International court: Eritrea liable to compensate Ethiopia for war

International court: Eritrea liable to compensate Ethiopia for war
"Given the absence of an armed attack against Eritrea, the attack that began on May 12 cannot be justified as lawful self-defence under the U.N. charter," the commission based in The Hague said.
Eritrea violated international law when it attacked Ethiopia on May 12, 1998, triggering a border war, a claims commission in The Hague ruled, in a decision welcomed by Ethiopia on Wednesday.

"Given the absence of an armed attack against Eritrea, the attack that began on May 12 cannot be justified as lawful self-defence under the U.N. charter," the commission based in The Hague said in a document published on its Web site.

"The Commission holds that Eritrea violated ... the Charter of the United Nations by resorting to armed force to attack and occupy Badme ... and is liable to compensate Ethiopia for the damages caused by that violation of international law.

"Tensions along the unmarked Ethiopia-Eritrea border have risen in recent months, and military manoeuvres on both sides of the 1,000 km (620 mile) frontier have fuelled fears of a repeat of the 1998-2000 border war which killed 70,000 people.