The UN has stated in its charter that “the right of peoples to self-determination (is) one of the fundamental rights of international law. … Today, the right of peoples to self-determination is generally recognized as the norm of international law, which is the norm under customary law . Its legal character is also recognized under Article 1 (2) of the UN Charter , the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (IPBPR) and the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (IPWSKR), both of 19 December 1966 , This is universal. (See Wikipedia)
The last four words are not correct. Many countries, especially the United States of America, do not give a damn about the right of peoples to self-determination. They mean that ‘might makes right’. This view seems also to be that of a Prof Christoph Vedder from Augsburg in Bavaria : «There is no right to secede the Catalans because it forbids the Spanish constitution.» Great. Just like the right to revolution, because most countries ban it in their constitution. The Lord may be merciful to this genious ljudiciary expert.
Even in the case of divorces, small children are entitled to decide for themselves which parent they want to live with. I can not imagine anything more terrifying than living with an unloved parent (or both).
The fact that a people or a person could be entitled to a right of self-determination has not penetrated humanity’s thought for too long, more precisely since the Enlightenment and the separation of church and state. This was by no means peaceful. After a long struggle for freedom, the slaves in Haiti were the first people to declare their independence from the French Empire and were the first to legislate for the equality of all people, regardless of race, skin color or religion. To this end, this small country still has to pay with invasions and oppression by the “most powerful superpower in the world”, as the US calls itself.
Haiti is no exception. In principle, the US denies every human being and every people the right to think and believe what they want. It was also at the head of all the powers that attacked Soviet Russia immediately after its founding. Thirteen million people lost their lives in the fight. There are enough books (including by William Blum, who died recently) with details of the number of US wars and the dead.
The speech and thought freedom of the individual as well as the right of peoples to self-determination has been most consistently represented by the socialists and the communists respectively. Therefore, it is no wonder that the peaceful separation of peoples and countries was most often made possible by socialists. In 1906, the Norwegians decided to say goodbye to Sweden. King and army wanted to march on the spot, but the idea was thwarted by the Socialists, who threatened to proclaim a general strike.
The next country was Finland, which broke away from Russia. This was granted to Finland on the place of Lenin. Thankfully, Finland, along with everyone else, attacked the Soviet Union. Later, at the collapse of the Soviet Union, 14 states, including the three Baltic states and Georgia, peacefully broke away from the Soviet Union. In 1993, Czechoslovakia dissolved peacefully into two states: the Czech Republic and Slovakia.
More than 20 years later, following the US Putsch in Ukraine and the massacres of Russians in Kiev, Crimea peacefully seceded from Ukraine by referendum. The Crimea had been illegally given by Khrushchev of Ukraine without questioning the population. After the peaceful secession the story became bloody because Kiev wanted to continue to slaughter the Russians in Crimea and in Lugansk and Donezk. As a result the Donezk and Lugansk declared themselves independent and later asked for merger with the Russian Federation, which Putin approved.
Then there were a number of denied splits, of which I want to name a few. South Sudan wanted to part with Sudan through machinations of the US and Israel. The government in Khartoum refused to do so, which was leading to a long-running civil war. War alternated with peace. An agreement with Beijing was signed for the development of the large oil fields. That did not suit the US at all, which is why the CIA rekindled the civil war.. The Chinese had to stop their activities. John Garang, leader of the SPLM in South Sudan, came to an agreement with Khartoum, whereupon his plane accidentally crashed. The fighting in the south continued until a new peace agreement was reached with the help of the new government in Addis Ababa and the government in Eritrea. Nobody knows how long it will last.
Scotland is another example. There were several referendums that were regularly falsified by the British. Now, after Brexit, the Scots are hoping for a new opportunity, a hope that also holds Northern Ireland.
Catalonia is another example. Not only the central government in Madrid banned the spin-off in the sense of Prof. Vedder, but even the EU intervened, for which it had no right. And then we have Kashmir, which has been denied self-determination for almost 70 years against international law. I will come back to this special case.
First let’s take a look at the violent divisions. Mainly it concerns long occupations and the colonies. One case is Ireland, where the Anglo-Normans broke their teeth. England finally got the upper hand in the 15th century. The British raged like the Berserker and drove it even to a genocide by conscious hunger policy as Churchill led them in the 20th century against Bengal. But in the bloody freedom war, Ireland won independence in 1921. It seems even a reunion with Northern Ireland conceivable.
