Acționând în numele firmei de avocatură Dugué & Clientul lui Kirtley, de Alianța Națională pentru Libertate Barotseland (BNFA), William Kirtley has published an article concerning Barotseland’s bid for independence from Zambia in the leading Francophone African news magazine Africa tânără.
Fostul protectorat britanic din Barotseland willingly chose to become part of Zambia în conformitate cu Acordul Barotseland 1964, a treaty brokered by the United Kingdom that was intended to preserve Barotseland’s semi-autonomous status within an independent Zambia.
Deși Kenneth Kaunda, primul președinte al Zambiei, signed the treaty himself on behalf of the Government of Northern Rhodesia, he and the Zambian Government would violate every provision of the Barotseland Agreement 1964 începând curând după independența Zambiei, going so far as to modify the Zambian Constitution to remove all references to the Barotseland Agreement 1964, la “anulare” the British act of parliament granting sovereignty to Zambia which referred to the Barotseland Agreement 1964, pentru exproprierea tezaurului Barotseland, to changing the name of Barotseland to the generic “Regiunea de Vest” and attempting to destroy Barotseland’s previously well-functioning institutions.
Lesne de înțeles, în 2012, de Barotseland National Council voted to accept Zambia’s abrogation of the Barotseland Agreement 1964, with the logical consequence that Barotseland had regained its independence since the treaty by which it freely forged a union with Zambia had ended. Inca, în loc să se angajeze în dialog, Zambia a sporit represiunea în fostul protectorat britanic din Barotseland, imprisoning dozens of Barotseland activists on the charge of treason and increasing the police presence in Barotseland while refusing to consider Barotseland’s calls for the peaceful resolution of the issue of Barotseland’s legal status by way of Arbitrajul PCA la Haga.
La zi, aproximativ 10,000 Reprezentanții Barotseland au semnat un acord de arbitraj PCA designed to allow an independent and neutral arbitral tribunal in The Hague to rule upon the status of the Barotseland Agreement 1964 în conformitate cu dreptul internațional. President Sata of Zambia has steadfastly refused to sign the PCA arbitration agreement, in an apparent recognition that Zambia’s acts flagrantly violated the treaty.
The article in Africa tânără concerning Barotseland’s enlightened attempts to have the issue of its legal status settled by way of PCA arbitration, mai degrabă decât violență, deoarece Zambia pare să caute, was prepared jointly by the BNFA, William Kirtley, un savant social francez, Koralie Wietrzykowski și Audrey și Christophe Dugué. It may be found online at https://jeuneafrique.com/Article/ARTJAWEB20140606174635/ and is reproduced below.