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The Unrepresented Nations and Peoples Organization, or simply UNPO is an international organization established to facilitate the voices of unrepresented and marginalised nations and peoples worldwide. It was formed on 11 February 1991 in
The Hague The Hague ( ; nl, Den Haag or ) is a city and municipality of the Netherlands, situated on the west coast facing the North Sea. The Hague is the country's administrative centre and its seat of government, and while the official capital o ...
,
Netherlands ) , anthem = ( en, "William of Nassau") , image_map = , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = Kingdom of the Netherlands , established_title = Before independence , established_date = Spanish Netherl ...
. Its members consist of
indigenous peoples Indigenous peoples are culturally distinct ethnic groups whose members are directly descended from the earliest known inhabitants of a particular geographic region and, to some extent, maintain the language and culture of those original people ...
, minorities, and unrecognised or
occupied ' ( Norwegian: ') is a Norwegian political thriller TV series that premiered on TV2 on 5 October 2015. Based on an original idea by Jo Nesbø, the series is co-created with Karianne Lund and Erik Skjoldbjærg. Season 2 premiered on 10 Octobe ...
territories. UNPO works to develop the understanding of and respect for the right to
self-determination The right of a people to self-determination is a cardinal principle in modern international law (commonly regarded as a '' jus cogens'' rule), binding, as such, on the United Nations as authoritative interpretation of the Charter's norms. It sta ...
, provides advice and support related to questions of international recognition and
political autonomy Political freedom (also known as political autonomy or political agency) is a central concept in history and political thought and one of the most important features of democratic societies.Hannah Arendt, "What is Freedom?", ''Between Past and F ...
, trains groups on how to advocate for their causes effectively, and directly advocates for an international response to
human rights Human rights are moral principles or normsJames Nickel, with assistance from Thomas Pogge, M.B.E. Smith, and Leif Wenar, 13 December 2013, Stanford Encyclopedia of PhilosophyHuman Rights Retrieved 14 August 2014 for certain standards of hu ...
violations perpetrated against UNPO member groups. Some former members, such as
Armenia Armenia (), , group=pron officially the Republic of Armenia,, is a landlocked country in the Armenian Highlands of Western Asia.The UNbr>classification of world regions places Armenia in Western Asia; the CIA World Factbook , , and ''O ...
,
East Timor East Timor (), also known as Timor-Leste (), officially the Democratic Republic of Timor-Leste, is an island country in Southeast Asia. It comprises the eastern half of the island of Timor, the exclave of Oecusse on the island's north-w ...
,
Estonia Estonia, formally the Republic of Estonia, is a country by the Baltic Sea in Northern Europe. It is bordered to the north by the Gulf of Finland across from Finland, to the west by the sea across from Sweden, to the south by Latvia, an ...
,
Latvia Latvia ( or ; lv, Latvija ; ltg, Latveja; liv, Leţmō), officially the Republic of Latvia ( lv, Latvijas Republika, links=no, ltg, Latvejas Republika, links=no, liv, Leţmō Vabāmō, links=no), is a country in the Baltic region of ...
,
Georgia Georgia most commonly refers to: * Georgia (country), a country in the Caucasus region of Eurasia * Georgia (U.S. state), a state in the Southeast United States Georgia may also refer to: Places Historical states and entities * Related to the ...
and
Palau Palau,, officially the Republic of Palau and historically ''Belau'', ''Palaos'' or ''Pelew'', is an island country and microstate in the western Pacific. The nation has approximately 340 islands and connects the western chain of the ...
, have gained full independence and joined the
United Nations The United Nations (UN) is an intergovernmental organization whose stated purposes are to maintain international peace and security, develop friendly relations among nations, achieve international cooperation, and be a centre for harmoni ...
(UN).


