‘PARLIAMENTARIANS FOR NATIONAL SELF-DETERMINATION’ CONGRATULATES THE PEOPLE OF KOSOVO ON SECURING AN INDEPENDENT SOVEREIGN STATE
Parliamentarians for National Self-Determination (PNSD), heartily congratulates the people of Kosovo on their formal independence. We wish the new state every possible success and pledge to support its people in the months and years ahead so that they may fully enjoy the benefits that freedom brings. The cause of freedom, dignity and the rule of law has been served and Kosovo’s success will offer hope to those other nations and peoples who continue to pursue their own fundamental freedoms.
PNSD, a cross party group of UK Parliamentarians which promotes self-determination as a means of peaceful conflict resolution, underpinned by international law and democratic principles, commends all those in the international community that have
welcomed the historic Declaration of Independence made on 17 February 2008 and who have recognised the new state.
Having hosted Kosovo’s representatives at a public meeting in the Houses of Parliament, Westminster in December 2007 in order to highlight the legitimacy and justice of their struggle, PNSD is especially pleased that the UK Government has
taken the lead in formally recognising Kosovo’s new status. David Miliband, the Foreign Secretary, spoke (on Radio 4’s Today programme on 19/2/08) of the overwhelming desire of Kosovans “seeking self-determination as part of a UN process
……. and eventual resolution of the dispute. If we’d tried to sit on that aspiration, if we’d tried to deny it, I think we’d have far more instability and danger”.
We hope that other intractable conflicts around the world are now similarly addressed by the UN and the international community in a serious effort to secure peaceful outcomes in accordance with international law. Let us not forget that the 1966 Covenants on Human Rights, adopted by the UN and widely recognised as the basis for international humanitarian law, both gave pride of place to the right of self-determination in the classic formulation: “All peoples have the right of self-determination. By virtue of that right they freely determine their political status and freely pursue their economic, social and cultural development” (Article 1 of both the Covenant on Civil and Political Rights and the Covenant on Economic and Social Rights). The denial of this fundamental collective human right (usually by the use of force) has all too often been responsible for bloody conflict which has brought untold misery to millions across the world. The UN Charter itself obliges states to “promotes the realization of the right of self-determination” and stipulates “the duty to respect this right in accordance with the provisions of the Charter”.
PNSD applauds the commitment of Kosovo’s Parliament, Prime Minister and President to serve and protect all the people of Kosovo and their willingness to allow international institutions to supervise the delivery of that basic requirement of any state. It is unsurprising that many of those states who have raised objections to Kosovo’s independence have themselves been responsible for massive and systematic abuses against national minorities in order to suppress their rights. Ultimately, the erstwhile USSR and Yugoslavia paid a price for such policies; other states who have acted in that fashion will clearly be apprehensive that they might suffer the same fate. International law and justice have a higher value in the international community than any state entity and Kosovo has demonstrated that to great effect.
PNSD therefore urges all freedom loving and democratic forces - whether they be state actors, international institutions, nations or peoples - to recognise the world’s newest state without reservation and to renew their commitment to human rights, including the right of self-determination, as a means to end other conflicts. Kosovo’s example can and should inspire policy makers to have the courage to tackle injustice wherever it occurs.
We have been asked to convey to the Kosova people the congratulations and best wishes of all of PNSD’s Advisory Panels - Kurdish, Naga, Kashmir and Sikh. The destiny of those and many other peoples and nations who also aspire to self
-determination (in whatever form they freely decide) will rest upon the will of the international community to live up to its moral and legal obligations.
Lord Ahmed, Chair, PNSD Elfyn Llwyd,
MP,Vice Chair, PNSD