On Monday, the United Nations’s highest court docket is because of start hearings on a maritime boundary dispute between Somalia and Kenya, after years of delays in a case that has strained the neighbours’ diplomatic relations.
Scheduled to run till March 24, the general public hearings on the Worldwide Courtroom of Justice (ICJ) in The Hague might be held in a “hybrid format” because of the coronavirus pandemic, with some members of the court docket attending the proceedings in individual whereas others collaborating remotely through a video hyperlink.
On Sunday, Kenyan newspapers reported that the federal government in Nairobi had selected the eleventh hour not to participate in Monday’s proceedings, citing “perceived bias and unwillingness” of the ICJ “to accommodate requests for the delaying the hearings” because of the pandemic.
On the time of publication, no official announcement had but been made.
What’s the difficulty?
The dispute between the 2 East African nations stems from a disagreement over which route their border extends into the Indian Ocean.
Somalia argues its maritime boundary ought to run in the identical route because the southeasterly path of the nation’s land border. In distinction, Kenya claims the border ought to take a roughly 45-degree flip on the shoreline and run in a latitudinal line. This provides Kenya entry to a bigger share of the maritime space.
Other than fishing, the disputed space – about 100,000 sq. kilometres – is considered wealthy in oil and gasoline, with each nations accusing one another of auctioning off blocks earlier than a ruling by the court docket.
Delayed course of
In 2014, Somalia requested the ICJ to rule on the case after out-of-court negotiations between the 2 nations geared toward settling the dispute broke down.
In February 2017, the court docket dominated it had the proper to adjudicate on the case as judges rejected Kenya’s declare {that a} 2009 settlement between the neighbours amounted to a dedication to settle the matter out of court docket, stripping the ICJ of jurisdiction.
In June 2019, the ICJ mentioned public hearings would happen between September 9 and September 14 of that yr, earlier than pushing the beginning date to November 4 after granting a request by Kenya that mentioned it wanted time to recruit a brand new authorized staff.
The Kenyan aspect appealed the November dates, saying it wanted as much as a yr. The ICJ then moved the hearings to June 2020, however Kenya then requested one other postponement, this time citing the pandemic. The UN delayed the listening to until March 2021.
In January, Kenya wrote to the ICJ requesting the listening to be delayed for a fourth time, claiming a map with essential info that was set to be introduced as proof within the case has disappeared. Somalia protested towards such a transfer, and the ICJ mentioned earlier this month that the hearings would start on March 15.
Instances on the ICJ, which guidelines on disputes between states over worldwide treaties, can final a few years.
Its rulings are binding, although the court docket has no enforcement powers and nations have been recognized to disregard its verdicts.
Somalia-Kenya relations
Relations between the 2 neighbours have taken a flip for the more severe over the past 10 years.
In Could 2019, Somalia criticised Kenya for deporting two Somali legislators and a minister after authorities in Nairobi blocked them from coming into the nation following their arrival at Jomo Kenyatta Worldwide Airport.
In March final yr, Somalia banned the import of khat, a well-liked delicate stimulant plant, from Kenya. Kenyan farmers used to export about $250,000 price of the leaves to the neighbouring nation each day. Somalia mentioned the ban was to include the unfold of coronavirus however khat imports from Ethiopia weren’t stopped.
In March final yr, Kenya accused Somalia of an “unwarranted assault” on the Kenyan city of Mandera throughout heavy combating over the border between the Somali authorities and regional forces. Somalia denied the declare.
The scenario escalated additional in December after Somalia minimize diplomatic ties with Kenya, accusing it of meddling in its inside affairs. Kenya rejected the allegations.
Somalia ordered all its diplomats in Nairobi to return house and ordered Kenyan diplomats to go away inside seven days.
The transfer got here as Kenyan President Uhuru Kenyatta hosted in Nairobi Musa Bihi Abdi, the chief of Somaliland, the northwestern area that declared independence from Somalia in 1991.