History

UNPO was conceived of in the 1980s by leaders of self-determination movements, Linnart Mäll of the
Congress of Estonia The Congress of Estonia ( Estonian: ''Eesti Kongress'') was an innovative grassroots parliament established in Estonia in 1990–1992 as a part of the process of regaining of independence from the Soviet Union. It also challenged the power and au ...
,
Erkin Alptekin Erkin Alptekin (; ; born 4 July 1939) is a Uyghur activist from Germany. Alptekin is the son of Isa Alptekin, who claimed that during 1933–1934, he was the General Secretary of the First East Turkestan Republic in Western China when in reali ...
of
East Turkestan East Turkestan ( ug, شەرقىي تۈركىستان, Sherqiy Türkistan, bold=no; zh, s=东突厥斯坦; also spelled East Turkistan), is a loosely-defined geographical and historical region in the western provinces of the People's Republic of ...
, and Lodi Gyari of
Tibet Tibet (; ''Böd''; ) is a region in East Asia, covering much of the Tibetan Plateau and spanning about . It is the traditional homeland of the Tibetan people. Also resident on the plateau are some other ethnic groups such as Monpa people, ...
, together with , along with the international law adviser of the
14th Dalai Lama The 14th Dalai Lama (spiritual name Jetsun Jamphel Ngawang Lobsang Yeshe Tenzin Gyatso, known as Tenzin Gyatso (Tibetan: བསྟན་འཛིན་རྒྱ་མཚོ་, Wylie: ''bsTan-'dzin rgya-mtsho''); né Lhamo Thondup), known as ...
. The founders were representatives of national movements of Estonia, Latvia, Tibet, Crimean Tatars, Armenia, Georgia, Tatarstan, East Turkestan, East Timor,
Australian Aboriginals Aboriginal Australians are the various Indigenous peoples of the Australian mainland and many of its islands, such as Tasmania, Fraser Island, Hinchinbrook Island, the Tiwi Islands, and Groote Eylandt, but excluding the Torres Strait Isla ...
, the
Cordillera A cordillera is an extensive chain and/or network system of mountain ranges, such as those in the west coast of the Americas. The term is borrowed from Spanish, where the word comes from , a diminutive of ('rope'). The term is most commonly us ...
in the Philippines, the Greek minority in Albania, Kurdistan, Palau, Taiwan, and West Papua. A key UNPO goal was, and remains, to replicate the success of the
14th Dalai Lama The 14th Dalai Lama (spiritual name Jetsun Jamphel Ngawang Lobsang Yeshe Tenzin Gyatso, known as Tenzin Gyatso (Tibetan: བསྟན་འཛིན་རྒྱ་མཚོ་, Wylie: ''bsTan-'dzin rgya-mtsho''); né Lhamo Thondup), known as ...
's and the Tibetan people's non-violent message in the face of oppression and occupation. UNPO chose for its founding headquarters in 1991
The Hague The Hague ( ; nl, Den Haag or ) is a city and municipality of the Netherlands, situated on the west coast facing the North Sea. The Hague is the country's administrative centre and its seat of government, and while the official capital o ...
in the Netherlands because the city aimed at becoming the International City of Peace and Justice and hosts international courts like the International Court of Justice (ICJ) and International Criminal Court (ICC). A Foundation was established in the Netherlands to provide secretarial support to the UNPO General Assembly and to carry out research and educational activities related to unrepresented peoples worldwide. The Foundation maintains a permanent presence before the European Union, United States and United Nations. It is funded by a combination of member contributions, donations from individuals and project-based grants from foundations.


Aims

UNPO's vision is to affirm democracy as a fundamental human right, implement human, civil and political rights worldwide, uphold the universal right to autonomy and self-determination, and further federalism. It encourages nonviolent methodologies to reach peaceful solutions to conflicts and oppression. UNPO supports members in getting their human and cultural
right Rights are legal, social, or ethical principles of freedom or entitlement; that is, rights are the fundamental normative rules about what is allowed of people or owed to people according to some legal system, social convention, or ethical ...
s respected and in preserving their environments. The organization provides a forum for members to network and assists them in participating at an international level. Although UNPO members often have different goals, they have one thing in common: they are generally not represented diplomatically (or only with a minor status, such as observer) in major international institutions, such as the
United Nations The United Nations (UN) is an intergovernmental organization whose stated purposes are to maintain international peace and security, develop friendly relations among nations, achieve international cooperation, and be a centre for harmoni ...
(UN). 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 Covenant may refer to: Religion * Covenant (religion), a formal alliance or agreement made by God with a religious community or with humanity in general ** Covenant (biblical), in the Hebrew Bible ** Covenant in Mormonism, a sacred agreement b ...
: * The equal right to
self-determination The right of a people to self-determination is a cardinal principle in modern international law (commonly regarded as a '' jus cogens'' rule), binding, as such, on the United Nations as authoritative interpretation of the Charter's norms. It sta ...
; * Adherence to the internationally accepted
human rights Human rights are moral principles or normsJames Nickel, with assistance from Thomas Pogge, M.B.E. Smith, and Leif Wenar, 13 December 2013, Stanford Encyclopedia of PhilosophyHuman Rights Retrieved 14 August 2014 for certain standards of hu ...
standards as laid down in the
Vienna Declaration and Programme of Action The Vienna Declaration and Programme of Action (VDPA) is a human rights declaration adopted by consensus at the World Conference on Human Rights on 25 June 1993 in Vienna, Austria. The position of United Nations High Commissioner for Human ...
and other international instruments; * Adherence to the principles of democratic pluralism and rejection of totalitarianism and religious intolerance; * Promotion of
non-violence Nonviolence is the personal practice of not causing harm to others under any condition. It may come from the belief that hurting people, animals and/or the environment is unnecessary to achieve an outcome and it may refer to a general philosoph ...
and the rejection of
terrorism Terrorism, in its broadest sense, is the use of criminal violence to provoke a state of terror or fear, mostly with the intention to achieve political or religious aims. The term is used in this regard primarily to refer to intentional violen ...
as an instrument of policy; and * Protection of the
natural environment The natural environment or natural world encompasses all living and non-living things occurring naturally, meaning in this case not artificial. The term is most often applied to the Earth or some parts of Earth. This environment encompasses t ...
. All members are required to sign and abide by the UNPO Covenant. UNPO members are required to be
nonviolent Nonviolence is the personal practice of not causing harm to others under any condition. It may come from the belief that hurting people, animals and/or the environment is unnecessary to achieve an outcome and it may refer to a general philosoph ...
.


