ROMSO Cyprus Knowledge Base

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The right of peoples to self-determination, better known as the right of self-determination, is the right of a people to decide their own forms of government, to pursue their economic, social and cultural development, and to be freely structured, without external interference and in accordance with the principle of equity. Self-determination is reflected in the International Covenants on Human Rights, but not in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. Many UN General Assembly resolutions also refer to this principle and develop it: for example, resolutions 1514 (XVI) or 1541 (XVI) on the right of self-determination of colonial peoples. It is a fundamental principle of public international law and a right of peoples, which is inalienable in nature and generates obligations erga omnes for States. Even, according to many authors, self-determination has become the norm of ius cogens. The UN states that this right can only be applied to territories without self-government and with historical motives.

The concept of self-determination has great strength and a particularly controversial character. The Human Rights Committee has highlighted its fundamental nature by noting that it is a necessary requirement for the full realization of individual human rights. But his mention in contemporary political discourse can raise fears of destabilization, even violent; he has also been associated with extremist political positions and ethnic chauvinisms. The French Revolution is considered a basic paradigm of how the people overthrew the monarchy and aristocracy in power, and established a republican regime where the people would rule themselves.

This multiplicity of senses is derived from the fact that self-determination is closely linked to the term "peoples," which is in turn problematic and does not offer a single meaning. On the contrary, both doctrine and States or other international actors have sought to assert their respective conceptions. Since 1960, the definition of colonial peoples as subjects of self-determination had provided an essential impetus for decolonization and had contributed to the genuine universalization of international society. A largely Western concept also considers the whole population of a single State "people," while various national minorities or indigenous peoples within States have self-defined themselves as peoples. Their demands show the tension and conflicts between the right of self-determination of peoples and the territorial integrity of States.

On the other hand, the right to self-determination is not solely linked to the formula of independence, but as the African Commission on Human and Peoples' Rights has assured, it can articulate