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Universal Declaration of the Rights of Peoples

From: UNPO , February 26, 2001
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Universal Declaration of the Rights of Peoples

UNPO , February 26, 2001 Universal Declaration of the Rights of Peoples: Preamble

Whereas the Universal Declaration of Human Rights has not yet achieved prevalence in all countries of the world, Whereas not all states accept human rights and the right of peoples to self-determination, Whereas human rights can be completely realized only if a person愀 right to national-ethnic idendity, culture and language is recognized, Whereas peoples, as a rule, have been more durable than the states in the history of humankind, Whereas the coexistence of various peoples is a necessary condition for preservation of the variety of cultures and languages, Whereas such variety constitutes genuine wealth for human existence, guaranteeing the continued survival and development of humankind, just as preservation of the variety of natural species ensures continuation of life on Earth, Whereas all attempts to create new peoples and nations identical with the citizen body of a state have led to violations of human rights and the rights of peoples, Now, therefore, the General Assembly of the Unrepresented Nations and Peoples Organization asserts that the rights of peoples as well as human rights must be accepted as inalienable components of international law and proclaims the Universal Declaration of the Rights of Peoples.

Article 1

All peoples have the right to live in dignity and be respected, and they have equal rights. It is the duty of every state to treat equally and justly all peoples living under its jurisdiction in their historical homelands and lacking their own statehood.

Article 2

A people has the right to its historical abode where it can implement its right to self-determination and other rights. No one shall expel a people from its territory, annex it by force or otherwise alter its borders without agreement by the people or in violation of legal standard established by consent of the people. If it has happened in the past, a people has the right to return to its historical homeland.

Article 3

A people has the inalienable right to sovereignity over the natural wealth and resources of its territory. Every people is obliged to respect the analogous right of other peoples.

Article 4

A people has the right to self-determination. On this basis it freely determines its political status and freely pursues its economic, social and cultural development. Promotion of the realization of this right is the duty of every state. Any norm contradicting the right of peoples to self-determination is illegal, including the principle of territorial integrity of states.

Article 5

The right to self-determination also includes the right to create one愀 own state, because only full independence may ensure the exercise of all other rights. The right of every people to statehood shall be accepted as a standard of international law.

Article 6

A people has the right to self-organization and formation of its own legitimate representative body. A people enjoying its own statehood has the right to form all organs of state power. A people without its own statehood has the right to form any organs of self-governement.

Article 7

The vast majority of peoples have diasporas. Hence the right of a people to form worldwide representative bodies naturally follows. No state may oppose it, given that belonging to the citizenship of a state does not exclude belonging to a certain people.

Article 8

A people has the right to become a subject of international law through its representative bodies. All agreements concluded with a colonial state and accepted by a people shall be observed by a successor of the colonial state during the postcolonial period as well.

Article 9

A people has the right to preservation of physical existence. A state shall not demand family planning and birth reduction from a people small in numbers.

Article 10

A people has the right to its traditional way of life but also the right to development.

Article 11

A people has the right to its own culture, language and customs. Respect for the national-ethnic, racial, cultural as well as religious dignity of any people is a necessary precondition for observance of the rights of peoples.

Article 12

A people has the right to know its true history. A state must create the conditions for realization of this right.

Article 13

A people has the right to peace. But it also has the right to self-defence. This right includes civil disobedience as well as armed resistance, if a political or other power that does not recognize the right to peaceful self-determination should use violence against a people.

Article 14

A people has the right to international security and international legal protection. A people has the right to demand and participate in the creation of international relations that firmly ensure observance of all human rights and rights of peoples. This right also includes the right to be free from and protected against genocide and all forms of terrorism.

Article 15

A people has the right to ecological security and survival of its environment.

Article 16

A people has the right to struggle against weapons of mass extermination. A people has the right to refuse on its territory the production, testing, storage, transportation and use of any types of weapons of mass extermination, and nuclear, chemical and bacteriological weapons in particular. A people has the right to a demilitarized zone.

Article 17

A people has the right to be informed of the politics of the state. It also has the right to be informed about the other peoples. All peoples, states and international organizations are obliged to promote the realization of this right.

Conclusion

A people has the right to demand the observance of all and each of its rights, as enumerated in the present Declaration. Every people shall, in its turn, respect the rights of other peoples. Every state and international organization shall respect, apply, ensure and defend all the above-mentioned rights of peoples. All mentioned rights of peoples are interconnected and shall be interpreted on the basis of the right to self-determination as the fundamental one. The other principles and norms of international law shall not contradict the right of peoples to self-determination but shall promote the realization of this right and other rights of peoples.

Burmese


Last changed: February 26, 2001