Members

The following are listed as members by the UNPO. Original members are listed with pink background and in bold.


Suspensions

UNPO's representing nations may become suspended from the Organization if they fail to follow its covenant. In 24 January 1993, was briefly admitted in the Unrepresented Nations and Peoples Organization, but was suspended in a few months. The membership suspension was made permanent on 22 January 1995. was also suspended on 18 September 2011.


Former members

Some members of the UNPO have left because of
United Nations The United Nations (UN) is an intergovernmental organization whose stated purposes are to maintain international peace and security, develop friendly relations among nations, achieve international cooperation, and be a centre for harmoni ...
(UN) recognition, autonomy agreements, or for other reasons. The following lists former and suspended members. Former members who became part of the UN are highlighted with a blue background and ''italics''. Original members (from 11 February 1991) are listed with pink background and in bold.


Leadership

Secretaries general Executive Director *
Karl Habsburg-Lothringen Karl von Habsburg (given names: ''Karl Thomas Robert Maria Franziskus Georg Bahnam''; born 11 January 1961) is an Austrian politician and the head of the House of Habsburg-Lorraine, therefore being a claimant to the defunct Austro-Hungarian t ...
– (Austria) 19 January 2002 – 31 December 2002 Chair/Presidents of the General Assembly * Linnart Mäll – (Estonia) 1991–1993 *
Erkin Alptekin Erkin Alptekin (; ; born 4 July 1939) is a Uyghur activist from Germany. Alptekin is the son of Isa Alptekin, who claimed that during 1933–1934, he was the General Secretary of the First East Turkestan Republic in Western China when in reali ...
– (Uyghurs) 1993–1997 * Seif Sharif Hamad – (Zanzibar) 1997–2001 * John J. Nimrod – (Assyrians) 2001–2005 * Göran Hansson – (Scania) 2005–2006 * Ledum Mitee – (Ogoni) 2006–2010 * Ngawang Choephel Drakmargyapon – (Tibet) 2010–2015 * Nasser Boladai – (West Balochistan) 2015-2022 *
Edna Adan Ismail Edna Adan Ismail ( so, Edna Aadan Ismaaciil ama Adna Aadan Ismaaciil) (born 8 September 1937) is a nurse midwife, activist and was the first female Foreign Minister of Somaliland from 2003 to 2006. She previously served as Somaliland's Minister ...
- (Somaliland) since 2022


See also

*
Federal Union of European Nationalities The Federal Union of European Nationalities (FUEN) is an international non-governmental organization (NGO) established in 1949 in conjunction with the formation of the Council of Europe. As of 2019, there were 103 member organizations representing ...
*
Micronation A micronation is a political entity whose members claim that they belong to an independent nation or sovereign state, but which lacks legal recognition by world governments or major international organizations. Micronations are classified ...
* League for Small and Subject Nationalities *
United Nations list of non-self-governing territories Chapter XI of the United Nations Charter defines a non-self-governing territory (NSGT) as a territory "whose people have not yet attained a full measure of self-government". In practice, an NSGT is a territory deemed by the United Nations Gene ...
* Universal Declaration of the Rights of Peoples *
List of active separatist movements recognized by intergovernmental organizations This is a list of separatist movements recognized by intergovernmental organizations. Background The United Nations General Assembly, by resolution 3247 (XXIX) of 29 November 1974, decided to invite also the nationalist movements recognized by ...
*
European Free Alliance The European Free Alliance (EFA) is a European political party that consists of various regionalist, separatist and ethnic minority political parties in Europe. Member parties advocate either for full political independence and sovereignty, ...
* Stateless nation


References


External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Unrepresented Nations And Peoples Organization International nongovernmental organizations Human rights organisations based in the Netherlands Organisations based in The Hague Organizations established in 1991 1991 establishments in Belgium