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State responsibility-international humanitarian law-treatment of civilians in wartime-acquisition of nationality of new state-denationalization-dual nationality in wartime-detention and expulsion of civilians in wartime-interference with property rights in wartime-Fourth Geneva Convention of 1949-Additional Protocol I of 1977
CIVILIANS CLAIMS (ERITREA V. ETHIOPIA), ERITREA'S CLAIMS 15, 16, 23 & 27-32/ETHIOPIA'S CLAIM 5, PARTIAL AWARDS. At <http://www.pca-cpa.org>.
Eritrea Ethiopia Claims Commission, December 17, 2004.
The two partial awards by the Eritrea Ethiopia Claims Commission1 (Commission) reviewed here are companion awards rendered simultaneously on December 17, 2004, concerning the State of Eritrea's Claims 15,16,23, and 27 to 322 (Eritrean Award) and the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia's Claim 53 (Ethiopian Award). The awards determined the responsibility of each state for civilian-related claims (1) arising during the 1998-2000 armed conflict between those two states or (2) involving events subsequent to that war, insofar as the claims resulted from either the conflict itself or the measures taken to end the military confrontation. The Commission will, at a later date, determine damages relating to its findings of liability in the two awards.
In the awards, the Commission-echoing its remarks in past awards-noted that it faced significant difficulties in assessing the credibility of the evidence, particularly the sharp conflicts between hundreds of sworn declarations submitted by the two states. Aware of these evidentiary difficulties, the parties also submitted reports from third-party observers such as the International Committee of the Red Cross, UN bodies, the U.S. Department of State, and nongovernmental organizations. The Commission took these reports into account, but it did so with some caution, noting that the reports were not prepared as evidence to be used in legal proceedings and that they might have been based on untested, incomplete, or inaccurate information (which, in turn, might have reflected the interests or agendas of the reporters or their sources) (Eritrean Award, para. 34; Ethiopian Award, para. 34).
Eritrean A ward
The Eritrean Award concerned a multitude of Eritrean civilian-related claims against Ethiopia, some involving damages, losses, and injuries suffered by tens of thousands of unnamed individuals. These claims concerned deprivation of nationality, expulsion, detention, deprivation of property, and separation of families. A further six claims considered in the award were filed by Eritrea on behalf of named individuals.
By reason of an unusual jurisdictional...