LET US LIVE WITHOUT HARMING!: LET US RESPECT THE RIGHT TO SELF-DETERMINATION

The failure to recognize the right to self-determination of any territory has been the cause of many wars of independence across different continents, such as that of Greece and other Balkan countries against the Ottoman Empire, or that of the United States and many Latin American, African, and Asian colonies against their respective European empires. This also includes the Netherlands regarding Spain, Spain regarding Napoleonic France, France regarding the Third Reich, and a long list of others throughout history.

Sometimes these conflicts, caused because a piece of the puzzle wants to separate and is not allowed to, have been accompanied by genocides. This is the case with the genocide committed by the Pakistani army in Bangladesh, where between 300,000 and 3 MILLION innocent people were murdered and between 200,000 and 400,000 women were raped. Another example is the massacre of Armenians by Turkish nationalists, in which between 1.1 and 2.1 MILLION victims died.

But all of this is not something from a more or less distant past, because more recently it has happened with Croatia, Bosnia, or Kosovo regarding Serbia, Aceh versus Indonesia, Tamil Eelam against Sri Lanka, South Sudan and Darfur regarding Sudan, or Eritrea against Somalia. And it continues to take place today with Western Sahara, Palestine, Xinjiang in China, or the Donbas war, which has escalated into the military conflict between Russia and Ukraine.

These human-made earthquakes have been accompanied not only by millions of deaths, but also by amputees, the wounded, the tortured, the traumatized, rape victims, orphans, mothers who have lost children, families who have lost their homes, the displaced and refugees, the impoverished, and other types of victims. SO MUCH SUFFERING THAT COULD HAVE BEEN AVOIDED simply by letting the people in each territory decide their future by majority vote!

So much pain caused by negative selfishness: due to economic interests or the desire not to lose territory, power, and international relevance. So much damage caused by the irrational dogma of national unity (similar to what previously existed regarding the sacred indissolubility of marriage), by an unhealthy conservatism that clings to our country remaining as it always was, and/or by a toxic nationalism obsessed with the narrative learned as a child about what constitutes the “nation.”  

But what is fair is that, just as any individual has the right to decide freely about their life without harming anyone, any territory should have the right to choose its future by a sufficient majority of its inhabitants sustained over time. A reasonable percentage would be, for example, 65%, as applied by the United Nations in cases such as Quebec.

Some cite international law to reject the self-determination of peoples. Specifically, they claim that according to it, self-determination is only applicable to colonies, as is the principle of territorial integrity. But the fact that a law is international does not necessarily mean it is just or civilized; it simply means it is what the majority of countries have agreed upon. And these countries are largely driven by their selfish interests, including the desire of most states and their inhabitants for there to be no changes in the territorial status quo of their state. They would like it to be as immovable as the sky, which is always there, despite the fact that everything beneath it has been changing over time.

After all, slavery was also part of international law, as was the right of conquest until after the Second World War. That is why empires like the British and French were not dismantled until the 50s and 60s. The right to rape women in wars was also international, not being abolished until the 1949 Geneva Conventions and not being taken seriously until the 90s, when some women reached high-ranking positions at the UN.

When a territory’s right to decide is trampled upon with violence, it is a barbarity that causes suffering, sometimes on a massive scale. It is based on “might is right” instead of justice. Therefore, one day this will likely be seen as something uncivilized, in the same way that we view the illiterate and archaic practices of past centuries that we have overcome today.

Let us take the example of Canada and the United Kingdom, which granted Quebec and Scotland the right to hold an independence referendum. That is the true path we should follow to stay on track.

On the other hand, it also constitutes an abuse when a minority, in an authoritarian manner, wants to impose independence on the majority. Or when, to achieve this, it undertakes actions that damage the economy that others value so much, blocks infrastructure that belongs to everyone, violates legitimate rights, or in other ways harms others.

LET US ALWAYS RESPECT THE CLEAR WILL OF A CLEAR MAJORITY IN ANY TERRITORY!

Thank you for sharing to help avoid unnecessary wars, conflicts, and suffering.