Peaceful End to Island Rift Builds Hope

GABORONE, Botswana — The United Nations estimates that nearly 7 million Africans have fled their homes because of a dozen armed conflicts raging across the continent, most of them over contentious territorial issues.

Little noticed amid the crises has been the quiet resolution this month of a decade-long border dispute between this southern African country and its neighbor Namibia. In the past, disagreement over the tiny Chobe River island of Sedudu--known as Kasikili by the Namibians--threatened peaceful relations between the two countries.

Emotions, to be sure, still run high over the island. But when the International Court of Justice ruled Dec. 13 that Sedudu belongs to Botswana, not a single shot was fired across the border. Not a single resident was sent packing. And though there have been unhappy losers, not a single threat of retaliation was uttered.

“Other countries will therefore do well to emulate the example of how open, democratic and accountable governments conduct themselves in international relations,” Botswana’s foreign minister, Mompati Merafhe, told reporters recently here in the capital.

The world court decision concerning the island in Botswana’s Chobe National Park--a ruling that is binding on both countries--ensures that elephants, buffalo and other wild animals can graze there. Botswana had insisted that the island remain under its control partly for conservation purposes.

The ruling lays to rest an ancestral claim to the land by the Masubia people of Namibia, who have farmed the island on and off for centuries. In a submission to the court, Masubia Chief Liswani III said Botswana’s jurisdiction over the island has denied his people “their bank account . . . their capital . . . their stock exchange, however small.”

Botswana and Namibia have been at odds over the island since Namibia gained independence from South Africa in 1990. On several occasions, the disagreement threatened to escalate into violence, which was especially worrisome because the island adjoins the volatile Caprivi Strip.

The finger-shaped Caprivi region of Namibia has a strong separatist movement, whose leaders have sought and found refuge in Botswana since deadly clashes with Namibian authorities. The National Society for Human Rights in Namibia, a watchdog group, says security forces continue to harass suspected separatists in a “deteriorating human rights, humanitarian and security situation.”

“By solving the Kasikili issue amicably, a message is being sent that disputes can be settled by peaceful means,” said Zen Mnakaba of the human rights group.

As with many border problems in Africa, the disagreement over the 1 1/2-square-mile island has its roots in the colonial past.

In 1890, Britain--which controlled what is now Botswana--and Germany--which controlled what is now Namibia--signed a treaty defining their spheres of influence. But the Chobe River boundary between the two colonial empires was left vague, resulting in competing claims to the island.

In 1984, Botswana’s troops opened fire on a South African military vessel that approached the island; three South Africans were wounded. Since the late 1980s, except during the rainy season, the Botswana Defense Force has put soldiers on the island. Officially, they were on guard against ivory poachers, but their presence was a de facto claim of sovereignty.

Officials from Botswana and Namibia attempted to settle the dispute in the early 1990s, but by 1996, locked in a stalemate, they turned to the world court. Analysts say the decision to seek peaceful arbitration should be hailed across Africa.

“The dog that didn’t bite is massively significant here,” said Laurie Nathan of the Center for Conflict Resolution, a Cape Town, South Africa-based organization that tracks crises in Africa. “The underlying premise is that there will always be conflict between states, including states that have friendly relations. What matters is how the conflict is addressed.”