Numéro

Vol. 47 No 4 (2022): Afrique et développement

10 - Towards Understanding the Cameroon-Nigeria and the Eswatini-South African Border Dispute through the Prism of the Principle of uti possidetis juris Customary International Law

https://doi.org/10.57054/ad.v47i4.2984
Hlengiwe Portia Dlamini
University of the Free State, South Africa
Manka’ah Mafor Awasom-Fru
Uppsala University, Sweden
Lenhle Precious Dlamini
University of KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa
https://orcid.org/0000-0001-6952-1558
Sirri Awasom-Fru
Balsillie School of International Affairs, Canada

Afrique et développement, Vol. 47 No 4 (2022): Afrique et développement

Résumé

Cet article examine les différends frontaliers entre le Cameroun et le Nigeria et entre Eswatini et l’Afrique du Sud dans une perspective comparative dans le cadre de la doctrine de l’uti possidetis juris en droit international traditionnel. Les travaux scientifiques existants sur ces deux différends frontaliers n’ont pas suffisamment convaincu pour permettre une évaluation de la pertinence et des lacunes de l’uti possidetis juris. La méthodologie d’étude utilisée ici est essentiellement qualitative et comprend des sources d’archives et journalistiques, des entretiens approfondis et des discussions de groupe. Cette étude révèle que l’application stricte de la doctrine de l’uti possidetis juris au différend Cameroun-Nigéria sur Bakassi était inappropriée et n’a pas produit la paix et la sécurité escomptées. Les pourparlers bilatéraux Eswatini-Afrique du Sud, visant à régler la question des frontières héritées de la colonisation, étaient une tentative de se conformer à l’uti possidetis juris, mais elles ont échoué. Le royaume d’Eswatini a alors envisagé de traduire l’Afrique du Sud devant la Cour internationale de justice (CIJ), à l’instar du Cameroun. Mais les deux contextes étaient différents et l’invocation de l’uti possidetis juris n’était pas un instrument approprié pour résoudre le différend frontalier Eswatini-Afrique du Sud. L’irrédentisme d’Eswatini a persisté en raison de l’attachement du pays pour la déclaration Sobhuza, qui cautionne l’unité du peuple d’Eswatini. 

Mots-clés

Cameroun-Nigéria Eswatini-Afrique du Sud différends frontaliers la Haye uti possidetis juris Testament de Sobhuza
[1]
Dlamini, H.P. et al. 2022. 10 - Towards Understanding the Cameroon-Nigeria and the Eswatini-South African Border Dispute through the Prism of the Principle of uti possidetis juris Customary International Law. Afrique et développement. 47, 4 (déc. 2022), 239–265. DOI:https://doi.org/10.57054/ad.v47i4.2984.
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