The Decision of the Ethiopia-Eritrea Boundary Commission at The Hague, 13 April 2002, was precisely as expected by almost everyone who paid attention to the ongoing Ethiopian ordeal in the hands of Ethiopia�s twin headed Medusa like task-masters, Meles Zenawi and Issaias Afewerki. The decision is a preordained decision the outcome of which was only a matter of reading stale maps, stale documents, and long-dead �treaties� since the legal dispute that should have been extensively argued in front of an impartial court or a tribunal was already preempted by the 12 December 2000 Algiers Agreement subsequent to a premature agreement for Cessation of Hostilities of June 2000. The Boundary Commission�s decision is best described by the parlance of the computer world as follows: �Garbage in Garbage Out.�

The Eritrean government is the clear winner, almost winning all of its claims, with token left over for Meles to save face and continue his deception on the people of Ethiopia. [All references of rivers and areas are taken from the decision of the Commission.]

Western Sector: Eritrea won all of what it claimed, with very little serious concession to historical and verifiable evidence of Ethiopian �effective� governance. Because of a minor shift in the starting point of the strait line demarcation in the Northeast direction from the confluence of Tomsa (point 6) to the confluence of Mareb and Mai Ambassa (point 9) some land seems to have been won. But that is deception. Here is the major loss of Badme. Complete loss! 

Central Sector: Eritrea won most of its claim except for tortured enclaves that the Commission drew around Zalambasa, and few minor villages. The fertile land of Irob and large population centers with the exception of few villages and areas where there cannot be a serious challenge were all lost to Eritrea. 

Eastern Sector: Eritrea won all of its claim with very minor adjustment at the Salt Lake starting point that was slightly shifted East, and at Bure an insignificant dent in an otherwise wholesale ceding of Ethiopian Afar coastal territory to Eritrea. Even the terminus point on the �imaginary� border of Djibouti, Ethiopia, and Eritrea is drawn as a meeting point on a perpendicular line drawn from the coast rather than a slanted line that would approximate the border with Djibouti.

In spite of the Commission�s claim that it was not engaged in demarcation, what the Commission in fact did was verbal and graphic demarcation and not �delimitation� for delimitation involves weighing of all kinds of evidence (administrative structure, tax, tribute, appointment, centralized religious structure et cetera) and not narrow and self serving reading of void maps and questionable journals of self serving entries by Italians. The Commission in awarding Badme to Eritrea made its first monumental mistake, for Italy never had any effective control of the area and it has always been under Ethiopian control. Another demarcation by the Commission is rendering Ethiopia, as of 13 April 2002, a landlocked Country. The Boundary Commission�s draconian and deceitful decision is the beginning of a long and vicious armed struggle for the people of the area.

Seyoum Mesfin, the Minster of Foreign Affairs, the Council of Ministers, and the propaganda machine of the Ethiopian Government have issued statements claiming victory. Such claim is an absolute lie if looked at from the interest of Ethiopia, but it is also absolutely right if seen as the personal mission of Meles and associates who are engaged in the promotion of Eritrean interest--Meles and associates have won for Eritrea. Meles and associates are responsible for their deceitful and fraudulent activities of setting the whole process: going to war in 1998, entering a cessation of hostilities and the Algiers agreements in 2000, and in the establishment of the Boundary Commission there after at the Hague in collusion with their Eritrean counterparts. In this fraud and deceit against the people of Ethiopia, international organizations, and key members of the Permanent Members of the Security Council played major roles.

This is a very brief statement of concern and condemnation of the theatrics being played out by Meles Zenawi, Issaias Afwerki, the Ethiopia-Eritrea Boundary Commission, the United Nations-Permanent Members of the Security Council as a group, and the Governments of the United States and Britain at the expense of the people of Ethiopia.

A detailed analysis of the decision will be posted as soon as possible.

Washington DC

15 April 2002