Decision of the U.N. Special Committee of 18 June 2012 concerning
The Special Committee,
Bearing in mind the Declaration on the
Granting of Independence to Colonial Countries and Peoples, contained in
General Assembly resolution 1514 (XV) of 14 December 1960, as well as the
resolutions and decisions of the Special Committee concerning Puerto Rico,
Considering that the period 2011-2020
was proclaimed by the General Assembly, in its resolution 65/119 of 10 December
2010, as the Third International Decade for the Eradication of Colonialism,
Bearing in mind the thirty-one
resolutions and decisions adopted by the Special Committee on the question of
Puerto Rico contained in the reports of the Special Committee to the General
Assembly, in particular those adopted without a vote in recent years,
Recalling that 25 July 2013 marks the
one hundred and fifteenth anniversary of the intervention in Puerto Rico by the
United States of America
Noting with concern that despite the diverse
initiatives taken by the political representatives of Puerto Rico and the
United States in recent years, the process of the decolonization of Puerto
Rico, in compliance with General Assembly resolution 1514 (XV) and the
resolutions and decisions of the Special Committee on Puerto Rico, has not yet
been set in motion,
Bearing in mind that the people of Puerto Rico mostly rejected its current status of
political subordination on 6 November 2012,
Stressing the urgent need for the United States to lay the groundwork for the full
implementation of General Assembly resolution 1514 (XV) and the resolutions and
decisions of the Special Committee concerning Puerto Rico ,
Noting that the Inter-agency Task Force
on Puerto Rico’s Status designated by the President of the United States , which submitted its third report
on 16 March 2011, reaffirmed that Puerto Rico is a territory subject to United States
Taking note of the Declaration adopted
at the I Summit of the Community of Latin American and Caribbean States (CELAC)
held in Santiago, Chile, on 27 and 28 January 2013, in which the Latin American
and Caribbean character of Puerto Rico is highlighted, and note is taken of the
resolutions on Puerto Rico adopted by the United Nations Special Committee on
Decolonization, identifying it as an issue of interest of CELAC,
Also noting the Special Declaration on
Puerto Rico adopted by the Heads of State and Government of the Bolivarian
Alternative for the Peoples of Our Americas in Caracas on 4 and 5 February
2012, whereby they expressed their strong support for the inalienable right of
the people of Puerto Rico to self-determination and full independence; recalled
that Puerto Rico is a Latin American and Caribbean nation with its own unmistakable
identity and history, whose rights to sovereignty have been violated by the
imposed colonial rule for more than a century; stressed that the cause of the
independence of Puerto Rico concerns the region of Latin America and the
Caribbean and their forums for dialogue and political cooperation —
particularly the Community of Latin American and Caribbean States, and demanded
the release of political prisoners convicted for fighting for the independence
and self-determination of Puerto Rico, including comrade Oscar López Rivera,
who has been imprisoned under inhumane conditions for thirty-two years,
Further noting the “Panama Proclamation”,
adopted by the Latin American and Caribbean Congress in support of Puerto Rico’s
Independence, which was held in Panama on 18 and 19 November 2006 and was
attended by 33 political parties from 22 countries of the region, the
conclusions thereof were reaffirmed in the declaration adopted by the Council
of the Socialist International in Portugal, on 5 February 2013, expressing
support to the repeated and unanimous call of the United Nations Special
Committee on Decolonization for the General Assembly to examine the colonial
case of Puerto Rico, and for the release of Oscar López Rivera and other Puerto
Rican patriots who are serving sentences in jails in the United States; and
satisfaction and solidarity with the overwhelming rejection of the people of
Puerto Rico to the continuation of the current colonial status of Puerto Rico
is likewise demonstrated,
Noting also the debate in Puerto Rico on
the search for a procedure that would enable the launch of the process of
decolonization of Puerto Rico, and aware of the principle that any initiative
for the solution of the political status of Puerto Rico should originate from
the people of Puerto Rico ,
Aware that Vieques Island, Puerto Rico,
was used for over 60 years by the United States Marines to carry out military
exercises, with negative consequences for the health of the population, the
environment and the economic and social development of that Puerto Rican
municipality,
Noting the consensus existing among the
people and the Government of Puerto Rico on the necessity of ensuring the
clean-up, decontamination and return to the people of Puerto Rico of all the
territory previously used for military exercises and installations, and of
