State sovereignty
A few days ago the JVP Leader was reported to have
said that when a state joins the world body, the United Nations,
it loses part of its sovereignty. Apparently he and his party
may be willing to part with a bit of sovereignty to suit their
political agenda. However, the people of Sri Lanka and as a
matter of fact people of any country would not desire to do so.
The United Nations Charter respects and acknowledges the
sovereign equality of all nations. It holds State sovereignty as
inviolable. In all its actions it concedes the right of
sovereignty.
In fact, time and again the United Nations General Assembly
has passes resolutions guaranteeing State sovereignty and
approving the principle of non-interference in the internal and
external affairs of sovereign countries.
For example, the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA)
Resolution 2131 (XX) of December 21, 1965 solemnly declares:
“1. No State has the right to intervene, directly or
indirectly, for any reason whatever, in the internal and
external affairs of any other State. Consequently armed
intervention and all other forms of interference or attempted
threats against the personality of the State or against its
political, economic and cultural elements are condemned.
“2. No State may use or encourage the use of economic,
political or any other type of measures to coerce another State
to obtain from it the subordination of the exercise of sovereign
rights or to secure from its advantages of any kind. ....”
For the information of the JVP Leader and others of his kind
who want to cede part of the country’s sovereignty it would be
illuminating to quote from the UNGA Resolution 2625 (XXV) of
October 24, 1970 which enunciated the Principle of sovereign
equality of States in the following words:
“All States enjoy sovereign equality. They have equal rights
and duties and are equal members of the international community,
notwithstanding differences of an economic, social, political or
other nature.
“In particular, sovereign equality includes the following
elements:
(a) States are juridically equal;
(b) Each State enjoys the rights inherent in full sovereignty;
(c)Each State has the duty to respect the personality of other
States;
(d) The territorial integrity and political independence of the
State are inviolable;
(e) Each State has the right freely to choose and develop its
political, social, economic and cultural systems;
(f) Each State has the duty to comply fully and in good faith
with its international obligations and to live in peace with
other States.”
Most States and even UN Agencies seem to have forgotten these
principles and resolutions as seen by attempts to interfere in
the internal affairs of this country. Western nations - the US,
UK and the EU have very often interfered in the elections in
developing countries, often funding political groups and parties
of their liking and calling for legal and administrative and
political changes in these countries.
Such interference is based on colonial arrogance which takes
it for granted that the political and other systems found in
their countries are the best in the world and that Third World
countries are uncivilized and the mission of civilizing them is
the duty of the West.
They do not accept the fact that some of the Third World
countries have their own systems of democracy that are not
second to the western model.
They have even attempted to cast aspersions on the judicial
and the executive systems in the country which is none of their
business. Ambassadors from some of these nations have made
public pronouncements on the politics and governance of the
country, which normally is regarded as interference in the
country’s internal affairs.
The integrity and sovereignty of the country are inviolable
just as it is in any other country. Just as Sri Lanka respects
the integrity and sovereignty of other countries it expects the
other countries to reciprocate in the same spirit, nothing more
and nothing less.
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