A committee of the UN General Assembly on Monday unanimously adopted a Pakistan-sponsored resolution reaffirming the right of peoples to self-determination, and called for cessation of foreign military intervention, aggression or occupation.
Pakistan has been tabling this draft in the social committee since 1981 and each year the General Assembly passed it by consensus. The text serves to focus attention on struggle by people for their inalienable right to self-determination. The draft will come up for adoption in the 191-member Assembly next month.
The text reaffirms the universal right of peoples to self-determination as enshrined in the UN Charter and international covenants on human rights and welcomes the progressive exercise of this right by peoples under colonial, foreign or alien occupation and their emergence into sovereign statehood and independence.
In an another operative paragraph, the resolution calls upon those states responsible to cease immediately their military intervention in and occupation of foreign countries and territories and all acts of repression, discrimination, exploitation and maltreatment, in particular the brutal and inhuman methods reportedly employed for the execution of those acts against the peoples concerned.
The resolution asks the Geneva-based Commission on Human Rights to continue to give special attention to the violation of human rights, especially the right to self-determination, resulting from foreign military intervention, aggression or occupation.
It also requests the Secretary General to report to the 61st session of the General Assembly on this question.
Besides Pakistan, a large number of countries from Asia, and Africa co-sponsored the resolution this year, including Algeria, Angola, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Bahrain, Bangladesh, Brunei Darussalam, Burkina Faso, China, Congo, Egypt, Eritrea, Guinea, Iran, Jordan, Kuwait, Lebanon, Libya, Malaysia, Niger, Nigeria, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Singapore, Somalia, Thailand, and United Arab Emirates.
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