The Japan Times - UN top court raps Colombia over sea row with Nicaragua

EUR -
AED 3.813529
AFN 77.13943
ALL 99.16878
AMD 412.763559
ANG 1.862067
AOA 949.48606
ARS 1093.926135
AUD 1.66049
AWG 1.868858
AZN 1.769716
BAM 1.957524
BBD 2.086068
BDT 125.990972
BGN 1.957293
BHD 0.391381
BIF 3058.137766
BMD 1.038254
BND 1.401755
BOB 7.139288
BRL 5.979822
BSD 1.033125
BTN 90.026294
BWP 14.429918
BYN 3.38116
BYR 20349.787937
BZD 2.075358
CAD 1.487476
CDF 2959.025536
CHF 0.939542
CLF 0.026304
CLP 1009.389318
CNY 7.563058
CNH 7.570464
COP 4325.108627
CRC 522.873133
CUC 1.038254
CUP 27.513744
CVE 110.362206
CZK 25.155904
DJF 183.98471
DKK 7.459537
DOP 63.847774
DZD 140.825505
EGP 52.198041
ERN 15.573817
ETB 132.202326
FJD 2.404574
FKP 0.855093
GBP 0.832101
GEL 2.94886
GGP 0.855093
GHS 15.910013
GIP 0.855093
GMD 74.754236
GNF 8929.994485
GTQ 7.986034
GYD 216.150384
HKD 8.086778
HNL 26.319816
HRK 7.661849
HTG 135.140984
HUF 407.262074
IDR 16933.930676
ILS 3.694706
IMP 0.855093
INR 90.475832
IQD 1353.392057
IRR 43710.513855
ISK 146.819458
JEP 0.855093
JMD 162.735687
JOD 0.736541
JPY 159.318078
KES 133.5402
KGS 90.79481
KHR 4154.719469
KMF 497.168135
KPW 934.429153
KRW 1505.494912
KWD 0.320303
KYD 0.860954
KZT 536.850268
LAK 22474.119723
LBP 92520.619241
LKR 309.487065
LRD 205.601092
LSL 19.390559
LTL 3.065695
LVL 0.62803
LYD 5.094561
MAD 10.412471
MDL 19.408375
MGA 4850.342219
MKD 61.522599
MMK 3372.210072
MNT 3527.988857
MOP 8.286999
MRU 41.243923
MUR 48.798146
MVR 15.990571
MWK 1791.503825
MXN 21.272765
MYR 4.59999
MZN 66.343232
NAD 19.390185
NGN 1545.25478
NIO 38.023674
NOK 11.672836
NPR 144.045342
NZD 1.835653
OMR 0.399731
PAB 1.03311
PEN 3.828772
PGK 4.206786
PHP 60.336605
PKR 288.200709
PLN 4.209601
PYG 8135.283028
QAR 3.766618
RON 4.977187
RSD 117.113016
RUB 104.553311
RWF 1459.306429
SAR 3.894123
SBD 8.799399
SCR 14.87442
SDG 623.990706
SEK 11.386932
SGD 1.403512
SHP 0.855093
SLE 23.78153
SLL 21771.677373
SOS 590.428575
SRD 36.447929
STD 21489.771644
SVC 9.039962
SYP 13499.384819
SZL 19.384354
THB 34.968586
TJS 11.261319
TMT 3.633891
TND 3.316521
TOP 2.431699
TRY 37.342069
TTD 7.007273
TWD 34.135709
TZS 2624.249332
UAH 43.120203
UGX 3802.34908
USD 1.038254
UYU 44.569256
UZS 13415.816548
VES 60.966309
VND 26112.100337
VUV 123.263657
WST 2.907971
XAF 656.544765
XAG 0.032268
XAU 0.000364
XCD 2.805935
XDR 0.792409
XOF 656.544765
XPF 119.331742
YER 258.318166
ZAR 19.403928
ZMK 9345.532509
ZMW 29.058014
ZWL 334.317521
  • RBGPF