Another violent separation was the Greece of the Ottoman Empire (1821-1830) in which the British presented themselves as liberators. However, they were mainly concerned with the weakening of the Ottomans and possibly the control of the Marmara Strait. The Greeks had to pay dearly for this aid when they had finally liberated themselves from the German occupation in 1945 – except for the center of Athens – whereupon Churchill personally intervened, arrived in Athens with the ultra-reactionary Greek government in exile and English troops, and in a extreme bloody war destroyed the communist liberators. And they are still paying, as they are firmly in the hands of the British and Germans.
But it was not only the Greeks who liberated themselves from the Ottoman Empire, but also a whole series of Balkan peoples who wanted to separate themselves from the imperial double monarchy of Austria and the sultan in Istanbul. In all these wars, the British Empire had a hand in the game. The outbreak of the First World War, was managed by the British through the murder of Archduke Ferdinand of Austria. Through its world power dreams, Austria lost all its “possessions”.
A big step forward and we come to the first war on European soil after the Second World War – the war in Yugoslavia – which the little green war criminal Fischer fueled and made sure that the Germans could finally swing their guns again. Whatever obscene fascist pack in the Balkans was found was used against Serbia after the death of Tito. As was the case with Hitler, the fascist Ustasha, who was petted by the pope and the German secret service immediately after the war, stood out in particular. Yugoslavia was bombed, thousands and thousands of Serbs were covered with nuclear weapons and massacred by fascist murder squads to the worst. And Milosovic was deported to The Hague and murdered. I know you’ve heard very different stories, but before you yell and explode, read the book by the eminent historian Diana Johnstone, The Idiot’s Crusade, and this article. In any case, Yugoslavia has been swept away, the US has its largest base ‘Camp Bondsteel’ in the whole of Europe and a failed mafia state Kosovo, which is good for all sorts of things.
Kosovo unilaterally declared its independence in 2008, without informing the population or asking for advice. But it was recognized by all US puppets.
These puppet states are also the ones who shouted loudest that the Russians “annexed” the Crimea. Such impudence is achieved only by USRAELNATO. It is a mystery to me how thousands and thousands of journalists in print media, radio and television can can trumpet out into the world so easily verifiable lies. I am glad that I have always been a freelancer, who was paid shit (as punishment), but did not belong to the miserable Mischpoke.
And now we have the case of Kashmir. I have an excellent interview with Paula Slier with Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan for Russia Today (click here). In the Kashmiri dispute, the Pakistani leader proves to be a smart and superior politician who repeatedly reached out to India, which was brusquely rejected by the Hindu fascist Modi. He simply and correctly explains the story of Kashmir. How after the partition of India the Kashmir issue remained open. The UN and the Security Council agreed to a referendum. That was almost 70 years ago. But India gave a damn on it. And the UN too, as well as the whole world. A small, proud people were abandoned by the whole world. How could such a thing happen? Russia and China did nothing about it. It has been neglected for so long that it has now become a powder keg. And Modi speaks of nuclear weapons, what no reasonable person can do, as Imran Khan says. He is concerned with the local people and one can believe him.
For 70 years, the people have been harassed by the Indians and were terrorized, with about 100 000 people killed. In recent years, a pro-independence movement has emerged that does not want to belong to either India or Pakistan, but simply wants independence. So Imran Khan has nothing to gain, but he wants to help people. And he wants to knock on 100 doors. . So Imran Khan has nothing to gain, but he wants to help people. And he wants to knock on 100 doors. but simply wants independence. So Imran Khan has nothing to gain, but he wants to help the 8 million people. And he wants to knock on 100 doors if necessary.
But it seems that the world is not listening again, that one prefers to listen to the Modi-gangster. Strangely enough, India was always close to the hearts of Americans and Europeans, and all her infamous deeds. were overlooked. The China bashing, the mini-wars on China’s border, which were always pushed to the Chinese, the year long state of emergency of Indira Gandhi, the annexation of Goa, the endless war against the indigenous peoples. Everybody kept silent about everything or even sung the praise of India and its culture. A country with its barbaric caste system, in which women are treated much worse than in the Arab world.
And now you can once again compare the Crimea with Kashmir, how Putin and how Modi acted. The one is denigrated and demonized, the other is praised and treated with kid gloves. There is only one thing in common: the grand mendacity of the West.
Einar Schlereth is a blogger
