On May 18, Rwanda submitted its instrument of ratification of the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS or the Convention), making it the 169th State Party to the Convention. The UNCLOS entered into force on 17 June 2023 for Rwanda, just in time for the adoption of the Agreement on the Conservation and Sustainable Use of Marine Biodiversity Beyond National Jurisdiction (BBNJ Treaty) on 19 and 20 June 2023. How does this enhance Rwanda’s interaction with the international maritime community and what opportunities are open to Rwanda under the framework of the Convention?
As a landlocked State in Central/Eastern Africa bordered by three co-landlocked States (Uganda, Burundi, and The Democratic Republic of the Congo) and one coastal State (Tanzania), Rwanda sits within the interlacustrine region of the African Great Lakes and has no direct access to the ocean. To some States of this nature, a global treaty on the ocean is not the ideal venture to invest precious diplomatic time in, but this notion is changing with the growing importance of the ocean to the common interests of humankind. As such, among the 44 landlocked States in the world, 29 (including Rwanda) have ratified the Convention. What do States like Rwanda benefit from aspiring to partake in obligations that, indirectly but no less significantly affect them?
Four decades ago, the international community birthed UNCLOS as the "the Constitution of the Oceans”, embodying a timeless but imperfect framework for the participation of all States in the use and enjoyment of the ocean regardless of geography or size. From navigation, to fishing to security and marine research, exploration and trade and dispute settlement, the UNCLOS acts as the base from which rights, duties and interests flow. Rwanda joins a community of States to enjoy the fundamental right of innocent passage protected by the Convention. Special transit rights in the UNCLOS safeguard the interests of landlocked States and thereby sustain Rwanda’s intra-African imports from Kenya and Tanzania facilitated through the Northern Corridor Transit and Transport Agreement 2007 and by the Central Corridor Transit Transport Facilitation Agency through the ports of Mombasa and Dar es Salaam. These rights correspond to Article 91 which permits every State to set conditions for granting their nationality to ships. While ship registries are known to provide revenue inflow for States maintaining them, it appears economically incautious for landlocked States like Rwanda to maintain registries and have ships flagged to them. Nonetheless, several landlocked States maintain naval forces to protect the use and enjoyment of their inland waterways; Rwanda maintains a small navy under the Rwandan Defense Force to patrol the lakes around the country. So, should Rwanda decide that it is economically prepared to flag more ships or traverse further onto the High Seas, this right to flag would translate to exclusive enforcement powers on its vessels in areas beyond national jurisdiction.
In addition to navigation, Rwanda will enjoy other extensive freedoms (overflight, laying submarine cables and pipelines, constructing artificial islands and other installations, fishing and conducting scientific research) on the High Seas. It may, by itself, or in collaboration with other States, engage in High Seas exploration either of living or non-living resources to enrich its economy or expand its market and participate in holistic approaches to addressing maritime security challenges within the region. The problem of illegal fishing within Rwanda’s internal waters which accounts for diminishing fish production compared to the envisaged national fish production goal is not disconnected from the surge in piratical attacks in proximate Somalia waters. The UNCLOS now confers upon Rwanda, an opportunity to take robust action against the transboundary effects of piracy in Somalia by evoking the universal jurisdiction to arrest pirate vessels operating in areas beyond national jurisdiction and prosecute them under its domestic law or contributing to existing Initiatives like the US-led Combined Taskforce and the EU Naval Force Somalia (involving 60 countries and organizations) to promote safety in the region.
More so, with the recognition of the Common Heritage of Mankind status of the Deep Seabed, access to the seafloor beyond national jurisdiction has taken a new dimension. Rwanda potentially opens itself to a world of scientific and exploratory benefits through access to the depth of the ocean, information and profit-sharing and capacity building reserved for developing States under the Convention. The possibilities spiral upward with the completion of the Agreement on the Conservation and Sustainable Use of Marine Biodiversity Beyond National Jurisdiction (BBNJ) where principles to govern the exploitation of Marine Genetic Resources and maintain Area-based Management Tools have been concluded. During the negotiations, the Africa Group played a critical role in the retention of substantive provisions relating to the fair and equitable sharing of both monetary and non-monetary benefits derived from the Marine Genetic Resources. This complements the firm position of the Group on Capacity Building and Transfer of Marine Technology to developing States, similar to the provisions of the 1994 Implementation Agreement. By highlighting the unique needs of African States, and with the unified voice of other developing States, real commitments were made towards the effective implementation of the BBNJ. Rwanda will potentially gain from the proposed establishment of a comprehensive Area-based Management Tools System with well-connected networks of marine protected areas to limit unsustainable and illegal fishing in the High Seas areas adjacent to the Exclusive Economic Zones of coastal African States. Rwanda’s gain will likely manifest in the increased surplus from neighbouring coastal States and thus an expanded opportunity to share fish resources with its nearest coastal State based on the latter’s Maximum Sustainable Yield.
Rwanda officially joins the overarching commitment of the international community to protect and preserve the marine environment and to explore the bouquet of peaceful dispute settlement options in Part XV of the UNCLOS. It can therefore challenge any breach of rights accruing to it in the UNCLOS or by customary international law relating to the application of the Convention.
This ratification is timely especially as the international community anticipates the adoption of the latest multilateral ocean instrument – the BBNJ. Rwanda’s presence is bound to enrich the Africa Group, the Landlocked Developing Countries Group and the Group of 77 politically as all States Parties continue to drive the evolution and implementation of their commitments to the Law of the Sea.
Elizabeth is an International Law researcher and Rhodes Scholar. She holds a BCL Degree from University of Oxford and a Diploma in International Law of the Sea from the Yeosu Academy, South Korea. She advises institutions in the Gulf of Guinea on ocean governance and maritime security in accordance with International Law.
Twitter @NenyeNwarueze.