Unrepresented Nations and Peoples Organization
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Unrepresented Nations and Peoples Organization (UNPO)
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| Headquarters | The Hague, Netherlands | |||
| Membership | 541 population groups | |||
| Leaders | ||||
| - | General Secretary | Marino Busdachin (since 2003) |
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| Establishment | February 11, 1991 | |||
| Population | ||||
| - | estimate | c.200 million | ||
| Website http://www.unpo.org/ |
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| 1 | Last updated in September 2008. | |||
The Unrepresented Nations and Peoples Organization (UNPO), initiated in 1990 in Tartu, Estonia,[1] and formed in February 11, 1991, in the Hague, is a democratic, international organization. It is a roof organisation whose members are political organisations and governments representing indigenous peoples, occupied nations, minorities and independent states or territories which lack representation internationally. The organization educates groups in what channels to use to make their voices heard, and helps defuse tensions so that frustrated groups do not turn to violence to gain attention for their demands. Some former members, like Armenia, East Timor, Estonia, Latvia and Georgia, have gained full independence and joined the United Nations.[2][3]
UNPO aims to protect the members' human and cultural rights, preserve their environments, and to find non-violent solutions to conflicts which affect them. UNPO provides a forum for member aspirations and assists its members to participate at an international level.
UNPO members are generally not represented diplomatically (or only with a minor status, such as observer) in major international institutions, such as the United Nations. As a result, their ability to have their concerns addressed by the global bodies mandated to protect human rights and address conflict is limited.
UNPO is dedicated to the five principles enshrined in its Covenant:
- The equal right to self-determination;
- Adherence to the internationally accepted human rights standards as laid down in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and other international instruments;
- Adherence to the principles of democratic pluralism and rejection of totalitarianism and religious intolerance;
- Promotion of non-violence and the rejection of terrorism as an instrument of policy; and
- Protection of the natural environment.
All members are required to sign and abide by the UNPO Covenant. They must affirm that they support the principle of nonviolence in their people’s struggle for a peaceful solution and that they apply the democratic methodology as their guiding principle. Despite the "UN" in its acronym, UNPO is an NGO and not an agency of the United Nations.
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Founding members
The UNPO was founded by the representatives of:[4]
- Armenia
- Australian Aboriginals
- The Cordillera
- The Crimean Tatars
- East Turkestan
- Estonia
- Georgia
- The Greek Minority in Albania
- Iraqi Kurdistan
- Latvia
- Palau
- Taiwan
- Tatarstan
- Tibet
- West-Papua
Members
The following are the 54 members listed on the UNPO Nations & People page, the organizations that currently represent them, and the dates on which they joined the UNPO [5] (original members listed with blue background):
Suspended Members
- Buffalo River Dene Nation -- 19 December 2004 to 9 October 2009; (membership suspended);
Komi -- 17 January 1993 to 9 October 2009; (membership suspended);
Mari -- 6 August 1991 to 9 October 2009; (membership suspended);- Nahua Del Alto Balsas -- 19 December 2004 to 20 September 2008; (membership suspended);
West Papua -- 11 February 1991 to 20 September 2008; (membership suspended)
Former members
The following former members of the UNPO have since gained United Nations (UN) recognition:
- Four former republics of the Soviet Union:
- Two Baltic republics:
- Two Transcaucasian republics:
- Others:
Timor-Leste -- 17 January 1993 to 27 September 2002; (withdrew); former Portuguese colony annexed by Indonesia in 1975 and independent since 2002
Palau -- 11 February 1991 to 15 December 1994; (withdrew); formerly part of the US–administered Trust Territory of the Pacific Islands and independent since 1994
- Non–UN Members:
- Other former members of the UNPO.[6]
Aceh -- 6 August 1991 to 1 March 2008; (membership discontinued); reached autonomy agreement with Indonesia in 2005
Albanians in Macedonia -- 16 April 1994 to 1 March 2008; (membership discontinued); reached agreement on wider rights with Macedonia in 2001
Bashkortostan -- 3 February 1996 to 30 June 1998; (withdrew);
Bougainville -- 6 August 1991 to 1 March 2008; (membership discontinued); reached autonomy agreement with Papua New Guinea in 2000
Chuvash -- 17 January 1993 to 1 March 2008; (membership discontinued);
Gagauzia -- 16 April 1994 to 1 December 2007; (membership discontinued); reached autonomy agreement with Moldova in 1994
Ingushetia -- 30 July 1994 to 1 March 2008; (membership discontinued);
Kumyk -- 17 April 1997 to 1 March 2008; (membership discontinued);
Khalistan -- 24 January 1993 to 4 August 1993; (membership discontinued); , suspension made permanent 22 Jan 1995
Lakotah Nation -- 30 July 1994 to 1 December 2007; (membership discontinued); , followed by the declaration of the Republic of Lakotah
Maohi -- 30 July 1994 to 1 December 2007; (membership discontinued);
Nuxalk -- 23 September 1998 to 1 March 2008; (membership discontinued);
Rusyn -- 23 September 1998 to 1 December 2007; (membership discontinued);
Sakha -- 3 August 1993 to 30 June 1998; (withdrew);
Talysh -- 26 June 2005 to 1 March 2008; (membership discontinued);
Tatarstan -- 11 February 1991 to 1 March 2008; (membership discontinued);
- Other former members of the UNPO.[6]
General Secretaries
- Michael van Walt van Praag 1991–1997
- Tsering Jampa 1997–1998
- Helen S. Corbett 1998–1999
- Erkin Alptekin 1999–2003
- Marino Busdachin 2003–present[7]
- Karl Habsburg-Lothringen – Since 19 January 2002, the Director General of the Organization
See also
- Afrikaners
- Assyrian independence
- Buryat
- Circassians
- Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples
- Federal Union of European Nationalities
- Government of Tibet in Exile
- Kurdish people
- Mari El
- Micronations
- Movement for the Survival of the Ogoni People
- Native Americans of the United States
- Politics of Khuzestan
- Tibetan people
- United Nations list of Non-Self-Governing Territories
- Universal Declaration of the Rights of Peoples
- Western Sahara
References
- ^ Memorandum of Understanding 1990 www.unpo.ee
- ^ Barbara Crossette, Those Knocking, Unheeded, at U.N.'s Doors Find Champion, New York Times, December 18, 1994.
- ^ Tishkov, Valerie, An Anthropology of NGOs, Eurozine, July 2008
- ^ http://webu2.upmf-grenoble.fr/aisens/M2_DPIE-CJIE/UNPO.ppt
- ^ http://www.worldstatesmen.org/International_Organizations2.html#UNPO
- ^ http://www.unpo.org/map.html
- ^ UNPO Presidency & Secretariat, UNPO web site.
External links
- UNPO Website
- UNPO Covenant
- UNPO Universal Declaration of the Rights of Peoples
- UNPO brochure
- Institute of the Rights of Peoples, UNPO Tartu Coordination Office, (Eastern Europe and Northern Asia)
- Fourth World: Nations Without a State, Nadesan Satyendra
- Political Resources list of Unrepresented Nations & Peoples Organisations
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