Eritrea & Ethiopia: Expulsion Suffering Lingers

(New York, January 30, 2003) - Citizens and residents expelled by both
Ethiopia and Eritrea during their 1998-2000 border war should be offered
repatriation and the restoration of citizenship, Human Rights Watch said
in a report released today.

The 64-page report, "The Horn of Africa War: Mass Expulsions and the
Nationality Issue," recounts the plight of almost one hundred thousand
citizens and residents of both countries who were uprooted and deprived
of their residence and nationality without a semblance of due process.
It documents cases of mistreatment typical of the mass expulsions,
including prolonged detention, lack of food, water, and medical care,
beatings, and other physical abuse.

With final demarcation of the border between Ethiopia and Eritrea set to
take place in May, there is hope that peace will hold between the two
countries. For tens of thousands of Ethiopians and Eritreans, though,
the human rights consequences of the war are still devastating.

"The expulsions and ill-treatment was inhumane," said Peter
Takirambudde, executive director of the Africa division at Human Rights
Watch. "Unless the nationality status of those expelled is resolved,
lasting peace and reconciliation in the Horn of Africa is unlikely."

The plight of some 75,000 ethnic Eritreans who were living in Ethiopia
when the war broke out in 1998 has yet to be resolved. Tens of thousands
of civilians were summarily deported to the newly independent Eritrea in
1998. Their Ethiopian citizenship was revoked, their identity documents
confiscated or marked "Expelled - never to return." Many were interned
and detained under harsh conditions and some were tortured. People were
forced to leave their families behind, and many lost all their
property. "I told them that I was an Ethiopian, and mother of Ethiopian
children, but no one would listen to me," one witness told Human Rights
Watch.

Ethiopians living in Eritrea suffered a similar plight in 1998. A few
months after the war broke out, the Eritrean government interned some
7,500 people and deported thousands. Some of those expelled reported
torture, rape or other degrading treatment at the hands of Eritrean
officials.

"There is no justification for the horrendous treatment these people
suffered in 1998," said Takirambudde. "What is worse is that, despite
all the international assistance since the war's end, they still have no
resolution: property claims remain unresolved, families are still
separated, and many now have no nationality."

Eritrea gained independence from Ethiopia after a referendum in 1993.
Relations between the two countries deteriorated after that, culminating
in the 1998-2000 border war. A December 2000 peace agreement ended the
war and established a boundary commission and a claims commission and
provided for release of prisoners of war, but failed to address the
plight of those who had been deported. Since then, relations between
Ethiopia and Eritrea have remained calm but tense.

The human rights situation in both countries remains abysmal-near-total
denial of freedom of expression, executive manipulation of judiciary,
arbitrary detentions, abusive security forces, and use of torture. Mass
expulsions have not been committed since 1998, but discrimination on
ethnic grounds remains a problem.

Both countries are collaborating with the United States in its war
against terrorism.

The report is available online at
http://hrw.org/reports/2003/ethioerit0103/.

To read more about Human Rights Watch's work on Ethiopia, please see:
http://www.hrw.org/africa/ethiopia.php

On Eritrea: http://www.hrw.org/africa/eritrea.php