II. RECOMMENDATIONS

To the Governments of Ethiopia and Eritrea:

Expulsions and Other Violations
_ Halt all expulsions of individuals with claim to Ethiopian or Eritrean nationality, pending the institution of a fair and transparent process to settle nationality claims.
_ Conduct an independent and impartial inquiry into the expulsions and establish mechanisms to redress abuses, particularly to address the arbitrary deprivation of nationality.
_ Where expulsions have occurred, family unity must be restored. Families should never have been separated during expulsion proceedings and family reunification should be facilitated as a matter of urgency. In particular, deportees who have been separated from family members should be given the option to return to their families in the country from which they were deported. Family reunification should not result in further deportations.
_ Ensure that individuals who have been deported or forced to leave through intimidation are permitted to return to settle business and property affairs.
_ Make public commitments to protect the rights of all residents and foreign nationals under national and international law.

Internment Camps and Detention Centers
_ Individually review the cases of all civilians interned or detained in connection with the conflict to ensure their speedy release. Those accused of criminal offenses should be brought to trial in accordance with international standards of due process.

Nationality and Citizenship
_ Ensure that individuals are not treated in a discriminatory manner in the application of citizenship laws.
_ Ensure that individuals who were expelled or deported who have a genuine and effective link to either state are given the right of option to choose citizenship.
_ Ensure that individuals are not stripped of their citizenship without due process of law and that they have recourse through administrative and judicial measures to exercise all options contemplated in internationally recognized standards regarding nationalities in situations of successor states.
_ Work together to ensure that no individual is rendered stateless.
_ Grant full access to African Union, U.N., and other independent human rights monitors including non-governmental organizations to both countries to investigate allegations of human rights violations, including arbitrary detention, expulsion, deportation, and deprivation of nationality.
_ Cooperate with the international community, especially UNHCR, in the investigation of issues surrounding statelessness and citizenship.
_ Offer those Ethiopian citizens of Eritrean origin who in 1993 voted in the referendum to determine the future of Eritrea the right of option to choose their citizenship.

To the Government of Eritrea:

International Legal Standards
_ Accede to the Convention Against Torture and Other Cruel Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment and the two optional protocols to the Covenant on Civil and Political Rights;
_ Ratify the two Additional Protocols to the Geneva Conventions.

To the International Community:

To the African Union (A.U.), the United Nations, the European Union, and other parties involved in negotiations on the Ethiopia-Eritrea conflict:
_ Insist that Ethiopia and Eritrea immediately cease all arbitrary expulsions and deportations in accordance with their national laws and international human rights and humanitarian standards.
_ Expedite the work of the Claims Commission established under the December 2000 comprehensive peace agreement between the two parties.

Ensure that the Claims Commission addresses and resolves in a binding manner the socio-economic and humanitarian consequences of the conflict.

To the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR):
_ UNHCR should continue to pursue its mandate to provide technical advice and assistance to both countries on their nationality laws with a view to ensuring that they are compatible with international standards pertaining to nationality and statelessness, and with the aim of preventing arbitrary deprivation of nationality and statelessness. Where necessary, UNHCR should provide assistance in drafting new or revised nationality laws.
_ Conduct and facilitate seminars and training workshops for government and other public officials in both countries on issues pertaining to nationality and statelessness with a view to raising awareness of the problem.
_ Encourage both governments to accede to and comply with international instruments on the prevention of statelessness.
_ Continue to provide technical advice and assistance to both governments on determining the nationality status of expellees and others whose nationality is disputed or unclear.
_ Support projects with local non-governmental organizations to provide legal assistance to people in Ethiopia and Eritrea in order to, inter alia, establish nationality claims, obtain identity documents, seek restitution or compensation for assets and property left behind, and reunify separated families.
_ UNHCR should allocate adequate staff and resources to adequately address expulsions, arbitrary deprivation of nationality, and statelessness in Ethiopia, Eritrea, and elsewhere in the world.