Panama Afro-Descendants Express Solidarity with the Raizal Community in demonstration in San Andres, Western Caribbean

SAN ANDRES PEACEFUL DEMONSTRATION OVER POLITICAL CRISIS MET WITH COLOMBIAN RIOT POLICE

The peaceful demonstration led by leaders of the indigenous Raizal community of San Andres, Providencia and Santa Catalina in front of the government headquarters in San Andre was held in the wake of the imposition of Colombian military governance of the archipelago. The civic action was met with a large contingent of military police, clad in full riot gear, who sought to remove the demonstrators by force. The Raizal leaders stood their ground. The civic action was taken in the wake of the violation of current law which requires civilian governance by a resident of the territory.  

LIDERES DE SAN ANDRES ARCHIPELAGO DEMANDA LA RETIRADA DEL GOBERNADOR MILITAR "ILEGAL" COLUMBIANO

sanandres-colombia.com

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El Isleño

COMMITE PERMANENTE por la DEFENSA DE LOS  DERECHOS HUMANOS

 

Hacemos la Paz defendiendo los Derechos Humanos 

Ante la situación que se presenta desde este miércoles en la madrugada, donde un grupo de ciudadanos Raizales se encuentran protestando de forma pacífica, encadenados a las afueras de la Gobernación de San Andrés, el Comité Permanente por la Defensa de los Derechos Humanos (DDHH), emitió una ‘alerta temprana’ ante las posibles “afectaciones a la integridad de cualquier manifestante” o “cualquier procedimiento que atente contra los derechos humanos del pueblo raizal”.

ALERTA TEMPRANA 

Desde las 4 a.m. del día de hoy, 19 de diciembre, un grupo de raizales dio inicio a una toma pacífica de la Gobernación de San Andrés, debido a que el Gobernador elegido en 2015, Ronald Housni Jaller fue destituido por presuntos actos de corrupción y en su lugar fue nombrado el Contralmirante Juan Francisco Herrera Leal, ante el incumplimiento de la condición legal establecida respecto a la calidad de residente de la Isla, se pide la remoción inmediata del Gobernador encargado, Contralmirante Herrera. Entre otras exigencias se encuentra la devolución de unos lotes que le pertenecen al pueblo raizal y que en este momento han sido ocupados por la Policía del departamento. 

Transcurridos pocos minutos de la toma, sobre las 04:30 a.m. hace presencia Fuerza Disponible y ESMAD a cargo de un uniformado que los pobladores logran identificar como el Mayor Sánchez, sacando de forma violenta a dos personas que se encontraban encadenadas dentro de la Gobernación como acto simbólico y político de la toma pacífica. Además de esto empezaron a intimidar y agredir con sus implementos y los caninos de apoyo a los manifestantes que se encuentran en este momento exigiendo sus derechos frente a la entidad gubernamental . Se quitaron agresivamente los carteles y desmontaron las carpas que se tenían para proteger de la lluvia al pueblo raizal. 

Rechazamos los actos de intimidación, agresión y amedrentamiento por parte de la Fuerza Pública, igualmente rechazamos la forma en que se violenta la ley y la Constitución por parte del Gobierno Nacional al designar al Contralmirante Juan Francisco Herrera Leal. 

Exigimos garantías para el ejercicio de la protesta pacífica, de acuerdo con el artículo 37 de la Constitución Política, los tratados en materia de DDHH y DIH que Colombia ha ratificado y los protocolos para el manejo correcto de manifestaciones y multitudes. 

Hacemos el llamado a la comunidad nacional e internacional, a los movimientos sociales y populares para respaldar, difundir y apoyar las diferentes exigencias del pueblo raizal en la Isla de San Andrés. 

Por último, hacemos responsables al presidente de la Republica Iván Duque, al Ministro de Defensa Guillermo Botero y al Comandante de la Policía en el departamento de San Andres Jorge Antonio Urquijo Sandoval, por las violaciones de Derechos Humanos que puedan ocurrir y las afectaciones a la integridad de cualquier manifestante , de igual forma cualquier procedimiento que atente contra los Derechos Humanos del pueblo raizal.

