Parties: Government of the Republic of Djibouti; Front for the Restoration of Unity and Democracy (FRUD)
Type: Intra-state
The Parties to the 1994 Agreement agreed to respect the Constitution and to undertake any revisions in accordance with the rules of the Constitution. The Government undertook to continue the efforts initiated to restore damaged public infrastructure (administrative buildings, clinics, water points) and to provide aid and assistance to people who suffered loss during the war, including displaced persons and refugees to return home. The Parties agreed on the need to overhaul the electoral lists before the next elections. They also agreed on the granting of national identity documents to young people of an eligible age and to accelerate the issuance of birth certificates. Measures instituted to assist children who are behind in their education because of the war will remain in place.
The Government undertook to provide FRUD combatants with jobs and integration in the political, military, administrative and socio-economic fields. FRUD combatants and exiled soldiers were granted amnesty without exception for acts committed prior to 12 June 1994. FRUD would become a political party with the signature of the agreement. The Parties agreed on the establishment of a national commission on decentralisation to ensure broad decentralisation relating to the transfer of certain competences and means to districts. The Government must resume and restart development projects stopped or suspended because of the conflict, with donor support, as necessary, and the Development Bank of Djibouti was urged to set up a fund for advantageous loans.
The Parties in the 2000 Agreement in the preamble recognised the need to establish peace through dialogue, tolerance and respect for the other as the only way to maintain the cohesion of the Djiboutian nation. The Agreement provided for the rehabilitation of areas affected by the conflict, to allow the return of refugees and displaced persons and compensation for loss of homes and livelihoods of all victims. The Agreement also provided for decentralisation of power to the regions, following a study to be conducted and presented to Parliament. The Agreement provided for the recognition of freedoms of association, opinion, expression, meeting and the press. It also provided for an audit of the management of public funds and transparency going forward. It provided for the implementation of law reforms and regulations guaranteeing the conditions for national cohesion. It provided for the return of soldiers to the position they occupied before the conflict, the demining of roads mined by both sides, the release of prisoners by both sides and the integration of FRUD members into civil or military functions. It also provided for blanket amnesty.
The 2001 Agreement expressed the determination of the two Parties “to engage the Djiboutian Nation on the path of a just and lasting peace”. The Agreement followed on work done by four commissions set up in 2000, and made reference to lists drawn up of various categories of victims, the members of FRUD to be integrated and those who suffered material losses. The Agreement further acknowledged that in order to move forward the parties have to agree on and address the root causes of the conflict, including through the exercise of fundamental freedoms and democratic institutional reforms. It reiterated the need for decentralisation. The Parties agreed to undertake disarmament and demobilisation operations as previously agreed, including through demining. It provided for integration of FRUD members into the army according to their status, or civilian life, or for compensation to FRUD members, to be handled by a joint commission to be established and subject to conditions to be determined by decree. The rehabilitation and reconstruction programme, which had already been under way for several years, would be continued, including compensation to civilians.
The Parties agreed to speed up the issuance of identity cards to people whose Djiboutian identity can be confirmed. The Constitutional Council would be revised, and multiparty democracy instituted, with FRUD establishing itself as a political party and an independent electoral commission being formed. The Parties agreed to the protection of fundamental human rights, including freedom of association, press freedom, equality and right to education. The civil and military institutions of the Republic would fairly reflect, while respecting the required qualifications, through their effective management and hierarchy, the plurality of communities making up the Djiboutian people. The Agreement provided for political, administrative and economic decentralisation through the adoption of a Decentralisation Bill, annexed to the Agreement.
