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Wednesday, March 27, 2024 | Back issues
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Siding with Nicaragua, top UN court orders Colombia to curb Caribbean naval activity

Nicaragua and Colombia do not share a land border but the Latin American counties have competing claims over parts of the mineral- and fish-rich waters of the sea between them. 

THE HAGUE, Netherlands (CN) — The International Court of Justice faulted Colombia on Thursday for harassing Nicaraguan fishing vessels in the Caribbean Sea, chastising Bogota for failing to respect an earlier court ruling. 

“Colombia has violated the Republic of Nicaragua’s sovereign rights and jurisdiction in this maritime zone,” court president Joan Donoghue said before the Hague-based court when reading the verdict, the latest decision in a 20-year legal battle over maritime boundaries. 

The Latin American countries have been arguing over some 30,000 square miles of mineral- and fish-rich waters, as well as a number of islands in the Caribbean Sea, for decades. It was in 2001 that Managua brought its first complaint before the ICJ, sometimes referred to as the World Court, accusing Bogota of disrespecting its maritime boundaries. 

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, about 30,000 square miles of territory, to Nicaragua. 

Relations between the two countries have not improved. Over two weeks of hearings last year, lawyers for Nicaragua detailed numerous clashes in the area between Nicaraguan and Colombian vessels. During a 2015 skirmish, the Colombian coast guard broadcast a message to a Nicaraguan ship. “The ruling of The Hague is not applicable,” the coast guard vessel announced, according to a recording played in court. 

Colombia argued that constitutional limitations prevent it from fully recognizing the decision. In a statement at the time in response to the 2012 decision, then-Colombian President Juan Manuel Santos said, “The borders between nations cannot be in the hands of a court of law.” According to the country’s constitution, its borders can be changed only by a bilateral treaty.  

Nicaragua said Bogota was cherry-picking, accepting the decision regarding the islands but harassing Nicaraguan-flagged vessels in the waters considered to be Nicaraguan by the same ruling. On Thursday, the ICJ ruled that Colombian ships were interfering with fishing and marine scientific research activities in the region. “Colombia must therefore immediately cease its wrongful conduct,” the 15-judge panel wrote in its decision. 

But on several sticking points, the ICJ concluded agreement would best be found with a bilateral agreement between the two. “The most appropriate solution to address the concerns expressed by Colombia and its nationals in respect of access to fisheries located within Nicaragua’s exclusive economic zone would be the negotiation of a bilateral agreement,” the court wrote. 

When asked about the possibility of such an agreement, Colombia’s delegation was not optimistic. “We’ve been unsuccessful in negotiating an agreement with Nicgurara,” Colombia’s representative to the court, Carols Arrieta Padilla, told reporters after the decision was read. The Nicaraguan delegation declined to speak to the media. 

The International Court of Justice is often called on to settle border disagreements between countries. Last 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.  

Follow @mollyquell
Categories / Appeals, Government, International

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