CARIBBEAN EXPERTS CALLS FOR REGIONAL ACTION IN SUPPORT OF SELF-DETERMINATION OF DUTCH-ADMINISTERED CARIBBEAN

 3^rd CONFERENCE ON THE POLITICAL FUTURE

OF THE DUTCH-ADMINISTERED CARIBBEAN

RE-UNITING THE ANTILLES AND CARIBBEAN IN SOLIDARITY

FINAL COMMUNIQUÉ

Kralendijk, Bonaire, December 15, 2018

The  Third Conference on the Political Future of the Caribbean,

Having met at Bonaire, West Indies on 7th and 8th December 2018,

Aware that the political status of Bonaire, Sint Eustatius (Statia) and Saba was transformed in 2010 from being a part of the autonomous country of the (former) Netherlands Antilles to a new political arrangement unilaterally advanced by the Kingdom of the Netherlands akin to that of 'partial integration', and characterized by serious political and economic inequality, rather than the promised political and economic equality originally envisaged.

Also aware that this new status is tantamount to unilateral annexation, and is wholly inconsistent with the minimum standards of full self-government and equality required on the basis of international principles of democratic governance,

Noting that in 2010, Curaçao and Sint Maarten joined Aruba as the second and third semi-autonomous countries in the Kingdom without the full measure of self-government required under United Nations (U.N.) Resolution 1541 (XV), and subject to the applicability of Article 51 of the Kingdom Charter which provides for unilateral intervention in the affairs of the autonomous countries,

Also taking note of the “Assessment of self-governance sufficiency in conformity with internationally-recognized standards – Country Curacao” undertaken in 2012 by the global Dependency Studies Project which found that the present governance model in place in Curaçao emerging from the 2010 dismantlement process of the Netherlands Antilles further reduced the level of self-government to a diminished autonomous model and is not in compliance with contemporary international standards of the full measure self-government.

Further taking note, that the Dutch government through strategic political organs named the Committee for Financial Supervision (CFT), the Special Police Task Force (RST) and the General Prosecutor through consensus laws is overruling the democratic parliament of Curacao and in so doing controlling the political, social, cultural and economic development of Curacao.

Conscious that in addition to the Dutch-administered partially-integrated dependencies, and the autonomous countries in the region, are other non-independent countries (NICCs) including the six British-administered non self-governing territories of Bermuda, Turks & Caicos Islands, Cayman Islands, Montserrat, British Virgin Islands and Anguilla; the U.S. administered dependencies of Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands; the integrated departments of Guadeloupe, Martinique and French Guiana, and the Archipelago of San Andres, Providence and Santa Catalina, and the French-administered collectivities of Saint Martin and Barts,

Bearing in mind that the 'public entity' status does not reflect the wishes of the people of Bonaire who had previously selected a political status of "direct ties to the Kingdom" in the 2004 referendum held in Bonaire rather than the political status of "public entity" which has been unilaterally and systematically imposed by the Government of the Netherlands,  since the 2010 dismantling of the Netherlands Antilles and the subsequent transition, without these having been defined in the context of Chapter XI, Article. 73 and 74 of the U.N. Charter.

Also bearing in mind that the 'public entity' political status was formally rejected by the people of Bonaire in a 2015 referendum by a decisive 'No' vote of over 65 per cent and the results were formally certified and endorsed by motion of the Island Council on 8^th March 2016 as a clear mandate of the people, but the Government of the Netherlands decided to unilaterally embed the “public entities of Bonaire”, Sint Eustatius and Saba in the Constitution of the Netherlands,

Recognizing that any subsequent referendum on the preferred political status that would be selected from a group of political options of democratic governance and political equality should be conducted under the direct supervision of the U.N.,

Taking into account that the people of Sint Eustatius voted in its 2005 referendum to remain within a restructured autonomous country of the Netherlands Antilles, but as the 2005 referendum outcome resulted in the dismantlement of that autonomous country, the Island Council of Sint Eustatius subsequently approved a motion to accept the ‘direct ties’ arrangement offered to Bonaire and Saba, even as the people had not voted in favor of the status, and even as the nature of its political and economic inequality had not yet been revealed,

Also taking into account that the people of Sint Eustatius in a 2014 referendum, under official observation of the U.N. Electoral Affairs Division of the Department of Political Affairs, formally rejected the imposed 'public entity' status by voting for a more autonomous status from a list of political status options, and recalling that the results of the 2014 referendum were formally certified and endorsed by motion of the Island Council on 25th May 2015 as a clear mandate of the people resulting in the subsequent drafting in 2016 of a White Paper and a draft constitution for an autonomous Sint Eustatius,

Alarmed that the Government of the Netherlands, in spite of the democratically expressed wishes of the people of Sint Eustatius and Bonaire in their rejection of the imposed political status of ‘public entity’ in 2014 and 2015, respectively, has proceeded through measures in the Kingdom Parliament to formally annex the two territories through a process of ‘embedding’ the two islands (along with the island of Saba), in the Dutch Constitution and further alarmed that this unilateral process of the Government of the Netherlands could result in a legitimization of the dependency status contrary to international norms of democratic governance and in opposition to the expressed will of the people of Bonaire and Sint Eustatius,

