DM 61633

Arbitration AcademyThe Abyei Arbitration

10 July 2012

BACKGROUND TO ABYEI ARBITRATION

January 1, 1956 Sudan obtains independence

1956 – 1972 First Civil War between North & South

ending in Addis Ababa Agreement

Southern Sudanese tribes to have referendum on right to self-determine

1983 – 2005 Second Civil War between North & South

More than 2 million dead

2005 COMPREHENSIVE PEACE AGREEMENT (“CPA”)

Comprehensive Peace Agreement (CPA) between Government of Sudan and SPLM/A marked end of war.

- set timetable for referendum on independence of South (2011)

- contained chapter dealing with unresolved issue of Abyei region

DM 55704

ABYEI ARBITRATION

Source: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/3211002.stm

2005 COMPREHENSIVE PEACE AGREEMENT (“CPA”)

Abyei Boundaries Commission (“ABC”)

FURTHER PEACE EFFORT

• July 2008: Parties sign “Abyei Arbitration Agreement” and deposit agreement with the PCA in The Hague

OCTOBER 2008: TRIBUNAL CONSTITUTED

ABYEI ORAL PLEADINGS 19 – 23 April 2009

SCOPE OF THE TRIBUNAL’S TASK: “EXCESS”?

SCOPE OF THE TRIBUNAL’S TASK: DELIMIT?

GOVERNING LAW

I- Excess of Mandate

• Power to interpret mandate- Video Clip 1 - Professor W. Michael Reisman questioning

Professor Alain Pellet – Counsel

A- Excess of Mandate: 10°35’N

• Did the ABC Experts state sufficient reasons in the selection of latitude 10°35’N as the northern boundary of the shared-rights area between the Ngok and the Misseriya?

A- Excess of Mandate: 10°35’N

Award

• 691. [T]he only reason offered in support of the northern limit of the shared rights area and, by implication, of the Abyei Area boundary calculated on the basis of that limit, is the northern extension of the Goz. In the Tribunal’s view, this single reference to the Goz does not amount to a reasoned decision.

II – Boundary Delimitation

• Should the Bahr el Arab River be considered the northern boundary of the nine Ngok Dinka chiefdoms in 1905?

A - Boundary Delimitation: Bahr el Arab River

1 – Pleading of the Government of Sudan

• Determinate position of the Bahr el Arab River in 1905

• Video Clip 2 – Mr. Alastair Macdonald, Expert

A - Boundary Delimitation: Bahr el Arab River

2- Pleading of the Sudan’s People Liberation Movement/Army

• Location of the Bahr el Arab River in 1905 not determined

• Video Clip 3 – Cross-examination by Ms. Wendy Miles, Counsel

A - Boundary Delimitation: Bahr el Arab River

3- Award: Bahr el Arab River does not form the northern boundary

• 676. […] [T]he ABC Experts did not consider the line that was treated as the provincial boundary by the Condominium officials to be the boundary of the Abyei area. […] [T]he provincial boundary as it was conceived of by the Condominium officials was only one of many indicators (and not necessarily the determinative one). […]

A - Boundary Delimitation: Bahr el Arab River

4- Dissenting Opinion: Bahr el Arab River should form the northern boundary

• 1. The ABC Experts [did] not [have] to ascertain where the Ngok people lived in 1905 nor to pronounce on land uses in southern Kordofan. [T]he provincial boundary between Kordofan and Bahr el Ghazal was […] clear enough to effect a delimitation, and the mandate itself assumed the existence of such a boundary.

23

JULY 2009: REACTIONS TO AWARD

Al Jazeera video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xUht3I2x088

New Escalation Of Tensions

20 June 2011Security Council SC/10286 Department of

Public Information • News and Media Division • New York

NORTH, SOUTH SIGN INTERIM AGREEMENT TO PULL TROOPS OUT OF DISPUTED ABYEI

Transparency

GUYANA v. SURINAME

“Opposition parties in Suriname have been calling for the removal of the country's government based on the premise that Suriname was outmaneuvered because the legal team selected to fight the case with Guyana was underprepared and inept”.

Wilkinson,  Bert.  “SURINAME:  SETTLEMENT  WITH  GUYANA SPARKS DOMESTIC  DISCONTENT.” Goliath: Business Knowledge On Demand. Interpress Service,      23      Nov.      2007.