The Eritrean-Yemeni Conflict Over the Hanish Archipelago

1 Reuters, `Yemen and Eritrea Fight over Islands in Red Sea', New York Times, 18 December 1995, p. A11; `The Red Sea: Whore Wars?', Economist (London), vol. 338, no. 7947, 13 January 1996, pp. 43-44. `Armed Confrontation with Yemen; International Reactions; Offers to Help Solve Crisis', Horn of Africa Bulletin (Uppsala), vol. 8, no. 1, January-February 1996, pp. 8-11.

2 Turkey relinquished control over the islands in compliance with the 1923 Lausanne Treaty of Peace with Turkey (LNTS #701), Article 16. Italy, in turn, relinquished control over them in compliance with the 1947 Paris Treaty of Peace with Italy (UNTS #747), Article 23.

3 The 1952 Eritrean constitution is reproduced on pp. 201-232 in Habtu Ghebre-Ab ed., Ethiopia and Eritrea: a Documentary Study (Trenton, NJ, USA: Red Sea Press, 1993). The endorsement by the UN General Assembly was via its Resolutions no. 390 A(V), 2 December 1950 [45 in favor, 6 abstaining, 5 against, 4 absent = 60] and no. 617(VII), 17 December 1952 [51 in favor, 5 abstaining, 0 against, 4 absent = 60]. The quotation from the constitution is from its Article 2.

4 The announcement of the UN Secretary-General is reproduced in UN Press Release no. SG/SM/5861, 2 January 1996. The Yemeni statement is reproduced in UN Security Council Documents no. S/1195/1039, 18 December 1995 plus no. S/1995/1044, 19 December 1995. The Eritrean statement is reproduced in UN Security Council Document no. S/1195/1054, 22 December 1995.

5 The commission was established via Government Proclamation no. 84/1996, 1 January 1996.

6 Associated Press, `Yemen and Eritrea Step Up Dispute over Island', New York Times, 19 December 1995, p. A7; Reuters, `Yemen and Eritrea Fight over Islands in Red Sea', New York Times, 18 December 1995, p. A11.

7 The threatened species are from pp. 24, 75, and 76 in IUCN, 1994 IUCN Red List of Threatened Animals, (Gland, Switzerland: World Conservation Union [IUCN], 1994). The information on areas now under protection is from pp. 166 and 180 in IUCN, 1993 United Nations List of National Parks and Protected Areas (Gland, Switzerland: World Conservation Union [IUCN], 1994). Eritrea plans to establish one or more marine reserves, as noted on pp. 73-74 and 223-24 in Eritrea, National Environmental Management Plan for Eritrea (Asmara: Government of Eritrea, 1995).

8 Arthur H. Westing, `Environmental Dimensions of Maritime Security', pp. 91-102 in Jozef Goldblat, ed., Maritime Security: the Building of Confidence (Geneva: UN Institute for Disarmament Research, Document no. UNIDIR/92/89, 1992).

9 The precedent for a jointly managed reserve is on p. 14 in Arthur H. Westing, `Building Confidence with Transfrontier Reserves: the Global Potential' in Arthur H. Westing, ed., Transfrontier Reserves for Peace and Nature: a Contribution to Human Security (Nairobi: UN Environment Programme, 1993). The precedents for demilitarized archipelagos and islands are on pp. 6-7, ibidem. The formal mechanism for demilitarization is via 1977 Protocol I (UNTS #17512), Article 60. The precedent for postponing sovereignty disputes is via the 1959 Antarctic Treaty (UNTS #5778), Articles 4 and 12. For two other island proposals more or less comparable to the one offered here, see Richard J. McNeil, `Machias Seal Island International Park: a Proposed Resolution of a Territorial Conflict' on pp. 91-102 in Floyd W. Dykeman, ed., Rural Land Management: Perspectives from Canada and the United States (Sackville, New Brunswick, Canada: Mount Allison University, 1991; and John W. McManus, `Spratly Islands: a Marine Park?', Ambio (Stockholm), vol. 23, no. 3, May 1994, pp. 181-186.

10 The two model documents are on pp. 101-109 in Arthur H. Westing, `From Hope to Reality: Establishing an Indochina Tri-state Reserve for Peace and Nature' in Arthur H. Westing, ed., Transfrontier Reserves for Peace and Nature: a Contribution to Human Security (Nairobi: UN Environment Programme, 1993).

11 Arthur H. Westing, `Towards Eliminating War as an Instrument of Foreign Policy', Bulletin of Peace Proposals [now Security Dialogue], vol. 21, no. 1, March 1990, pp. 29-35.