Recognizing the resumption of direct, albeit strained, contact between the Government of  the Netherlands with the democratically elected government of Sint Eustatius following the suspension of contacts in 2015, and again in 2016, and deeply concerned that the method of unilateral withdrawal of communication with the elected government of the territory continues to be an unacceptable practice,

Further expresses its deep concern for the imposition of unilateral financial supervision which requires Netherlands’ government approval for public expenditures by the Government of Sint Eustatius despite its compliance with the financial regulations of the Netherlands Committee for Financial Supervision (CFT).

Alarmed by the political decapitation of the legitimately elected government of Sint Eustatius by the Government of the Netherlands on February 7^th 2018, and the appointment by the Netherlands’ government of an undemocratic administrating governor constituting further erosion of the democratic rights and processes to elect a next democratic government.

Aware that the legitimately elected government of Sint Eustatius filed a petition at the Court of First Instance to initiate main proceedings against the Government of the Netherlands,

Recalling the Motion adopted by the Island Council of Sint Eustatius on 28th May 2015 which confirmed, inter alia, that the population of Sint Eustatius had not yet exhausted all its options as far as exercising its right to self-determination in accordance with the Charter of the United Nations, and  the Article 1, of both the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights respectively and the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural rights which reminded the Netherlands of its continued obligations towards Sint Eustatius as part of the former Netherlands Antilles,

Also recalling the resolutions of the Permanent Conference of Political Parties of Latin America and Caribbean (COPPPAL), issued on December 1, 2016 on Bonaire and June 6, 2017 on Sint Maarten, respectively, rejecting any form of colonization in the Americas, with regards to the future political status of Puerto Rico and the future political status of the Caribbean territories administered by Holland,

Taking note of the interest expressed by the incoming government of the U.S. Virgin Islands to examine the political status evolution of the territory, and encourages the territory, in the context of it’s listing by the United Nations (U.N.) since 1946 as a non-self-governing territory, to re-engage with the U.N. decolonization process by resuming its participation in the proceedings of the Special Committee on Decolonization, and the Special Political and Decolonization Committee (Fourth Committee).

Also taking note of the proposed 'Raizal Statute' submitted to the government of Colombia by the Raizal Authority of the archipelago of San Andres, Providencia and Santa Catalina with the aim of modernizing the political, socio-economic and constitutional relationship between the people of the archipelago and the State of Columbia, and affirming the self-determination aspirations of the Raizal people,

Outraged that after 120 years of United States (U.S.) colonialism, and 37 U.N. resolutions asking it to immediately return Puerto Rico’s sovereignty to the Puerto Ricans, and distressed by the unilateral imposition of the colonial fiscal control board imposed upon the people of Puerto Rico by the U.S. Government,

 Appalled by the insulting U.S. response to the humanitarian crisis in Puerto Rico caused by the impact of Hurricane Maria precipitating an already alarming migration of Puerto Ricans from their homeland, and increasing their already superior recruitment rate into the US military, resulting in an alarming reduction in population and family displacement with the premeditated intention of changing the demographic composition of the territory,

1. Affirms that the referendum results of 2014 in Sint Eustatius, and of 2015 in Bonaire, constituted a formal, genuine and legitimate refutation of the 'public entity' status as expressed by the people, and alarmed that the 'public entity' status imposed on the people of Sint Eustatius and Bonaire had been misrepresented as a genuine status of political equality by the Government of the Netherlands in 2010 at the dissolution of the Netherlands Antilles,

2. Deeply concerned that the people of Bonaire and Sint Eustatius are presently being governed, contrary to democratic norms, under a political status of political and economic inequality not of their choosing,

3. Reaffirms the continued applicability to Bonaire, Sint Eustatius and Saba of relevant international law doctrine on self-determination and decolonization, including the provisions of Chapter XI on the "Declaration Regarding Non Self-Governing Territories,"

4. Also reaffirms the continued applicability of Article 73 (b) of the United Nations (U.N.) Charter which mandates that "Members of the United Nations which have or assume responsibilities for the administration of territories whose peoples have not yet attained a full measure of self-government recognize the principle that the interests of the inhabitants of these territories are paramount, and accept as a sacred trust the obligation to promote to the utmost, within the system of international peace and security established by the present Charter, the well-being of the inhabitants of these territories, and, to this end to develop self-government, to take due account of the political aspirations of the peoples, and to assist them in the progressive development of their free political institutions, according to the particular circumstances of each territory and its peoples and their varying stages of advancement,"

