Observations écrites de la République fédérale du Nigéria sur les documents déposés par le Cameroun à l'audience du 8 mars 1996

SOUCITORS
r6 DJFREEMAN 43 Fetter Lane
London EC4A lNA

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Eduardo Valencia-Ospina Esq Mornollot.,.._d
Registrar

International Court of Justice THD/101150/JH
Peace Palace v,nT)ttn
AlnMlanu•
2517 KJ 11 March 1996 S...•H oll
The Hague
AodoooyEdwatdo
Netherlands !l.aoHonr~
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Dear Sir Ow\ooopc-,..
Do"'4 Ktr* M

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'ttowoOkir,
Aloohn)'
Cameroon v. Nie-eria: Request for Interim Measures. Su a Golodllowokl
~P4 -nN oltollo

We are instructed by the Agent for Nigeria to reply to your letter of 8 Match 1996, about Do.WJolo­
the second Cameroon dossier of documents lodged with the Court at its sitting on 8 -Torlot
,...,s.....
March. You informed our Clients that the Court had decided that Nigeria should have
the opportunity to submit to the Court by 1 p.m. on 11 March such comments as it would
Qr-Dttftn
wish conceming those documents. S.U, Hloo
S.Oo.:\Jio•
O...OC«r·.... .
Our Clients are grateful to the Court for this opportunity.

Our Clients have considered the Cameroon documents as carefully as the circumstances o.n4.,,~o<~r
have permitted . They have only the following comments to offer. Jo.. -·

(1) Generally , the documents in this dossier cali for the same comments as those

offered by Counsel for Nigeria on 8 Marcb , when referring to the previous

Cameroon dossier.
JolooSitrinroltln'

(2) In particular Joltololf'

(a) a number are illegible, or only barely legible; thus the photographs at Tab ~
Pare wholly indistinct. o.OI4..r......

(b) several of the documents are incomplete in material respects: thus, a letter

of 21 November 1976 (at Tab P) is meaningless without being completed by
a copy of the letter to which it is the reply, while the document at Tab K (a Tltt-, ..
Rf"'ottd la tho
.. listof alleged frontier incidents) does not (at least in the copy available to 0011d11ao/ko
Nigeria) say in which year or years the alleged incidents took place. '" """b\lânn•
.,. th< l.o• SotO..y

Ref : L232782. 1 Page 2
r6 DJ FREEMAN

Eduardo Valencia-Ospina Esq
Registrar
11 March 1996

(3) Sorne documents are wbolly or in large part irrelevant: tbus many of those
alleged incidents wouldappear to have taken place well outside Bakassi and to that

extent they, like the maps submitted with them (which purport to show the border
from Lake Chad to the sea), arewholly irrelevant to the immediate issues.

(4) Sorne arerepetitive: for example tpapers at Tab P contain~copies of the
sameJetter.

Many of the assertions madein the documents relate to events whicb, even if they bad
occurred, would be self serving: our Clients reserve the right at any appropriateintage
the proceedings to make furtber comments on such matters as the Idabato HeaJth
Centre.

Our Clients do not, however, consider that the documents cal1 for any more detailed

comment at this time on an individual basis. They do not, in our Clients' opinion,
materially assistn the consideration to be given to Cameroon's Request for interim
measures, and do not call for any modification to the arguments presented to the Court
on behalfof Nigeria.

Yours faithfully

Ref : L232782 .1

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