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.