Costa Rica and Nicaragua
Dispute Makes It To Court
The dispute over Costa Rica's navigational rights of the San Juan
river in Nicaragua is finally making it court, as arguments over
Nicaragua reneging on a 150 year old treaty was heard by the world
court judges at the Hague, today.
Relations between the two countries have been strained for years
over access to the San Juan River, which forms nearly half of the
border between the two countries.
Costa Rica filed the case to the International Court of Justice in
2005. Costa Rica argued that Nicaragua has illegally hindered its
use of the river since 1998 in defiance of an 1858 treaty.
Costa Rica's Vice Minister of Foreign Affairs Edgar Ugalde told the
court the river was a crucial for Costa Rica to move produce, get
children to school, transport tourists and monitor nature reserves.
"Every Costa Rican boat navigating the river has to stop at every
Nicaraguan army post," Ugalde told the 14-judge panel. "Fees are
demanded, visas are demanded."
Ugalde called the restrictions, "the antithesis of perpetual freedom
of navigation stipulated by the (1858) treaty."
Costa Rica concedes that the treaty gave Nicaragua sovereignty over
the river's northern bank and its waters but insists it also gave
Costa Rica the southern bank and the right to sail on its water.
Monday's hearing started a week of arguments between the two
countries in the wood-paneled Great Hall of Justice. Nicaragua is
scheduled to plead its case starting Thursday.
When Costa Rica filed the case, Nicaragua's foreign minister, Norman
Caldera said it "constitutes a flagrant violation of national
sovereignty."
The International Court of Justice is the U.N.'s highest legal body,
established in 1946 to resolve conflicts between states. Its rulings
are binding. |
|
|
|
|
|
|
