tagged w/ International Court of Justice
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Nigeria is due to complete the final handover of the potentially oil-rich Bakassi peninsula to Cameroon, ending a long-standing territorial dispute.
The flag swapping ceremony in the main town on the peninsular, Abuna, has been scaled down due to security concerns. The majority of the local population considers itself Nigerian, but an international court ruled in favour of Cameroon in 2002. Over the past year about 50 people have been killed in clashes.
The International Court of Justice ruling was based on an early 19th Century colonial agreement between Britain and Germany. Nigeria challenged the ruling, but finally agreed to relinquish the territory two years ago. Part of the territory was handed over to Cameroon two years ago.
A spokesman for Nigerian President Umaru Yar'Adua said the process was "painful.... for everyone including the president", but added that Nigeria had made "a commitment to the international community and we have a responsibility to keep it".
Cameroon said the final handover would mark "the end of a crisis". The transfer of Bakassi had been described by UN Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon as "a model for negotiated settlements of border disputes".
A group of Bakassi leaders have been seeking compensation from the Nigerian government. About 90% of the population of the area is made up of Nigerian fishermen, estimated to number up to 300,000. An area has been set aside by Nigeria for people moved out of Bakassi, but it has no access to the sea, campaigners say. Bakassi has a rich fishing culture and people say the handover has destroyed their way of life. The Bakassi peninsula juts out into the Gulf of Guinea close to the Niger Delta. Its offshore waters are thought to contain substantial oil fields - untapped because of the border dispute - which Nigeria and Cameroon will now work together to explore.
Nigeria is due to complete the final handover of the potentially oil-rich Bakassi... more
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The execution of a Mexican prisoner in Texas has been delayed while the US Supreme Court considers whether it should go ahead.
Jose Medellin, convicted of the rape and murder of a teenage girl, was due to be given a lethal injection despite condemnation from around the world.
The International Court of Justice had ruled the execution should be stopped because it violates international law.
Texas says its courts are not bound by the rulings of the ICJ.
The ICJ ordered that the executions of all Mexican nationals should be suspended after Mexico complained that some of its nationals on death row had not been informed of their right to consular assistance during trial, a right under the Vienna Convention.
On Tuesday United Nations Secretary General Ban Ki-moon called on the US to abide by the ICJ ruling.
"All decisions and orders of the International Court of Justice must be respected by states," he told a television station in Mexico City, where he is attending a world Aids conference.
"The United States should take every step to make sure the execution does not take place."
Medellin's case dates back to 1993 when two girls, Jennifer Ertman, 14, and Elizabeth Pena, 16, were raped and murdered by six gang members in Houston.
Read more...The execution of a Mexican prisoner in Texas has been delayed while the US Supreme... more
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