I 

108TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 2760

To limit United States assistance for Ethiopia and Eritrea if those countries 

are not in compliance with the terms and conditions of agreements 

entered into by the two countries to end hostilities and provide for 

a demarcation of the border between the two countries, and for other 

purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

JULY 16, 2003

Mr. LANTOS (for himself and Mr. PAYNE) introduced the following bill; which 

was referred to the Committee on International Relations 

A BILL

To limit United States assistance for Ethiopia and Eritrea 

if those countries are not in compliance with the terms 

and conditions of agreements entered into by the two 

countries to end hostilities and provide for a demarcation 

of the border between the two countries, and for other 

purposes.

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Resolution of the 

5 Ethiopa–Eritrea Border Dispute Act of 2003’’. 
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1 SEC. 2. DEFINITIONS. 

2 In this Act: 

3 (1) ALGIERS AGREEMENTS.—The term ‘‘Algiers 

4 Agreements’’ means the Cessation of Hostilities 

5 Agreement and the Comprehensive Peace Agree6 ment. 

7 (2) APPROPRIATE CONGRESSIONAL COMMIT8 TEES.—The term ‘‘appropriate congressional com9 mittees’’ means the Committee on International Re10 lations of the House of Representatives and the 

11 Committee on Foreign Relations of the Senate. 

12 (3) CESSATION OF HOSTILITIES AGREEMENT.—

13 The term ‘‘Cessation of Hostilities Agreement’’ 

14 means the Agreement on the Cessation of Hostilities 

15 signed on June 18, 2000, in Algiers, Algeria, by the 

16 Government of Ethiopia and the Government of Eri17 trea that established a temporary demilitarized secu18 rity zone within Eritrea to be enforced by the United 

19 Nations Peacekeeping Mission in Ethiopia and Eri20 trea (UNMEE). 

21 (4) COMPREHENSIVE PEACE AGREEMENT.—The 

22 term ‘‘Comprehensive Peace Agreement’’ means the 

23 agreement signed on December 12, 2000, in Algiers, 

24 Algeria, by the Government of Ethiopia and the 

25 Government of Eritrea, under the auspices of the 

26 Organization of African Unity (OAU), that provided 
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1 for an end to military hostilities between the two 

2 countries, assurances by the countries to refrain 

3 from the threat or use of force against each other, 

4 and established a neutral Boundary Commission to 

5 delimit and demarcate the border between the two 

6 countries. 

7 (5) ECONOMIC ASSISTANCE.—The term ‘‘eco8 nomic assistance’’ means—

9 (A) assistance under chapter 1 of part I of 

10 the Foreign Assistance Act of 1961 (relating to 

11 development assistance); and 

12 (B) assistance under chapter 4 of part II 

13 of the Foreign Assistance Act of 1961 (relating 

14 to economic support fund assistance). 

15 (6) MILITARY ASSISTANCE AND ARMS TRANS16 FERS.—The term ‘‘military assistance and arms 

17 transfers’’ means—

18 (A) assistance under chapter 2 of part II 

19 of the Foreign Assistance Act of 1961 (relating 

20 to military assistance), including the transfer of 

21 excess defense articles under section 516 of that 

22 Act; 

23 (B) assistance under chapter 5 of part II 

24 of the Foreign Assistance Act of 1961 (relating 

25 to international military education and training 
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1 or ‘‘IMET’’), including military education and 

2 training for civilian personnel under section 541 

3 of that Act (commonly referred to as ‘‘Ex4 panded IMET’’); and 

5 (C) assistance under the ‘‘Foreign Military 

6 Financing’’ Program under section 23 of the 

7 Arms Export Control Act and the transfer of 

8 defense articles, defense services, design and 

9 construction services, or any other defense-re10 lated training under that Act. 

11 SEC. 3. FINDINGS. 

12 Congress makes the following findings: 

13 (1) On May 6, 1998, a conflict erupted between 

14 Ethiopia and Eritrea, two of the world’s poorest 

15 countries. 

