12 May 1995

Doc. 7305

MOTION FOR AN ORDER

on self-determination and secession

presented by Sir Russell JOHNSTON, United Kingdom, LDR

This motion has not been discussed in the Assembly and commits only the member who has signed it

1.       This Assembly of the Council of Europe is clear in its dedication to human rights which, until now, it has tended collectively to advocate as being most effectively achieved through the acceptance of common standards within and across existing boundaries.

2.       Nevertheless recent developments, notably in the former Yugoslavia, suggest that this approach is inadequate. There may come a point when a minority within a country becomes determined to secede. The first example of this following the enshrinement of the right of self-determination in the United Nations Charter was Bangladesh which seceded from Pakistan, although according to the United Nations thinking of the time its inhabitants had already achieved self-determination through Pakistan's achievement of independence from the United Kingdom.

3.       In recent times the Assembly has debated the position in Kosova and Chechnya and the situation of the Kurds.

4.       Equally the convention on national minorities signed on 1 February 1995 moves away from sole concentration on individual rights towards group rights.

5.       It is necessary to address the politically sensitive and important questions of self-determination and secession in order to try and establish guidelines of principle to replace the old guidelines which are now outdated:

      - that borders are sacrosanct,

      - that the internal affairs of a state are its business and its alone.

6.       The Assembly therefore instructs its Political affairs Committee to study these questions and produce a report.

Signed:

Johnston, United Kingdom, LDR

*       LDR : Liberal, Democratic and Reformers Group