Mali legally argues to leave ECOWAS “without delay”
Mali announced ten days ago (on November 28) its withdrawal from ECOWAS, jointly with Niger and Burkina Faso. A departure “
with immediate effect
” according to the official press release. The regional organization, however, quickly recalled the community rules and the one-year deadline to which candidates for departure are subject. In a letter sent Tuesday, February 6 to the ECOWAS Commission and made public this Wednesday, the Malian Ministry of Foreign Affairs persists and argues legally.
Demonstration to support the authorities' decision to leave the regional bloc of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS), in Bamako, Mali, February 1, 2024. REUTERS - STRINGER
By: David Baché
Advertisement
Read more
ECOWAS had opened the door to a “
negotiated solution
”. It begins badly. In its letter, the Malian Ministry of Foreign Affairs first “
reiterates
” “
the irreversible nature
” of the decision to leave ECOWAS. The regional organization considers this choice as a “
dead end
”, many Malian political parties are calling on the transitional authorities to ask them to reverse course: it is therefore an end to the refusal.
" Without delay "
And for Malian diplomacy, this departure must take place "
without delay
", as announced and despite article 91 of the Revised ECOWAS Treaty, which requires one year's notice.
Bamako argues legally, pleading first that the economic sanctions imposed on Mali in January 2022, in particular the closure of borders, were not provided for by community texts, and then that these sanctions “violated
the right of access to sea
” guaranteed by the 1982 United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea of Montego Bay.
“
Breaches
” which, “
with regard to the provisions of the Vienna Convention on the Law of Treaties of 1969
”, would render
the ECOWAS Treaty “
inoperative ”, and therefore its constraints in terms of deadlines.
Debate on substance
Asked by RFI, a lawyer specializing in these questions certainly considers the conclusion "
abusive
" - the ECOWAS Treaty should not, according to him, be called into question in its entirety - but above all he considers that the argument aimed at subtracting from the one-year period is perfectly justified and admissible,
at least
for Mali and Niger - Burkina not having suffered economic sanctions.
Another expert believes, on the other hand, that if the closure of borders does not appear explicitly in the list of planned sanctions, the community texts do offer the conference of ECOWAS heads of state the power to pronounce the one that seems appropriate to them. . And to cite article 77 of the Revised ECOWAS Treaty, as well as articles 3, 6 and 16 of the additional act of February 2022 establishing the sanctions regimes. According to this expert, Bamako's argument therefore does not hold up. Because if the sanctions are regular, recourse to the Vienna Convention no longer holds.
We are now awaiting the reaction of ECOWAS. Hostilities are launched.
Precedents
In April 2022, seized by a group of lawyers mandated by Mali, the UEMOA Court of Justice judged
the effect of the ECOWAS sanctions to be “
seriously harmful
” for the State and the Malian population, and therefore had requested their suspension. This request had not been implemented. At the time, however, the UEMOA Court of Justice had not ruled on the merits, namely on the question of the legality of these sanctions.
Read also UEMOA orders the suspension of ECOWAS sanctions against Mali
Finally, we can recall that the Vienna Convention had already been invoked by the Malian transitional authorities in May 2022, when denouncing the defense agreements which linked Mali to France. Bamako considered that these agreements had been violated and that the Vienna Convention therefore allowed Mali to demand the immediate departure of the French Barkhane force. A reading that France had contested, considering that it had at no time violated its legal commitments, without however seeking to maintain its soldiers beyond the minimum period necessary for their repatriation.
Read alsoDefense agreements: France and Mali disagree on the effectiveness of their denunciation
Newsletter
Receive all the international news directly in your inbox
I subscribe
Follow all the international news by downloading the RFI application
Share :
Continue reading on the same themes:
ECOWAS
Mali