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Abyei: Understanding the Decision of the Abyei Arbitration Tribunal
Thu, August 6 2009
By PILPG [Washington]

● Did the Tribunal find that the Abyei Boundaries Commission (ABC) Experts
exceeded their mandate?

Yes and No. The Tribunal found that in certain respects the ABC Experts did not exceed their mandate and in other respects, they did exceed their mandate. Most importantly, the Tribunal determined that the ABC Experts acted reasonably and did not exceed their mandate when they interpreted their authority as requiring them to identify where the people of the nine Ngok Dinka Chiefdoms lived in 1905 (the “tribal” interpretation), and not, as the Government of Sudan alleged, where a provincial border was in 1905 (the “territorial” interpretation).1 In doing this, the Tribunal confirmed that the Abyei Area was the ancestral homeland of the Ngok Dinka people. It also rejected the Government of Sudan’s primary argument that the Abyei Area should be no more than a narrow 14-mile wide strip of land just south of the Kiir/Bahr el Arab River, which would have excluded the majority of the nine Ngok Dinka Chiefdoms from the Abyei Area and Abyei Town itself. If the Tribunal had adopted the Government’s “territorial” interpretation, it may have defined an Abyei Area of no more than approximately 2,714 square kilometers below the Kiir/Bahr el Ghazal River. Instead, the Tribunal defined an area of approximately 10,460 square kilometers. (See Figure).

● Did the Tribunal change the boundaries of the Abyei Area as originally defined by
the ABC?

Yes and No. (See Figure A). The Tribunal determined that the ABC Experts did not exceed their mandate by determining that the southern boundary of the Abyei Area was effectively the 1956 Kordofan-Bahr el Ghazal-Upper Nile provincial boundary. This southern boundary, as defined by the ABC Experts, therefore remains the same.2 The Tribunal also determined that the ABC Experts did not exceed their mandate when they determined that Ngok Dinka permanent occupation in 1905 extended all the way from the southern boundary (just described) to latitude 10°10'00 N.3 It did, however, find that the ABC Experts exceed their mandate when they defined the northern boundary all the way to 10°22'00 N (just above Nyama).4 There is no practical affect, however, to the Tribunal’s adjustment of this northern boundary for the Ngok Dinka people in terms of their movements. As explained below, the Ngok Dinka may continue to graze their cattle and move above latitude 10°10' 00 N as per their traditional and historic practices.5 The Tribunal further determined that the ABC Experts exceeded their mandate in defining the Abyei Area’s western and eastern boundaries.6 Applying the “tribal” interpretation, the Tribunal determined that Ngok Dinka occupation in 1905 extended in the west to longitude 27° 50'00 E (somewhere midway between Maper Amaal (Debab) and Meiram) and in the east to longitude 29°00'00 E (approximately just west of the village of Ajaj). These are the new eastern and western boundaries of the Abyei Area.

● Is Abyei Area defined by the Tribunal now part of the South?

No. The Tribunal only defined the “Abyei Area” that would be subject to the special
administrative status under the Abyei Protocol. The Abyei Area is neither a northern or southern state, but its own special administrative unit. It has its own local governance and special administration.8 It will be for the residents of Abyei in 2011 to decide in their own referendum if it will retain its special administrative status as part of the north, or become part of the southern state of Bahr el Ghazal.9 Until then it belongs neither to the north or the south, just to Sudan.

● What is the affect of the Tribunal’s award on the jurisdiction of the Abyei Area
Administration?

As of June 2008, the Abyei Roadmap Agreement set the interim boundaries of the Abyei Area, which defined the jurisdiction of the Abyei Area Administration (AAA).10 With the Tribunal’s new award, the AAA’s jurisdiction is now different. While the AAA’s boundaries to the north and south remain largely unchanged, the AAA’s boundaries to the east and west are now different from those the Abyei Roadmap Agreement originally established. Specifically, the Tribunal’s award has moved the AAA boundary in the east to longitude 29°00'00 E rather than approximately 29°15’00 E. Therefore, its eastern limit is now just west of the village of Ajaj. The Tribunal’s award, however, has increased the AAA’s jurisdiction further west to longitude 27°50'00 E rather than what was previously its furthest western border between approximately 27°55’00 E and 28°00’00 E. Its limit is now approximately midway between Maper Amaal (Debab) and Meiram. Full demarcation on the ground by a survey team must be completed to precisely clarify which communities, particularly in east and west, fall within or outside of the newly defined Abyei Area. (See Figure).

 

 

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