Ethiopia and Eritrea

John Bercow
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what assessment she has made of the (a) observance of human rights and (b) extra-judicial killings by government agencies in Ethiopia.

Mr. Hoon
The UK and other partners, including the EU, continue to monitor closely the human rights situation in Ethiopia. Where appropriate we raise our concerns with the Ethiopian Government at both ministerial and official level. My noble Friend the Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, Lord Triesman of Tottenham, and my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for International Development have raised these issues at the highest level. We do not have any evidence of extra judicial killings by agencies of the Ethiopian Government.

We continue to urge the Government of Ethiopia to comply with international human rights standards and respect individual human rights and are supporting the capacity building of the recently established Human Rights Commission.

Mr. Clifton-Brown
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what part the UK played in the United Nations Commission to demarcate the borders of Ethiopia and Eritrea.

Mr. Hoon
Under the Algiers Agreement, Ethiopia and Eritrea agreed to binding international arbitration to determine their common border and the Boundary Commission was established for that purpose. It is not a United Nations Commission. The UK was not a Witness to the Algiers Agreement and plays no part in the Boundary Commission. We continue to urge Ethiopia and Eritrea to demarcate the border in accordance with the Boundary Commission’s decision.