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All this week, a viral video generated by the Belize Peace Movement has been circulating on social media. It’s part of that group’s No to the ICJ campaign, and from the thousands of views we’ve seen it rack up, it seems to have generated a lot of traction.

The message is, basically, you can’t trust the ICJ if you want to keep your territory intact.  Nigeria learned that the hard way when it lost territory to Cameroon.  But, Jules Vasquez looked closely at the case, and it seems to put Belize in Nigeria’s shoes, when we should be in Cameroon’s.  Here’s his take on it:…

Jayne Abuo - Peace Movement Spokesperson
"Hi my name is Jayne Anakapo, I am Nigerian Barrister and I live in Abuja, the capital city of Nigeria."

You’ve probably seen this video, it’s been making the rounds on social media this week - arranged and promoted by the Belize Peace Movement - one of whose members - we are told - is friendly with Janet Abuo - which is not the name she’s heard to give on the video where she tells us she is Janet Anakapo, a Nigerian Barrister. But, that aside, in her prepared remarks, she seems serious enough when she says:

Jayne Abuo
"We in Nigeria have learnt the very hard way that going to the International Court to decide on the future of your territory is very different than going to court on any other matter."

That’s because Nigeria lost the Bakassi peninsula to its neighbor Cameroon at the ICJ. 

Jayne Abuo
"We thought we had a very good case because our political leaders told us that there was no where in the world our country could possibly be divided and handed over to another country. All of our legal experts were telling us very much the same thing. When the decision finally came down from the court after a period of about 7 years, we are all shocked to learn that the world court had decided that all the Bakassi peninsula was in fact the territory of Cameroon."

And, that’s exactly where the Peace Movement wants viewers to draw a parallel with Belize - that our government is likewise promising that Belize is certain to win at the ICJ - but - Abuo warns - we can lose at the ICJ just like Nigeria did.

But, looking at the facts of the Cameroon-Nigeria judgement from the ICJ, a different picture appears.

In the Bakassi, the ICJ decided that boundary between Cameroon and Nigeria was delimited by a treaty,

the Anglo-German Agreement of 1913 and that this treaty gave sovereignty over the Bakassi Peninsula to Cameroon.

And just like Cameroon, Belize has the Anglo-Guatemalan Treaty of 1859 which establishes our borders vis a vis Guatemala.

So - just as this case shows us - if Belize decides to take Guatemala’s claim to the ICJ, the Judges will consider the 1859 Treaty first because treaties are the highest ranked source of international law.

Dr. Eric de Brabandere - Int’l Lawyer - Dispute Resolution,
"In this case it's relatively black and white decisions. I mean the question is, is that the boundary or not? Does Guatemala title extends to have of your territory or not."

Giulia Pinzauti - Former ICJ Law Clerk
"The court settles disputes in accordance with international law. So they are bound by international law. If international law says title takes precedence over or acting as a sovereign. They will look at who has title."

So, bottom line?  In this case Belize - with that treaty - is surely Cameroon and Guatemala in this case, would be Nigeria.

Even without the Bakassi, Nigeria is about twice the size of Cameroon…