May 1998.

Eritrea commits itself not to move its troops beyond the positions de- fined in paragraph 12 above.

The OAU and the United Nations commit themselves to guar- antee the respect for this commitment of the two Parties until the determination of the common border on the basis of pertinent colonial treaties and applicable international law, through del imitation/demarcation and in case of controversy, through the appropriate mechanism of arbitration.

This guarantee shall be comprised of:

a) measures to be taken by the international community should one or both of the Par- ties violate this commitment, including appropriate measures to be taken under Chapter VII of the United Nations Charter by the UN Security Council ;

b) actions by the Peacekeeping Mission to monitor key and sensitive areas of the tem- porary security zone through liaison officers at the division and regimental levels with Ethi- opian and Eritrean units deployed at key points along the temporary security zone on their respective sides ;

regular patrols ;

reconnaissance missions;

and challenge inspections throughout the temporary security zone coordinated through the Military Coordination Commission with the participation of liaison officers of the Parties as decided by the Chair- man of the Military Coordination Commission;

c) deployment to and continuous monitoring by military units of the Peacekeeping Mission at posts in key and sensitive positions within the temporary security zone in order to monitor the implementation of the commitments made by both Parties in paragraphs 9 and 12 of this document;

d) periodic technical verification of the temporary security zone to help determine compliance with this document.

15 - Upon the signature of the present document, the two Parties shall initiate separate requests to the Secretaries General of the OAU and the United Nations, as necessary, for assistance to implement this document.

Algiers, on June 18th, 2000

For the Government of the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia:

SEYOUM MESFIN Minister of Foreign Affairs

For the Government of the State of Eritrea:

HAILE WELDENSAE Minister of Foreign Affairs