The Sultanate of Sulu is moving aggressively through its lawyers to find new avenues to stake its claim over Sabah. It now plans to request US Secretary of State Marco Rubio to endorse the Sultanate of Sulu’s 2004 petition to the United Nations, which seeks $25 billion in compensation for damages from Malaysia.
The redress concerns the exploitation of Sabah’s resources after its annexation by the British into the Federation, despite an ancient accord known as the Carpenter-Kiram Treaty, which placed Mindanao, Sulu, and Sabah under US protection.
The $25-billion claim is the estimated value of resources exploited since Sabah was annexed to Malaysia in 1963.
The request for endorsement is an offshoot of the International Court of Justice’s (ICJ) 2004 reply, which stated that it would refer the Sultanate of Sulu’s petition to the UN General Assembly, the proper forum to tackle the case, once the US, China, or the Philippines endorsed the petition. This was officially declared by the ICJ in 2004.
“The Sultanate will officially send the request and supporting documents,” he said.
Philippe Couvreur, ICJ registrar, in a reply to the Sultanate of Sulu dated 20 October 2024 (a copy of which was obtained by the DAILY TRIBUNE) declared that Articles 35 and 34 of the Statute of the ICJ provide that such a case will be deliberated by the UN General Assembly.
He said the ICJ’s reply specifically mentioned the need for endorsement by a UN member for deliberations in the General Assembly.
“This is to inform you that, according to the provisions contained in Articles 35 and 34 of the Statute of the International Court of Justice, the Sultanate of Sulu and North Borneo, or the Bangsa Suluk Nation, needs only one nation to endorse its 2004 petition for deliberations in the UN General Assembly,” Couvreur said.
The 2004 petition, submitted to UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan, adhered to the principle of peaceful settlement, declared the repossession of North Borneo (Sabah) from the Federation of Malaysia’s occupation, and demanded $25 billion from Malaysia for the use of its natural resources since its illegal occupation in 1963.
“Since the Philippine government has already opted out of the Sabah case, our only hope is for the US or China to endorse the petition and start the deliberation in the UN General Assembly,” Idjirani said.
He said that endorsement by the US would align with its objective to secure vital waterways across the globe.
Idjirani said the ancestral territory of the Sultanate included the South China Sea and part of the Celebes Sea, which was the ancient silk sea route in the 17th century.
The resolution of the Sultanate asserted full sovereign, legal, and historic rights over the territory of North Borneo (Sabah) from 18 September 2004 onward and demanded that the government of the Federation of Malaysia pay $25 billion in damages for the exploitation of the disputed territory’s natural resources.
The Sultanate of Sulu’s 2004 petition to the UN was anchored on the 1915 Kiram-Carpenter Agreement, the 1947 and 1950 UN resolutions, and the 1823 Monroe Doctrine.