using them for the social and economic development of Puerto Rico, as well as
on the slowness of the process thus far,
Also noting the complaints made by the
inhabitants of Vieques
Island
Further noting the consensus among the
people of Puerto Rico in favour of the release of the Puerto Rican political
prisoners, some of whom have been serving sentences in prisons in the United
States of America for more than thirty years for cases related to the struggle
for Puerto Rico’s independence,
Noting the concern of the people of
Puerto Rico regarding violent actions, including repression and intimidation,
against Puerto Rican independence fighters, including those that have recently
come to light through documents declassified by federal agencies of the United
States,
Also noting that in the Final Document
of the Sixteenth Summit Conference of Heads of State and Government of the
Movement of Non-Aligned Countries,[1]
held in Teheran, Islamic Republic of Iran, from 26 to 31 August 2012, and other
meetings of the Movement, the right of the people of Puerto Rico to
self-determination and independence is reaffirmed under General Assembly
resolution 1514 (XV), the Government of the United States is urged to assume
its responsibility to expedite a process that will allow the Puerto Rican
people to fully exercise their inalienable right to self-determination and
independence and to return the territory and occupied installations on Vieques
Island and at the Roosevelt Roads Naval Station to the Puerto Rican people, who
constitute a Latin American and Caribbean nation, and the General Assembly is
urged to actively consider the question of Puerto Rico in all its aspects,
Having heard statements and
representative testimonies of various viewpoints among the people of Puerto Rico and their social institutions,
1. Reaffirms
the inalienable right of the people of Puerto Rico to self-determination and
independence in conformity with General Assembly resolution 1514 (XV) and the
applicability of the fundamental principles of that resolution to the question
of Puerto Rico ;
2. Reiterates
that the Puerto Rican people constitutes a Latin American and Caribbean
nation that has its own unequivocal national identity;
3. Calls
again upon the Government of the United States of America to assume its
responsibility to expedite a process that will allow the Puerto Rican people to
fully exercise their inalienable right to self-determination and independence,
in accordance and in full compliance with General Assembly resolution 1514 (XV)
and the resolutions and decisions of the Special Committee concerning Puerto
Rico;
4. Notes the broad support of eminent persons, Governments and political forces in Latin America and the Caribbean for the independence of Puerto Rico;
5. Again notes the debate in Puerto Rico on the implementation of a mechanism that would ensure the full participation of representatives of all viewpoints prevailing in Puerto Rico, including a constitutional assembly on status with a basis in the decolonization alternatives recognized in international law, and aware of the principle that any initiative for the solution of the political status of Puerto Rico should originate from the people of Puerto Rico;
6. Expresses serious concern regarding the actions carried out against Puerto Rican independence fighters, and encourages the investigation of those actions with the necessary rigour and with the cooperation of the relevant authorities;
7. Requests the General Assembly to consider the question of Puerto Rico comprehensively in all its aspects;
8. Urges the Government of the United States, in line with the need to guarantee the Puerto Rican people their legitimate right to self-determination and the protection of their human rights, to complete the return of occupied land and installations on Vieques Island and in Ceiba to the people of Puerto Rico, respect fundamental human rights, such as the right to health and economic development, and expedite and cover the costs of the process of cleaning up and decontaminating the areas previously used in military exercises through means that do not continue to worsen the serious consequences of its military activity for the health of the inhabitants of Vieques Island and the environment;
9. Reiterates its request to the President of the United States of America to release the following Puerto Rican political prisoners serving sentences in United States prisons for cases relating to the struggle for the independence of Puerto Rico: Oscar López Rivera, who has been serving a sentence for over thirty years and whose case is of humanitarian character, and Norberto González Claudio, who was arrested most recently;
10. Takes note with satisfaction of the report prepared by the Rapporteur of the Special Committee, in compliance with its resolution of 18 June 2012;
11. Requests the Rapporteur to report in 2013 on the implementation of the present resolution;
12. Decides to keep the question of Puerto Rico under continuous review.
