The UN’s highest court yesterday upheld France’s refusal to give Djibouti the records of an investigation into the 1995 murder of a French judge, whose burned body was found in a ravine outside the capital of the former French territory.
The International Court of Justice rejected Djibouti’s claims that France violated two bilateral agreements of cooperation, and agreed with France that it had the right to withhold the file if it contained classified information.
The court also rejected Djibouti’s claims that France had illegally summoned Djibouti President Ismael Omar Guelleh to testify in the murder case of Judge Bernard Borrel, and said the request had not violated presidential immunity or dignity.
Borrel’s wife, Elisabeth, has accused Guelleh of ordering her husband’s death, which occurred more than three years before Guelleh took office.
Borrel’s body was found in October 1995. Reports variously say he had been investigating money laundering or arms smuggling.
The “Borrel file” has been a source of tension between France and Djibouti, especially after the French judge investigating the case summoned Guelleh while he was on a state visit to France in 2005 to appear in her chambers the next day for questioning.
Guelleh refused both that summons and another request two years later to undergo questioning.
The 16-member court, known informally as the World Court, chastised France for failing to properly notify Djibouti of its reasons for refusing to hand over the file on the investigation, but took no other action.
But the judges voted 15-1 rejecting Djibouti’s demand to hand over the file.
The majority found it had no jurisdiction to settle the dispute on the legality of French arrest warrants against two senior Djibouti officials accused of attempting to suborn witnesses.
Djibouti applied to the World Court in 2006 to force France to hand over the case file. Final arguments were heard in January.
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