Update from Bamako on the ECOWAS SanctionsThesanctions imposed...

Update from Bamako on the ECOWAS Sanctions

Thesanctions imposed on 9 January by ECOWAS heads of state in Mali may well beattacked for nullity before the ECOWAS Court of Justice and even lead Mali toleave the Community body. This is at least the point of view of a Senegaleseexpert in international relations, international law and university professor.It says this with strong arguments and relies on irregularities in ECOWAS' decisionwith regard to the principles of international law.

OnJanuary 9, 2022, ECOWAS heads of state convened a double summit in Accra withthe Uémoa su le Mali. The Community body has adopted severe sanctions againstMali, the first of its kind taken against a member country. The reason givenfor supporting these sanctions is that "the transitional authorities areunable to organise elections next February and have proposed a 5-year deadlineto stay in power".

Atthe end of the summit, the sanctions adopted are the freezing of Mali's assetsat ECOWAS and financial aid, the closure of borders with ECOWAS members, thesuspension of commercial, economic transactions with the exception of basicnecessities and pharmaceutical products, the withdrawal of ambassadors from allECOWAS member countries accredited to Bamako.

Forthe expert in international relations and international law whose name wemention, because of this battery of ECOWAS decisions, Mali is in a form ofneutralisation. This is a principle of international law, which at some point,for a given time, consists of an army, a people, a mandated power to occupy aterritory, a people, a state and subject it to a number of rules that distanceit or would put it out of the circuit of international relations. According tothese words, this neutralisation will have legal effects at the internationallevel.

"Ifwe read the ECOWAS decisions taken against Mali, the effects of these decisionswill be considered a form of neutralisation. If these decisions were to beimplemented, Mali would find itself in a form of neutralisation. It's as if wewere cutting off the head of political power. There is a general principle ininternational law, which is the freedom of peoples to self-determination".According to the expert, if we put the two principles next to each other,namely neutralisation and the right of peoples to self-determination, Mali'swithdrawal from ECOWAS would render these decisions null and thereforeunenforceable. The simplest legal solution would have been to leave ECOWAS anda single press release is enough to do so. "At the moment all thesedecisions are becoming obsolete and have no effect," he says.

Inaddition, Mali may also file a request for a declaration of invalidity. Theexpert, who seems to be well introduced to ECOWAS bodies, indicates in hisanalysis that he received information from Accra that certain heads of state,including Muhamad Buhari, the Nigerian President, were not present at thesummit. This makes him say that the decision did not respect the protocol rulesof law in the sense that a quorum was not present. "If this information isjustified, a simple application for nullity before the ECOWAS Court of Justicewould have a suspensive effect," he pleads. Another irregularity mentionedby him is that the ECOWAS Commission issued the communiqué and not the Councilof Heads of State. This, according to the expert, proves once again that aquorum was not present. An additional argument to attack ECOWAS.

ECOWASfallen into its own trap

Accordingto the expert, ECOWAS has just fallen into its own trap by even giving a hugegift to Colonel Assimi Goïta now adored by the people of his country and othermember countries who are turning against ECOWAS.

Theexpert considers these decisions "irresponsible" from a tacticalpoint of view and which will lead to the implosion of ECOWAS if it continues toapply them against other States by applying border closures. According to him,delegations present in Accra on 9 January were opposed to the adoption of thesame decisions.

These are all arguments that pave the way for Malianlawyers. Lawyers could even take over to defend this case before ECOWAS legalauthorities. In his television interview on Saturday, January 15 in the"Guest of the Week" section of the ORTM, Prime Minister ChoguelKokalla Maïga invoked the possibility of attacking ECOWAS decisions.