A senior member of the Oromo Liberation Front (OLF) has accused Eritrea of violating the terms of the controversial Algiers Agreement during and after its involvement in the two-year northern war.
Colonel Gemechu Ayana, OLF’s party affairs officer, described Eritrea’s involvement in the Tigray war as “psychotic” and says the country’s forays across the Ethiopian border amount to an infringement of sovereignty and render the Algiers Agreements, which ended the Ethio-Eritrean war in the early 2000s, void.
Gemechu, a reputed ex-military officer, urged the federal government to respond swiftly to Eritrea’s continued occupation of parts of Tigray, including Irob and Zelambessa.
The peace agreement signed by the two governments in December 2000 includes provisions demarcating the border based on colonial treaties and international law, and obliges them to respect the borders that existed at independence and the establishment of a boundary as well as claims commissions.
The agreement also led to the deployment of a UN peacekeeping mission in Ethiopia and Eritrea (UNMEE) and the establishment of a boundary commission to implement the decision of the Permanent Court of Arbitration in Hague, the Netherlands.
“Ethiopia accepted the decision of the Hague Tribunal and only asked to negotiate on the terms of demarcation and implementation processes. Eritrea’s involvement in the war that sparked in 2020 is not as simple as entering Tigray; they have violated Ethiopia’s sovereignty,” Colonel Gemechu told The Reporter.
He noted that by engaging in the recent Tigray war, President Isaias Afeworki’s government has disregarded the international court’s decision and trespassed against Ethiopia’s territorial sovereignty.
“In legal terms, Eritrea’s invasion of Tigray has broken the Algiers agreement,” he said. “If it wasn’t for the weakness our internal turmoil has created, the Eritrean government should have been dealt with swiftly.”
Since the signing of the Pretoria Agreement, which ended the two-year conflict between the federal government and forces loyal to the Tigray People’s Liberation Front (TPLF), the Tigray Interim Administration (TIA) has repeatedly issued statements decrying Eritrea’s occupation of several woredas in the region.
Although Eritrea claims the areas currently under its control are all legally occupied under the terms of the Algiers Agreement, officials say Eritrea has overstepped boundaries and pushed deep into Ethiopian territory.
