Get ready for the worst in Sipadan case, Hassan says

Get ready for the worst in Sipadan case, Hassan says

The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

Indonesia must brace itself for the possibility of losing two
small islands off East Kalimantan as the International Court of
Justice has almost reached its verdict in the row with Malaysia
over their ownership, Minister of Foreign Affairs Hassan Wirajuda
says.

The court in The Hague is expected to announce the verdict
about the sovereignty of the Sipadan and Ligitan islands next
month, possibly on Dec. 17, Hassan told a gathering with media
editors at his office on Wednesday.

"There is a fifty-fifty chance. We could win or we could lose.
Or the court could simply decide to grant one island each to
Indonesia and Malaysia," he said.

Hassan, who had led the Indonesian delegation in presenting
Jakarta's case before the court these last few years, said the
arguments presented by Indonesia and Malaysia contained both
strengths and weaknesses, such that it was impossible to predict
which way the 17-member panel of judges would rule.

The court ruling will be final and binding on both sides,
without any chance of an appeal, he said, adding that the United
Nations Security Council had the power to execute the ruling
should Indonesia or Malaysia decided to ignore it.

This latter clause is necessary to deter the losing party from
resorting to the use of force in claiming sovereignty over the
islands.

Overlapping territorial claims over the two islands only came
to the surface in 1969 when the two countries began negotiations
to delineate their common border.

Sipadan is currently occupied by Malaysia, which has touted it
as a diving resort to international tourists since the 1970s. The
islet received international attention however when separatist
Philippine rebels abducted several Western tourists there in
2000. Ligitan is a coral island.

Geographically, the two islands lie closer to Malaysia but
Indonesia's claim is largely based on 19th century maps drawn by
the Netherlands when it ruled Indonesia (East Indies). Britain,
which ruled Malaysia (Malaya) in those days, never disputed the
Dutch claims over those two islands.

Serious attempts to settle the row through diplomatic
negotiations only started in 1989. When these failed, both
Indonesia and Malaysia referred the dispute to the International
Court of Justice in the Dutch capital in 1997.

Some members of the House of Representatives, sensing the
worse outcome from The Hague, have criticized the Ministry of
Foreign Affairs in recent months for what they perceived as poor
diplomacy in pushing for Indonesia's claims over the two islands.

Hassan, however, said that maximum diplomatic efforts were
expended during the negotiations with Malaysia. Diplomacy no
longer made any difference the moment the case was referred to
the International Court of Justice in 1997. Since then, it became
purely a legal matter, and Indonesia's efforts had to be
conducted through the court.

Indonesia retained the services of four internationally
reputed lawyers to represent it in the court in The Hague. They
are Alain Pellet (France), Alfred Soons (Netherlands), Sir Arthur
Watts (Britain) and Rodman R. Bundy (United States). Similarly,
Malaysia had retained the services of four international lawyers.

Hassan disclosed that the government has spent some Rp 16
billion (US$1.7 million) in the Sipadan and Ligitan campaign
since 1997, mostly on legal fees for the lawyers who billed by
the hour. "It runs like a taxi meter," he quipped.