5. Emphasizes the continued applicability to Bonaire, Sint Eustatius and Saba of the U.N. Decolonization Declaration [Resolution 1514 (XV)], its companion Resolution 1541 (XV), and all other relevant U.N. resolutions, as well as the present Third International Decade for the Eradication of Colonialism and its plan of action,

6. Also emphasizes the applicability of relevant General Assembly resolutions which recognize that "the existence of colonialism in any form or manifestation," as "incompatible with the Charter of the United Nations, the (Decolonization) Declaration and the Universal Declaration of Human Rights' and further emphasizes the applicability of the relevant resolutions of the General Assembly which confirm that self-determination is a fundamental human right protected under the core human rights conventions including the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR), the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (ICESCR), and the Convention on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination (CERD), et al,

7. Takes note with interest that the U.N. General Assembly Resolution 945 (X) of 15 December 1955 removing the former Netherlands Antilles from the U.N. list of Non Self-Governing Territories did not affirm that the former Netherlands Antilles had achieved a full measure of self-government, as stated by the government of the Netherlands in the Dutch Parliament on December 22, 1955,  with the statement... “' The emancipation process has been completed” thus leaving open the possibility for the U.N. to resume formal review of the self-governance sufficiency of the former territory and any of its former constituent parts, in particular Bonaire and Sint Eustatius, as well as Curaçao and the other semi-autonomous countries within the Kingdom with the aim of fostering a genuine process of self-determination,

8.        Calls on the Government of the Netherlands, as a matter of urgency, to lift the financial supervision imposed on the Dutch administered Caribbean, and further calls on the Government of the Netherlands to exercise respect in their communication and dealings with the territories and semi autonomous countries,

9.         Condemns the  Government of the Netherlands for its actions in unilaterally embedding the so-called 'public entities’ of Bonaire, Sint Eustatius and Saba in the Constitution of the Netherlands, and calls on the international community to review whether these actions are a violation of the inalienable right to self-determination of the people of the so-called “public entities”,

10.       Calls for the Government of the Netherlands and/or other relevant U.N. member States to initiate the necessary procedures for the re-inscription of the former Netherlands Antilles islands of Bonaire and Sint Eustatius, and Curaçao and the other semi autonomous countries within the Kingdom, on the United Nations list of Non Self-Governing Territories to provide the international community with the required platform to review, in depth where democratic deficiencies in the dependency governance arrangements may exist,

11.       Calls on the Caribbean Community (CARICOM) to consider that the Caribbean is not in a post-colonial condition,  and to give due recognition to the issue of the self-determination of the remaining non-independent Caribbean countries in the region as unfinished business; and requests that self-determination and decolonization be placed on the permanent agenda of the CARICOM Heads of Government,

12.      Endorses the commissioning of an independent Self Governance Assessment of the political status and constitutional arrangements of Bonaire and Sint Eustatius, through the use of the "Corbin Self-Governance Indicators," to determine the nature and scope of the public entity status according to international standards, and requests that the necessary resources be identified for the Assessment to be carried out as a key substantive document to inform the U.N. in its consideration of the re-inscription process of Bonaire and Saint Eustatius.

13.      Further endorses and supports fully the trajectory of Bonaire and Sint Eustatius for re-inscription on the list of Non-Self-Governing-Territories of the United Nations

14.      Aware that the proposed Raizal Statute which was negotiated between the Government of Colombia and the recognized representatives of the Archipelago of San Andres, Providence and Santa Catalina, has been submitted  to the previous Colombian Congress in 2018, and the new Congress which convened after the congressional election of 2018, is currently reviewing the proposed statute.

15.      Concerned, however,  that the State has not yet recognized the rights of the people to self-determination as recommended by the  Raizal representatives in the originally proposed statute.

16.      Once again, urges the  Colombian State to modify its constitution in order to recognize the inalienable right of the peoples of the Archipelago to self-determination in accordance with international law, in particular, the U.N. Charter, U.N. Resolution 1541, U.N. Resolution 742, and relevant human rights instruments.

17.      Calls on the Government of the Netherlands to adhere to the spirit of its Charter to provide for the autonomous functioning of Aruba, Curaçao and Sint Maarten, Sint Eustatius and Bonaire

18.      The political movements, Movemento Kousa Promé and Pueblo Soberano call on the government of the Netherlands to end the consensus laws of Curacao and to respect the vision and spirit of the U.N. Charter in the same way as it respects the Treaty of Lissabon regarding the European Union and to implement the U.N. Charter on the self- determination of our people.

