Sedudu
| Sedudu (Kasikili) | ||
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| Waters | Cuando | |
| Geographical location | 17 ° 49 ′ 0 ″ S , 25 ° 8 ′ 0 ″ E | |
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| surface | 5 km² | |
| Residents | uninhabited | |
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Sedudu (in Namibia Kasikili called) is an island in the Kwando on the border between Namibia and Botswana , near the town of Kasane in Botswana. The island was the subject of a territorial dispute between the two countries, which was settled in 1999 by the International Court of Justice in Botswana's favor. Kasikili is the Namibian name, Sedudu the Botswana for the island, which covers an area of about 5 km². There are no permanent residents, as the island is flooded for a few months each year, starting around March.
Territorial dispute
The point of dispute between the two states was based on the content of a treaty that was concluded on July 1, 1890 between the United Kingdom and the German Empire , in which they defined the limits of their respective spheres of influence in Africa. The areas that make up Namibia and Botswana today were German and British, respectively.
In 1996 Namibia and Botswana reached a special agreement in which they agreed to bring the case to the International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea - the first case ever - in Hamburg . In the terms of the agreement, the two states asked the International Court of Justice, “on the basis of the Anglo-German Treaty of July 1, 1890 and the rules and principles of international law, the border between Namibia and Botswana for Kasikili / Sedudu and the legal status of the To determine the island ”.
The decision of the International Court of Justice
According to the content of the treaty of 1890, the German Empire and Great Britain placed the limit of their spheres of interest on the main course of the Cuando. The real dispute between the countries concerned the location of this main arm; Namibia claimed it ran south, Botswana maintained that it ran north of the island. Since the treaty of 1890 did not define the main arm, the court had to decide for itself which was the main course of the Cuando around the island.
To do this, the court took into account the depth and width of the two arms, as well as the volume of water that flowed off per arm, the profile of the river bed and the navigability of the river. After all the measurements had been taken, the court ruled that "the northern arm of the Cuando River around Kasikili / Sedudu must be considered as the main course".
The Tribunal stated that it was unable to draw any conclusions from maps; this "considering the non-existence of a map officially showing the intentions of the two parties to the Treaty of 1890" and "because of the uncertainty and inconsistency" of the maps provided by Botswana and Namibia.
The Court also considered Namibia's alternative argument that Namibia and its predecessors were entitled to the island because they had exercised absolute jurisdiction on the island since the beginning of the century; this with full awareness and full acceptance by the authorities of Botswana and its predecessors. The court found that the Masubia from the Namibian Caprivi Strip have been using the island for many years, but firstly did so irregularly and according to the seasonal characteristics, and secondly only for agricultural purposes without it being certain that they embodied the state authorities. Therefore, the Court rejected this argument.
After it had been established that the border between Botswana and Namibia around Kasikili / Sedudu followed the line of the deepest sounding in the northern arm of the Cuando and that the island would in future be part of the territory of Botswana, the court recalled that the two states would, according to the The content of an agreement from May 1992 ("Kasane Communiqué") obliged to allow unhindered navigation for all vehicles in the watercourses around the island.