16 (2) The two-year war claimed 100,000 lives, 

17 displaced more than 1,000,000 people, cost Ethiopia 

18 more than $2,900,000,000, and caused a 62 percent 

19 decline in food production in Eritrea. 

20 (3) Millions of dollars were diverted from much 

21 needed development projects into military activities 

22 and weapons procurements at a time when severe 

23 drought threatened a famine in both Ethiopia and 

24 Eritrea, as bad as the famine in 1984 in those coun25 tries, putting more than 13,000,000 lives at risk. 
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1 (4) On June 18, 2000, Prime Minister Meles 

2 Zenawi of the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethi3 opia and President Issaias Afewerki of the State of 

4 Eritrea signed the Cessation of Hostilities Agree5 ment in Algiers, Algeria. On December 12, 2000, 

6 the two countries also signed the Comprehensive 

7 Peace Agreement in Algiers under the auspices of 

8 the Organization of African Unity (OAU) and in the 

9 presence of United Nations Secretary General Kofi 

10 Annan and President Abdel-Aziz Boutheflika of Al11 geria. 

12 (5) Article 4.2 of the Comprehensive Peace 

13 Agreement states the following: ‘‘The parties agree 

14 that a neutral Boundary Commission composed of 

15 five members shall be established with a mandate to 

16 delimit and demarcate the colonial treaty border [be17 tween the two countries] based on pertinent colonial 

18 treaties (1900, 1902 and 1908) and applicable inter19 national law.’’. 

20 (6) Article 4.15 of the Comprehensive Peace 

21 Agreement states the following: ‘‘The parties agree 

22 that the delimitation and demarcation determina23 tions of the Commission shall be final and binding. 

24 Each party shall respect the border so determined, 
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1 as well as territorial integrity and sovereignty of the 

2 other party.’’. 

3 (7)(A) The President of the United Nations Se4 curity Council, on behalf of the Security Council, 

5 confirmed the Security Council’s endorsement of the 

6 terms and conditions of the Algiers Agreements, 

7 with special reference to the neutral Boundary Com8 mission described in Article 4.2 of the Comprehen9 sive Peace Agreement and its mandate. 

10 (B) In addition, the Security Council reaffirmed 

11 its support for the Algiers Agreements in United 

12 Nations Security Council Resolution 1308 (July 17, 

13 2000), 1312 (July 31, 2000), 1320 (September 15, 

14 2000), 1344 (March 15, 2001), 1369 (September 

15 14, 2001), 1398 (March 15, 2002), 1430 (August 

16 14, 2002), 1434 (September 6, 2002), and 1466 

17 (March 14, 2003). 

18 (8) On April 13, 2002, the neutral Boundary 

19 Commission announced its ‘‘Delimitation Decision’’, 

20 reiterating that both parties had agreed that it 

21 would be ‘‘final and binding’’. 

22 (9) Following the decision of the Boundary 

23 Commission that the heavily disputed town of 

24 Badme would be zoned to the Eritrean side of the 

25 new border, Foreign Minister Seyoum Mesfin of 
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1 Ethiopia announced on April 15, 2003, that ‘‘[n]o2 one expects the [G]overnment of Ethiopia to accept 

3 these mistakes committed by the Commission’’. Fur4 ther, the Ethiopian Ministry of Information released 

5 a statement accusing the Boundary Commission of 

6 an ‘‘unfair tendency’’ in implementing the border 

7 ruling and ‘‘misinterpreting’’ the Algiers Agree8 ments. 

9 (10) In his March 6, 2003, ‘‘Progress Report’’ 

10 to the United Nations Security Council, Secretary 

11 General Kofi Annan reported that Prime Minister 

12 Zenawi of Ethiopia had expressed to his Special 

13 Representative, Legwaila Joseph Legwaila, that ‘‘if 

14 its concerns were not adequately addressed Ethiopia 

15 might eventually reject the demarcation-related deci16 sions of the Commission’’. 