19.      Calls on the Government of the U.S. to implement the U.N. Charter as related to the self-determination of peoples, and to implement the 37 resolutions of the U.N. Special Committee on Decolonization calling for the self-determination and independence of Puerto Rico,

20.       Calls on the Government of the U.S. to facilitate the self-determination of the people of the U.S. Virgin Islands consistent with the relevant resolutions of the U.N. General Assembly.

FRENCH POLYNESIA PRESIDENT ADMITS TO LYING TO THE PEOPLE ABOUT THE DANGER OF 30 YEARS OF NUCLEAR TESTS

The admission of guilt by the President - an accomplished defender of French colonialism in his country -  comes weeks after a complaint was filed against the French state before the International Court of Justice on the consequences of 30 years of nuclear testing conducted in the atmosphere and waters of French Polynesia.

See also: 

CONSEQUENCES OF FRENCH NUCLEAR TESTING EXPOSED AT U.N.

Licorne test, 1971, French Polynesia. Photo: The Official CTBTO Photostream

Northwest Arkansas Democrat Gazette

Leader admits lies about nuclear tests

The Associated Press | 

PARIS — French Polynesian President Edouard Fritch has said the leaders of the French collectivity of islands in the South Pacific lied to the population for three decades over the dangers of nuclear testing.

From 1960 to 1996, France carried out 193 nuclear tests in French Polynesia. The images, such as a mushroom cloud over the Mururoa atoll, provoked international protests.

“I’m not surprised that I’ve been called a liar for 30 years. We lied to this population that the tests were clean. We lied,” Fritch told officials in the local assembly Thursday in footage broadcast by Tahiti Nui Television.

France’s overseas ministry declined to comment Friday.

Bowing to decades of pressure, in 2010 the French government offered millions of euros in compensation for the government’s 201 nuclear tests in the South Pacific and Algeria. But the process is painstaking and many have still not received compensation.

Bruno Barrillot, a whistleblower investigating the impact of the Polynesian nuclear testing who died last year, raised awareness on the disproportionate rates of thyroid cancer and leukemia to hit Polynesia’s 280,000 residents.

In 2016, then-President Francois Hollande acknowledged during a visit that nuclear weapons tests carried out in French territories in the South Pacific did have consequences for the environment and residents’ health.

But Hollande spoke also about the testing in positive terms as he praised the region’s contribution to France’s position as one of the world’s nine nuclear powers.

AMERICAN SAMOA DELEGATE TO U.S. CONGRESS WINS RE-ELECTION

Congresswoman Aumua Amata along with supporters late Monday afternoon during her campaign wave at Avau in Nu’uuli. [photo: Leua Aiono Frost]

SAMOA NEWS

By Fili Sagapolutele

fili@samoanews.com

Pago Pago, AMERICAN SAMOA —Incumbent Congresswoman Aumua Amata is heading back to Washington D.C. for a third consecutive two-year term in office after being re-elected during yesterday’s mid-term election, beating out challengers Meleagi Suitonu-Chapman and Tuika Tuika.

The Republican congresswoman’s lead began with results from the polling stations in Manu’a dominating all polling stations. Amata has dominated the Manu’a polls in the past several elections. Manu’a polling stations completed early around 3 p.m.

And as the results started pouring in from polling stations on Tutuila, it became abundantly clear that Amata would return to Congress as she won all polling stations here too.

“Thank you very much for entrusting me with the responsibility of representing you in the U.S. Congress,” said Amata in her thank you message to the people of American Samoa. “I am humbled by your vote, more humbled than you know.”

“As your representative, I will continue to work enthusiastically with the other island Territories for equal treatment with the states in matters that affect us all, such as funding formulas, grants and projects that we need,” she said. (See today’s Samoa News edition for the Congresswoman’s Thank You message, as a paid advertisement.)

Of the total 8,638 ballots counted, Amata received 7,194 votes (83.3%); Suitonu-Chapman with 659 votes (7.6%) and Tuika got 785 votes (9.1%), according to the unofficial results released late last night by the Election Office.

In the 2016 election, Amata won 75.4% of the ballots counted. She was challenged by four candidates, including Suitonu-Chapman.

Candidates or voters have until 4:30 p.m, Nov. 13th to file a complaint contesting election results in the High Court. It’s also on Nov. 13th that the results are made official by the Election Office.

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