    0.2700

    66.27

    +0.41%

  • BCC

    0.4300

    125.57

    +0.34%

  • SCS

    0.2400

    11.31

    +2.12%

  • CMSD

    -0.0700

    23.68

    -0.3%

  • JRI

    0.1800

    12.64

    +1.42%

  • CMSC

    -0.0100

    23.34

    -0.04%

  • BCE

    0.3700

    24.4

    +1.52%

  • RYCEF

    0.0500

    7.4

    +0.68%

  • NGG

    -0.1500

    61.86

    -0.24%

  • RIO

    1.3500

    61.2

    +2.21%

  • RELX

    0.0100

    49.86

    +0.02%

  • GSK

    -0.0600

    34.84

    -0.17%

  • BTI

    0.4900

    40.23

    +1.22%

  • AZN

    -0.9000

    68.96

    -1.31%

  • VOD

    -0.2900

    8.2

    -3.54%

  • BP

    0.7700

    31.64

    +2.43%

UN top court raps Colombia over sea row with Nicaragua
UN top court raps Colombia over sea row with Nicaragua / Photo: DANIEL MUNOZ - AFP

UN top court raps Colombia over sea row with Nicaragua

The United Nations' top court on Thursday ordered the Colombian navy to stop interfering in Nicaraguan waters, ruling on a longstanding legal battle over maritime borders.

Text size:

The International Court of Justice "finds that by interfering with fishing and marine research activities of Nicaraguan-flagged vessels ... in Nicaragua's exclusive economic zone ... Colombia's has violated Nicaragua's sovereign rights and jurisdiction," presiding judge Joan Donoghue said.

The court "finds by nine votes to six ... that the Republic of Colombia must immediately cease (this) conduct," she said, handing down the verdict at the ICJ's headquarters in The Hague.

In 2012 the ICJ, which rules in disputes between countries, awarded Nicaragua a swathe of disputed Caribbean Sea territory extending 200 nautical miles from its coastline.

But the following year, Nicaragua lodged a fresh case, accusing Colombia of ignoring the ruling.

It alleged Bogota had threatened to use force to back up its claims in the oil- and fish-rich region.

Nicaragua's lawyers also asked the ICJ make Colombia pay compensation for "the threat or use of force by the Colombian navy against Nicaraguan fishing boats".

Colombia denied the accusations, saying its presence in the region was "due to other imperatives", including international maritime rescue and the fight against drug trafficking.

Speaking outside court after the judgement, Colombia's representative, Carlos Gustavo Arrieta Padilla, said he still believed "the ruling is mainly in favour of Colombia".

"They (the judges) did not ask us to cease our presence in Nicaraguan waters... They never ordered us to leave ... the area," Arrieta said.

"The court has maintained the possibility of the Colombian navy being there and doing operations in the fight against organised crime in the area," he said.

- Legal ping-pong -

In a game of legal ping-pong, Bogota accused Managua of interfering with indigenous fishing rights.

The loss of fishing grounds because of the ICJ's 2012 ruling particularly affected the Raizal people, an English- and Creole-speaking community who are mainly descendants of slaves taken from Africa, Colombia's lawyers said.

However, Judge Donoghue said Colombia "failed to establish that the inhabitants of the San Andres archipelago, in particular the Raizales, enjoy fishing rights in waters now within Nicaragua's exclusive economic zone".

The court nonetheless "noted Nicaragua's willingness ... to negotiate with Colombia an agreement regarding access by members of the Raizales community to fisheries within Nicaragua's exclusive economic zone".

The best way to do this was through a bilateral agreement, Donoghue said.

The judges rejected Nicaragua's claim for compensation.

- Strained relations -

Although there are no land borders between Nicaragua, located in Central America, and Colombia, in South America, diplomatic relations have been strained for almost a century over disputed maritime limits.

Nicaragua finally took Colombia to the ICJ in 2001, and in 2012 it won several thousand square kilometres (miles) of territory in the southwestern Caribbean that had previously been Colombian.

Colombia, which was left with only seven islets, said at the time it would no longer recognise the court's jurisdiction on border disputes.

Nicaragua then went back to the court in 2013, alleging violations of the judgement by Colombia.

Judges at the ICJ ruled in 2016 that they had jurisdiction in the dispute, brushing aside Colombian objections that the court was not competent to hear the cases.

Countries are obliged to implement judgements by the Hague-based ICJ, which are final and cannot be appealed.

In rare situations where a country refuses, the matter can be referred to the UN Security Council by the complainant country for further action.

T.Ueda--JT