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Self
Determination: International Law & Practice
> Right of peoples to self-determination - Report of Secretary-General,
UNCHR 1998
Self Determination:
principle & the law
Right of peoples to
self-determination
Report of the Secretary-General -
A/53/280
Fifty-third session of UN Sub Commission
Item 112 of the provisional agenda*
19 August 1998
I. Introduction
1. In its resolution 52/113 of
12 December 1997, the General Assembly,
inter alia, requested the Commission on Human Rights to continue to
give special attention to the violation of human rights, especially the
right to self-determination, resulting from foreign military intervention,
aggression and occupation, and requested the Secretary-General to report on
this question to the Assembly at its fifty-third session under the item
entitled "Right of peoples to self-determination".
2. At its
fifty-fourth session, the Commission on Human Rights considered agenda item
7, entitled "The right of peoples to self-determination and its application
to peoples under colonial or alien domination or foreign occupation",
together with item 4, entitled "The question of the violation of human
rights in the occupied Arab territories, including Palestine".1
An account of the Commission's consideration of the items is contained in
the relevant section of the Commission's report.1
3. Under agenda item 7, the Commission, on 27 March 1998, adopted three
resolutions: resolution 1998/4, on the situation in occupied Palestine;
resolution 1998/5, on the question of Western Sahara; and resolution 1998/6,
on the use of mercenaries as means of violating human rights and impeding
the exercise of the rights of peoples to self-determination.
4. On 27 May 1998, the Secretary-General addressed a note
verbale to all Governments drawing their attention to General Assembly
resolution 52/113 and requesting them to submit any pertinent information
relating to that resolution.
5. To date, the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human
Rights has received two replies in response to the above note of the
Secretary-General; the text of the replies is confirmed in section II below.
Subsequent replies will appear in addenda to the present report.
II. Replies received from Governments
Jordan
[Original: Arabic]
[25 June 1998]
1. Jordan
is one of the States that believe in the right of peoples to
self-determination. It has reflected its attitude to the legitimacy of the
right of peoples to self-determination in its expressions of support for the
Palestinian people in their struggle for the right to self-determination on
their national soil and for the establishment of an independent State of
their own. This belief has also been embodied in the Jordanian attitude in
support of Bosnia and Herzegovina, and the attempt to remove the injustice
that befell those people and to establish their national identity, and in
Jordan's condemnation and denunciation of policies of ethnic discrimination.
Jordan supported the draft resolution introduced by Egypt (A/C.3/51/L.25) at
the fifty-second session of the General Assembly in 1996 on the right of the
Palestinian people to self-determination. Jordan also supported the draft
resolution introduced by Pakistan at the same session, concerning the right
of peoples to self-determination (A/C.3/51/L.28).
2. Through the
policies it pursues in this field, Jordan has consistently stressed the need
to condemn all forms of imperialism, racial discrimination and segregation,
to recognize the right to self-determination and to grant independence to
colonized peoples, in order to guarantee human rights and promote their
realization in the most effective manner.
3. As to the Jordanian
approach to the right to self-determination, Jordan supports the idea of
dealing with this issue through a single criterion for all peoples in a way
conducive to the independence of all peoples under imperialism or foreign
occupation, in order to enable them to establish their entities and
independent, sovereign States. This right should be granted to all States
and peoples; they should not be dealt with in a selective manner. This
should ultimately lead to the rise of independent and stable States and
entities.
Portugal
[Original: English]
[14 July 1998]
1. In the view of the Government of Portugal, the recognition of the
principle of self-determination represented a very significant victory for
mankind and an important step towards respect of a right which has been (and
still is) forgotten for long periods of history in different regions of the
world, where the will and aspirations of the people were (and still are) not
being taken into account.
2. In accordance with this principle,
Portugal ratified the two International Covenants on Civil and Political
Rights and on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, having also recognized
the competence of the Committee on Human Rights by ratifying the Optional
Protocol to the former.
3. In the same spirit, Portugal in 1974
accepted General Assembly resolution 1515 (XV), of 14 December 1960,
containing the Declaration on the Granting of Independence to Colonial
Countries and Peoples, in which the Assembly declared that the subjection of
peoples to alien subjugation, domination and exploitation constitutes a
denial of fundamental human rights, is contrary to the Charter of the United
Nations and is an impediment to the promotion of peace and cooperation. The
Declaration provides also that "all peoples have the right to
self-determination; by virtue of that right they freely determine their
political status and freely pursue their economic, social and cultural
development".
4. In accordance with these principles, the Portuguese
Constitution states in its article 7 that:
"(1) In its international
relations, Portugal shall be governed by the principles of national
independence, respect for human rights, the rights of peoples, equality of
States, the peaceful settlement of international disputes, non-interference
in the internal affairs of other States and cooperation with all other
peoples for the emancipation and progress of mankind.
"(2) Portugal
shall advocate the abolition of imperialism, colonialism and all other forms
of aggression, domination and exploitation in relations among peoples; and
the establishment of a system of collective security, with a view to
creating an international order capable of safeguarding peace and justice in
relations between peoples.
"(3) Portugal recognizes the right of
peoples to self-determination,
independence and development, as well as
the right to revolt against all forms of oppression."
5. With regard
to East Timor, the United Nations has never recognized the annexation of
East Timor by the Republic of Indonesia. Therefore Portugal is still
considered the administering Power and has a particular responsibility in
assisting the people of East Timor to exercise their right to
self-determination, as enshrined in the Charter of the United Nations and
embodied in the International Covenants on Human Rights, as well as in the
Declaration on the Granting of Independence to Colonial Countries and
Peoples.
6. Portugal has cooperated with the Special Committee on the Situation
with Regard to the Implementation of the Declaration on the Granting of
Independence to Colonial Countries and Peoples. Although Indonesia's
occupation of the territory has de facto prevented Portugal from providing
the information required under Article 73 e of the Charter of the
United Nations, Portugal has kept the Committee apprised of the situation in
the Territory and of developments pertaining to the problem of East Timor
and has regularly participated in the sessions of the above-mentioned
Committee.
7. In its resolution 37/30 of 23 November 1982, the
General Assembly requested the Secretary-General to initiate consultations
with all parties directly concerned, with a view to exploring avenues for
achieving a comprehensive settlement of the problem, and to report thereon
to the General Assembly at its thirty-eighth session. Talks between Portugal
and Indonesia are continuing under the aegis of the Secretary-General. The
Secretary-General has appointed Ambassador Jamsheed Marker as his Personal
Representative for the question of East Timor, with a mandate to represent
him in all aspects of his good offices functions pertaining to this issue.
8. The Government of Portugal reiterates its firm commitment to cooperate
with the Secretary-General and his Personal Representative in pursuing a
just, comprehensive and internationally acceptable settlement of the problem
that will take into account the interests of all parties concerned, in
particular the right to self-determination of the people of East Timor.
Notes
* A/53/150.
1 To be issued as Official Records of the
Economic and Social Council, 1998, Supplement No. 3 (E/1998/23).
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