The Bar Association of Guyana has added its voice to the matter of the Guyana/Venezuelan border controversy, specifically Venezuela’s proposed referendum with a view to annexing Essequibo.
In a release yesterday, the Bar Association expressed its wish to enjoin the national concern regarding the proposal by the Government of Vene-zuela to conduct a Consultative Referendum to have the Venezuelan public consider several questions related to the legal validity and binding effect of the Arbitral Award of October 3, 1899.
The Bar Association noted that these questions raise issues about Guyana’s sovereignty over the territory between the Essequibo River and the internationally recognized western boundaries of Guyana; the purported creation of a new Venezuelan State encompassing the Essequibo region; as well as other legal and political matters.
These actions, it pointed out, appear to be a precursor to the forced annexation of Guyana’s territory and have the effect of “aggravating” or extending the dispute that has been referred to the Internation-al Court of Justice. Also noted was the approach by the Government of Guyana for provisional measures in the proceedings which are currently pending before that Court.
The release described Venezuela’s actions, including those which are the subject of the request for provisional measures, as “unjustifiable in international law.” It added, “Whatever the motivations or intentions of the Vene-zuelan Government, they are repugnant to the spirit of goodwill and peace which ought to pervade amongst neighbours.”
The Bar Association sought to assure that it shared the concern of the Guyanese people that Venezuela’s actions are “an unjust interference with our right to peace and self-determination and a regrettable fetter on our economic development aspirations,” while asserting, “The Bar Council of the Bar Association of Guyana stands in full support of the Government of Guyana’s actions to defend Guyana’s territorial integrity in the referenced judicial proceedings and the wider diplomatic efforts.”
The release also inform-ed that the Executive Council of the Bar Asso-ciation of Guyana intends to host a symposium with national legal experts on December 04, to discuss the legal issues before the International Court of Justice. It is intended not only to address Guyana’s application for provisional measures, but also the wider principles in the principal proceedings, it added.
