By OLIVER SAMBOKO
WE will sue the British government and the World Bank at the International Court of Justice (ICJ) for the atrocities they committed against us during the construction of the Kariba Dam in the 1950s, a group of Tongas have vowed.
Group leader, Moses Hateka, said a decision has been made to pursue the matter at the ICJ following the rejection by the International Criminal Court (ICC) to hear the matter. Mr Hateka said the reasons given by the prosecutor at ICC in The Hague was not in line with the court’s own obligation under the UNDRIP articles 41 and 42.
This gives the court obligation and duty to follow up the effectiveness on all United Nations Declarations as stipulated in the UN Resolutions 61/295.
Last year, the committee of the ICC rejected to hear the matter against the British government and World Bank over the displacement of the Tonga people and instead advised the group to pursue the matter at the African Union through the African Commission on Human and People’s rights.
The group reported the British government and World Bank to ICC over the forceful removal of 57, 000 valley Tonga people from the Zambezi River in the 1950s to pave way for the construction of the Kariba Dam.
Mr Hateka said the Tonga people wants the ICJ to investigate the British government and World Bank for their forceful removal from their ancestral homeland in both Zambia and Zimbabwe.
