International Court of Justice Backs E. Guinea In Fight With Gabon Over Islands In Oil-rich Waters

The International Court of Justice (ICJ), a top Court of the United Nations, has ruled in favor of Equatorial Guinea in its dispute with Gabon over three islands in oil-rich waters.

Gabon and Equatorial Guinea – both countries in Central Africa – have since the 1970s been fighting over the isles – Conga, Mbaniè and Cocoteros.

Though virtually uninhabited, the three islands are in a maritime area believed to contain major oil deposits.

In its ruling, the International Court of Justice dismissed Gabon’s main argument – that a more recent treaty, the 1974 Bata Convention, had switched the islands’ sovereignty in its favor.

According to the court, Equatorial Guinea’s claim – which is based on a 1900 treaty dividing up French and Spanish colonial assets – should be respected.

ICJ in a final and binding ruling noted that Mbaniè, Conga and Cocoteros were held by Spain, and then passed to its former colony, Equatorial Guinea at independence in 1968.

Following the ruling, Gabon is now required to remove its soldiers from Mbaniè which is the largest of the three islands. The Gabonese army had in 1972 drove Equatorial Guinean troops from Mbaniè and established its own military presence on the island.

Fighting between the two nations over the islands slowed down from the 1970s but in the 2000s, when the prospect of oil in the Gulf of Guinea became apparent, the conflict revived.

After several years of mediation by the United Nations, in 2016, the two nations agreed to let the ICJ settle the matter.