The International Court of Justice, tThe highest UN court has backed Qatar in a dispute with four neighbors that imposed an air blockade on Doha more than three years ago.
The Hague-based ICJ on Tuesday rejected the appeal by Bahrain, Egypt, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) against a decision by the world civil aviation body in favor of Qatar over sovereign airspace, the president of the ICJ, Abdulqawi Ahmed Yusuf. Tuesday.
The court also “maintains that the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) has jurisdiction” in the case, by 15 judges to one, Yusuf said.
ICAO in 2018 ruled that it had jurisdiction to handle a dispute brought by Qatar, which accused its neighbors of violating a convention regulating the free passage of its passenger aircraft through foreign airspace.
But the four allies disagreed in saying that ICAO was not the appropriate body to judge the dispute and that their decision to do so was “manifestly flawed and violates the fundamental principles of due process and the right to be heard.”
They had asked the ICJ to declare the aviation body’s ruling “null and void.”
‘Dismantled arguments’
Doha welcomed Tuesday’s ruling, saying it will lead blocking countries to “face justice” for violating international aviation rules.
“We are confident that ICAO will finally consider these actions illegal.” Jassim Saif Ahmed Al Sulaiti, minister of transport and communications, said in a statement.
“This is the latest in a series of rulings that expose the continued contempt of countries that block international law and due process. Step by step, their arguments are being dismantled and the position of Qatar is being vindicated,” added Al Sulaiti.
Since the start of the blockade in June 2017, Qatar maintained that the four blocking countries acted illegally and in violation of international law. In a statement, the Qatari government said Tuesday’s “verdict is the latest in a series of international judgments claiming” its position.
Reporting from The Hague, Step Vaessen of Al Jazeera said the ruling meant “ICAO has done the job correctly and can handle the case from now on.”
LIVE: The International Court of Justice, the main UN court, has backed Qatar in a dispute with four neighbors that imposed an air blockade on Doha more than three years ago.
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Blocking
The four Arab countries abruptly cut ties with Qatar in June 2017, accusing the country of backing “extremists” among other allegations that Doha flatly denies.
They imposed far-reaching punitive measures, including a ban on Qatar planes from their airspace, closed Qatar’s only land border with Saudi Arabia, and expelled Qatari citizens.
The countries justified movements against the peninsular state of the Gulf, saying it was their sovereign right to protect their national security.
Qatar fiercely rejected claims that it violated a series of agreements reached with its neighbors in 2013 and 2014 with the aim of resolving years of diplomatic rancor.
Last year, ICJ, created in 1946 to resolve disputes between UN member states, rejected a request by the UAE to take special measures against Qatar, after Doha won a case at ICJ in 2018 for alleged discrimination. against its citizens.
Doha in June again accused the Saudi-led alliance of refusing to commit to the efforts, which it said were backed by the United States, to resolve the crisis.
SOURCE:
Al Jazeera and news agencies
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