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Who's Defying the World Court?

(New York Jewish Week) James S. Tisch - In 1975, the ICJ issued an advisory opinion on Morocco's claim to the former Spanish colony of Western Sahara, finding the claim to self-determination by the indigenous Saharawi population to be superior. Morocco rejected the opinion and, thirty years later, negotiations continue on the status of Western Sahara. Sanctions were never enacted against Morocco for non-compliance. Six years after the ICJ opinion, Morocco began to build a thousand-mile security barrier through the middle of Western Sahara to protect against Saharawi attacks. The 10-foot high earthen rampart is fortified with 1 to 2 million landmines that have killed or injured dozens of people. In May 1973, New Zealand asked the ICJ to order France to end atmospheric nuclear testing in the South Pacific. France responded that it did not consider the court competent to hear the case, did not accept the court's jurisdiction, and would not participate in any proceedings. In 1974, the ICJ ruled against Iceland's unilateral expansion of its exclusive fishing zone, following a complaint by Britain. Iceland disregarded the decision because fishing represented such a large part of Iceland's economy that it was considered a national security interest. In 1984, after the U.S. lost the jurisdictional decision on a Nicaraguan complaint to the ICJ, Washington withdrew from the proceedings. In 1999, the U.S. Supreme Court disregarded an ICJ order to stay the execution in Arizona of Walter LaGrand, a German citizen. Israel is adjusting the route of the security fence following the decision of its own highly respected Supreme Court, which balanced Israel's need to prevent suicide bombings with the humanitarian concerns of Palestinian civilians. The writer is Chairman of the Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations.
2004-07-23 00:00:00
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