Following a period of armed conflict between the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia and the State of Eritrea in May from 1998, the governments of Ethiopia and Eritrea “permanently terminate[d] military hostilities between themselves” pursuant to an agreement signed in Algiers on 12 December 2000. Two commissions were established under the Algiers Agreement: Article 4 provided for the establishment of a Boundary Commission and Article 5 provided for the establishment of a Claims Commission.

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The Claims Commission was established to “decide through binding arbitration, all claims for loss, damage or injury, by one Government against the other” related to the armed conflict and resulting from “violations of international humanitarian law, including the 1949 Geneva Conventions, or other violations of international law.” (Scroll to the bottom of the document for links to the specific Decisions and Awards made from 2001-2007).

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The Parties were entitled to submit claims on their own behalf and on behalf of their nationals (including both natural and legal persons), or in appropriate circumstances, persons of Ethiopian or Eritrean origin who were not nationals. This 2009 article by the American Society of International Law,provides a detailed summary of the significance of the Commission’s work, includig a discussion of the types of damage for which compensation was awarded.