| UN COURT
RULES DISPUTED ISLANDS IN
CARIBBEAN SEA BELONG TO COLOMBIA
The International
Court of Justice, the principal judicial organ of
the United Nations, ruled today that three Caribbean
Sea islands disputed by Nicaragua and Colombia belong
to the latter country because a 1928 treaty between
the two nations settled the issue.
But judges at the
ICJ, which sits in The Hague, also ruled that they
do have jurisdiction to rule on the sovereignty
of three other cays and the delimitation of the
maritime boundary between Colombia and Nicaragua.
Nicaragua had launched action at the ICJ, arguing
that it should be granted sovereignty over the islands
of San Andrés, Providencia and Santa Catalina,
and over the cays of Roncador, Quitasueño
and Serrana.
But Colombia raised a series of preliminary objections,
arguing that the 1928 treaty between the two nations
and the 1948 Pact of Bogotá mean the Court
does not have jurisdiction.
By a majority of 13 to four, the judges found that
the treaty had settled the question over the three
islands, noting that Nicaragua did not contest the
treaty's validity for more than 50 years after it
was signed.
"At no time in those 50 years did Nicaragua
contend that the treaty was invalid for whatever
reason, including that it had been concluded in
violation of its constitution or under foreign coercion,"
according to today's judgement. "On the contrary,
Nicaragua has, in significant ways, acted as if
the 1928 treaty was valid."
But the judges found unanimously that the Court
can adjudicate on the three cays - which the treaty
specified it did not cover - and on the maritime
delimitation between Nicaragua and Colombia.
Also known as the World Court, the ICJ hears disputes
between States and its decisions are binding and
without appeal.
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