me and self determination in public international law

Under public international law or national law for that matter , the right of people to self determination is universally acknowledged. Self determination is the right of people to determine their own fate, to determine which government they want to see in place and generally the people's freedom to determine their own freedom. In as much as this right is recognized , it is a contentious principle because some countries refuse to acknowledge self determination on the parts of some states. There are various partially recognized states in the domain of public international law which i shall discuss below. So then what is the point of recognizing the right of self determination when various countries refuse to acknowledge other states who freely choose their own political status? The following case studies will show the disputed territories and partially recognized states in the world.

THE STATE OF PALESTINE

The State of Palestine declared its independence in 1988 and it claims the West Bank, Gaza and Jerusalem as its territory. This has caused conflicts with Israel and most of the areas claimed by Palestine are occupied by Israel . The Israeli-Palestinian conflict has been ongoing for a long time now and the conflicts border around Palestinian freedom of movement , Jerusalem and also border issues among other things.However the declaration of independence by Palestine was recognized by the United Nations General Assembly and other countries such as Sweden. Some countries do not recognize the state of Palestine although it determined its own sovereignty . This shows that some countries simply do not recognize other states' self determination for political reasons.

KOSOVO

Kosovo declared its independence from Serbia in 2008 and is also a partially recognized state. Serbia does not recognize the independence of Kosovo along with other countries. It is also not a member of the United Nations and lacks diplomatic recognition from 85 UN members. Russia has strongly opposed Kosovo's declaration of independence but has supported South Ossetia and Abkhazia's independence showing double standards. America has also done the same by supporting Kosovo but not recognizing South Ossetia and Abkhazia's independence.

 KATANGA  V ZAIRE

The Katanga people wanted to secede from Zaire but its secession rejected on the  basis that secession would violate Zaire's territorial intergrity and sovereignty.

REFERENCE RE SECESSION OF QUEBEC

Quebec wanted to secede from Canada and sought an opinion from the Supreme Court of Canada which held that unilateral secession under Canadian law was not legal but if a referendum decided in favour of Quebec's independence there would be no basis for refusing its independence.

SOUTH OSSETIA AND ABKHAZIA

These two states successfully seceded from Georgia with the help of Russia. They are also partially recognized as states internationally.

PEOPLE SHOULD BE GIVEN THEIR OWN FREEDOM TO CHOOSE THEIR POLITICAL STATUS. BUT IT SEEMS THE INTERNATIONAL WORLD WANTS TO INTERFERE AND GIVE VALIDATION TO INDEPENDENCE OF STATES IT SUPPORTS ONLY. THESE DECISIONS ARE BASED ON POLITICAL EXPEDIENCY AND NOTHING ELSE.

till next time

xoxo Ms Vee

TIME TO SIT UP AND TAKE NOTICE

Many congratulations to Tanzania's newly elected president John Magufuli. He was born in 1959 and previously served as a Minister of Works in the previous government. Nicknamed the "Bulldozer" the new president has indeed been making drastic changes and it is time for the whole world to sit up and take notice. He scrapped out independence day celebrations so that the money that was set aside for that can be used to help people dying of cholera and also to help clean up the environment. He went on an unannounced trip to the national hospital and found patients lying on the floor. He then fired the Hospital Director and hired a new one. president Magufuli also ordered that 300 beds be bought for the patients he found lying on the floor. Now, that is what i call good leadership. A good leader does not allow people to sugar coat things for him or allow his ministers to take him to the best parts of the country he rules. A good leader is the one who keeps people on their toes and inspires them to work very hard. A good leader goes on unannounced visits to really notice the state of his country. President John Magufuli is making history by implementing austerity measures in Tanzania so that all the citizens in the country benefits.

Here a look at what the "Bulldozer" has been up to:

1.  He ordered the cost of the party to inaugurate new parliaments to be slashed from $100 000 to $7 000
2. He has ordered restrictions on all foreign travel by public officials
3.  He has ordered cuts in tax exemptions
4.  He reportedly refused gifts from people congratulating him when he won the presidency
5. He sacked the head of the main state hospital after he found patients lying on the floor 
6. He dissolved the governing board at the state hospital after discovering that main machines were not working and ordered the new director to get them repaired
7. Magufuli walked to the Finance Ministry and ordered that people must do their jobs after he found some people absent
8. He scrapped independence day celebrations and said the money should be used for a clean up campaign considering the citizens of Tanzania have been dying from cholera AND THIS IS THE FIRST TIME INDEPENDENCE CELEBRATIONS HAVE BEEN SCRAPPED IN TANZANIA
9. He scrapped Christmas cards to save costs and said the money should be used to pay off government debts
10. He has promised to create a special court to oversee all cases relating to corruption

 AND ALSO when he was the Minister of works he built the desperately needed roads in Tanzania.
He is reputed to be a no nonsense and results driven politician. President Magufuli is indeed a man of action and all African leaders and indeed all world leaders should sit up and take notice.

THE TANZANIANS VOTED WISELY.


XOXO MS VEE
till next time