THE HAGUE, Netherlands (CN) — The latest hearings in a 20-year-old legal saga between Nicaragua and Colombia over ocean territory opened on Monday before the United Nations' high court.
The International Court of Justice kicked off a two-week session of hearings into a maritime boundary dispute between the two Latin American countries, first brought before The Hague-based court in 2001, with opening statements by Nicaragua.
Competing claims over the mineral and fish-rich waters of the Caribbean Sea date as far back as the 1920s, when countries across Latin and South American were declaring independence from Spain. Though Nicaragua and Colombia do not share a land border, they have been arguing over several thousands of miles of sea and several island groups for more than 100 years.
In a 2012 decision, the ICJ gave Colombia control of several strategic islands, including the San Andrés archipelago, but gave the waters around those islands, some 30,000 square miles, to Nicaragua.
Bogota has refused to accept the ruling. In a statement at the time in response to the decision, then-Colombian President Juan Manuel Santos said, "The borders between nations cannot be in the hands of a court of law."
“They have obstinately refused to implement the court’s judgement,” Alain Pellet, professor of international law at Paris Nanterre University, told the ICJ judges via video link Monday on behalf of Nicaragua.
In the latest round of hearings, Nicaragua wants the court to order Colombia to comply with the earlier ruling and give Nicaragua control over the sea 200 nautical miles from its coast, which would include the San Andrés archipelago.
However, Managua is skeptical of what the court can accomplish.
"The highest authority of Colombia has repeatedly stated, even on the eve of these hearings, that they will not comply with the judgement of the court,” Nicaragua’s agent Carlos Jose Arguello Gomez said from the courtroom at the Peace Palace. Due to the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic, the court is meeting in a hybrid fashion, with some representatives appearing in person and others appearing virtually.
One of Colombia’s lawyers, Manuel Jose Cepeda, slammed Nicaragua over its anticipated arguments.
"What will probably happen is that we will hear a series of exaggerated affirmations through which Nicaragua will try to transform this case into a case of noncompliance with the 2012 ruling, in order to diminish the importance of the discussion about the rights of both countries," he said in a statement before Monday's hearing. His country will give its opening statements on Wednesday.
Relations between the two countries have only deteriorated since the 2012 decision.
“Colombia has made some very offensive comments that I won’t repeat here,” Arguello Gomez told the court in his opening statement for Nicaragua.
The countries’ coast guards have had repeated clashes in the area. During a 2015 skirmish, the Colombian coast guard broadcast an announcement to a Nicaraguan ship that said, "The ruling of The Hague is not applicable,” according to a recording played in court.
The 2012 decision has disrupted fishing activities in the region. Fishermen residing on the two islands of the San Andrés archipelago are citizens of Colombia and therefore can no longer fish in the waters surrounding the islands.
Sometimes called the World Court, the ICJ is a common venue for countries to settle border disagreements. Earlier this year, the court held hearings in a dispute between Somalia and Kenya, also over maritime territory, and a case between Guyana and Venezuela dating back to the 1800s is pending. The court has also ruled on borders between Peru and Chile as well as Romania and Ukraine.
Hearings in the Nicaragua-Colombia case will continue on Wednesday.
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