17 (11) The independent Boundary Commission 

18 has investigated, reviewed, and rejected Ethiopia’s 

19 claims with respect to the village of Badme, and in 

20 a report issued on March 21, 2003, stated that, 

21 based on the boundary line from the 1902 treaty be22 tween the two countries that was used as the ref23 erence under the terms of the Algiers Agreements, 

24 the evidence submitted by the Government of Ethi25 opia to support its claim was ‘‘inadequate and incon-
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1 sistent’’ and the Commission ‘‘cannot allow one 

2 party to claim a territorial right, to insist on adjust3 ments of parts of the boundary which that party 

4 finds disadvantageous’’. 

5 SEC. 4. SENSE OF CONGRESS. 

6 It is the sense of Congress that both Ethiopia and 

7 Eritrea should take all appropriate actions to implement 

8 the Algiers Agreements, including by accepting the ‘‘De9 limitation Decision’’ issued by the neutral Boundary Com10 mission on April 13, 2002, with respect to the boundary 

11 between the two countries. 

12 SEC. 5. DECLARATIONS OF POLICY. 

13 Congress makes the following declarations: 

14 (1) Congress expresses its support for the 

15 Boundary Commission established by the Com16 prehensive Peace Agreement and calls on the inter17 national community to continue to support the 

18 United Nations trust fund established to facilitate 

19 the process of demarcation between Ethiopia and 

20 Eritrea and the economic and social transition of af21 fected communities to new borders determined by 

22 the Commission. 

23 (2) Congress further declares that it shall be 

24 the policy of the United States to limit United 

25 States assistance for Ethiopia or Eritrea if either 
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1 such country is not in compliance with, or is not 

2 taking significant steps to comply with, the terms 

3 and conditions of the Algiers Agreements. 

4 (3) Congress strongly condemns recent state5 ments by senior Ethiopian officials criticizing the 

6 Boundary Commission’s decision and calls on the 

7 Government of Ethiopia to immediately end its in8 transigence and fully cooperate with the Commis9 sion. 

10 SEC. 6. LIMITATIONS ON UNITED STATES ASSISTANCE. 

11 (a) LIMITATION ON ECONOMIC ASSISTANCE.—Eco12 nomic assistance may only be provided for Ethiopia or Eri13 trea for any period of time for which the President deter14 mines that Ethiopia or Eritrea (as the case may be) is 

15 in compliance with, or is taking significant steps to comply 

16 with, the terms and conditions of the Algiers Agreements. 

17 (b) LIMITATION ON MILITARY ASSISTANCE AND

18 ARMS TRANSFERS.—Military assistance and arms trans19 fers may only be provided for Ethiopia or Eritrea for any 

20 period of time for which the President determines that 

21 Ethiopia or Eritrea (as the case may be) is in compliance 

22 with, or is taking significant steps to comply with, the 

23 terms and conditions of the Algiers Agreements. 

24 (c) EXCEPTIONS.—The limitation on assistance 

25 under subsections (a) and (b) shall not apply with respect 
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1 to humanitarian assistance (such as food or medical as2 sistance), peacekeeping assistance, counterterrorism ini3 tiatives, assistance to protect or promote human rights, 

4 and assistance to prevent, treat, and control HIV/AIDS. 

5 (d) WAIVER.—The President may waive the applica6 tion of subsection (a) or (b) with respect to Ethiopia or 

7 Eritrea if the President determines that it is in the na8 tional security interests of the United States to do so. 

9 SEC. 7. REPORT. 

10 Until the date on which the border demarcation be11 tween Ethiopia and Eritrea is finalized, the President 

12 shall prepare and transmit on a regular basis to the appro13 priate congressional committees a report that contains a 

14 description of progress being made toward such demarca15 tion, including the extent to which Ethiopia and Eritrea 

16 are in compliance with, or are taking significant steps to 

17 comply with, the terms and conditions of the Algiers 

18 Agreements.

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