MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency
Gibraltar anticipates rough year with Spain because of Treaty of Utrecht 300 years
Gibraltar must remain steadfast in its own position on sovereignty the Chief Minister Fabian Picardo has made clear. In a wide-ranging New Year message broadcast last week on GBC Mr Picardo took up the recent remarks made by Spain’s ruling party (Partido Popular) and urged them to return to tripartite dialogue as the (opposition) PSOE in Andalucia is also urging. Read full article
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Disclaimer & comment rulesOf course Spain is looking for a little jingoism and scapegoating to take the populance's mind off their dire economic problems. But it doesn't matter what Spain thinks, the UN is quite clear on Gibraltar's rights:
Jan 14th, 2013 - 05:14 am - Link - Report abuse 0Chapter 1 Article 1 Paragraph 2
“To develop friendly relations among nations based on respect for the principle of equal rights and self-determination of peoples”
Gibraltar is the only country that can decide its future and the UK has agreed to this.
Also it really doesn't matter what the Treaty of Utrecht said about the British Crown relinquishing Gibraltar, as international law has moved on from there.
Article 103 of the UN Charter:
“In the event of a conflict between the obligations of the Members of the United Nations under the present Charter and their obligations under any other international agreement, their obligations under the present Charter shall prevail. ”
So the Treaty of Utrecht's provisions on sovereignty being a sole choice between the UK and Spain is no longer valid under international law.
Sorry Spain!
Here's to the next 300 :-)
Jan 14th, 2013 - 06:09 am - Link - Report abuse 0I'll say the crap points before the morons do:
Jan 14th, 2013 - 06:26 am - Link - Report abuse 0ooh, diego garcia!
ooh, imperialists!
ooh, lack of irony in my words!
ooh, England when I mean the UK!
ooh, not realising that people in glass houses shouldn't throw stones!
ooh, not knowing the meaning of legally binding documents!
There, so if you have anything left, feel free to post.
Gibraltar is a cavern of pirates!!!.Get back to Spain!!!!!!!!!!!!!1
Jan 14th, 2013 - 01:24 pm - Link - Report abuse 0@4 What is it that you are suggesting? Gibraltar certainly has a lot of caverns. We used them as locations from which to fight off enemies. There was an occasion when a Spanish goatherd led a party of “soldiers” (they were Spanish, so they weren't really) up a goatpath of the eastern side of The Rock. Didn't work. Smashed the path away. I've been there. It's a looong way down! Anyway, on to the second sentence. I get it. Britain should take over Spain! Pretty good idea. We can have “foreign” holidays without going anywhere “foreign”. Get rid of that gibberish they talk. Lots of peons to do all the dirty work!
Jan 14th, 2013 - 02:06 pm - Link - Report abuse 0One would suggest that when the UK pulls out of the EU gravy train,
Jan 14th, 2013 - 08:09 pm - Link - Report abuse 0Gibraltar will have to decide if it stays in, or comes out with us,
If they come with us, as we predict, the Spanish will be pulling their hair out,
And would have lost any chance of any talks, a bit like argieland,
Greed gets you nothing , zero , zilch …
.
Did you know that archeologists have proved that the last known tribe of Neanderthals lived in Gibraltar? check it out on the net, it's true. Given the Spaniards attitude, it suggests to me that they want to back in touch with their relatives!
Jan 14th, 2013 - 09:45 pm - Link - Report abuse 0The article fails to mention the critical fact that the UN continues to list Gibraltar as a territory that needs to be decolonised by the UK.
Jan 15th, 2013 - 02:02 am - Link - Report abuse 0It is pure obfuscation to insist, as the UK does, that the current inhabitants of Gibraltar have a right under the principle of self-determination to determine the nationality of the land they live in. Under international law there are territorial limitations to the right of self-determination for transplanted populations living in colonial enclaves where a pre-colonial claim of sovereignty exists. This is the case with Gibraltar.
A coloniser cannot legally disrupt the territorial integrity of another State by implanting its own population unto the territory it is colonising. In cases such as these, the inhabitants of the territory have a right to have their ‘interests’ considered but they have no right to unilaterally determine the nationality of the land they live in.
Both the UN and ICJ have confirmed that the principle of territorial integrity complements and constrains the right to self-determination in cases such as Gibraltar. UN Resolution 1514 (XV) (1960) specifically states that ‘any attempt aimed at the partial or total disruption of the national unity and the territorial integrity of a country is incompatible with the purposes and principles of the Charter of the United Nations.’ Any attempt by the colony of Gibraltar to establish itself as an independent nation would disrupt the national unity and the territorial integrity of Spain. The crucial UN decision with reference to Gibraltar was the adoption of Resolution 2353 in December 1967 which gave primacy to Spain’s claim to the restoration of its territorial integrity over Gibraltar’s claim to the right to self-determination.
Spain has never recognised British sovereignty over the Bay of Algeciras. Not surprisingly therefore, it will continue to ignore the protests of the colony of Gibraltar and its British Governor and continue to exert its sovereignty in any
*7 the way you express yourself I think you might be a relative of the Neanderthals,,,,,
Jan 15th, 2013 - 02:06 am - Link - Report abuse 0*6 It would be good to see The uk pull out of the EU, that way the waiting lines at the border between Spain and Gib would go from 2 hours to 10 for the Gibs.hahahaha HOPE CAME MORON PULLS OUT FOR ONCE AND FOR ALL FROM THE EU sick of listening to you lot complaining about the EU..bugger off for ever!! bye bye baby.That way EU students who are studying English (which is a billion dollar industry) would go to Ireland to learn English ..for example.
*
2 Rotted
Jan 15th, 2013 - 03:37 am - Link - Report abuse 0Here's to the next 300 :-)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EmOH5f1J1Uc
@8 Betelguese
Jan 15th, 2013 - 12:19 pm - Link - Report abuse 0Yes, the UN lists Gibraltar as a territory that needs to be decolonised by the UK.
Decolonised, not recolonised.
“UN and ICJ have confirmed that the principle of territorial integrity complements and constrains the right to self-determination in cases such as Gibraltar”
No they have not.
UN Resolution 1514 (XV) (1960) specifically talks of self-determination just like the UN Charter. The UN Charter doesn't talk about territorial integrity. Gibraltar has not been part of Spain for 300 years so Spanish territorial integrity is less affected by this than it was by the independence of the colonies in its former empire.
“Resolution 2353 in December 1967 which gave primacy to Spain’s claim to the restoration of its territorial integrity over Gibraltar’s claim to the right to self-determination”
Nice try but fail. It certainly does not. It uses the word CONSIDERING when talking of territorial integrity and national unity. This does not give PRIMACY. And even then it qualifies it by saying “any colonial situation” shouldn't disrupt territorial integrity or national unity. Not independence.
It does however say that the interests of the inhabitants should be safeguarded by any decolonisation. That would rule out handing Gibraltar to Spain.
Portugal was once part of Spain for a short time. Does its existence on the Iberian Peninsula disrupt Spain's territorial integrity?
Also Gibraltar is not part of the Spanish nation so cannot disrupt the “national unity” of Spain.
All countries end and have a border so Gibraltar is not affecting Spain's territorial integrity or national unity.
East Timor and South Sudan show that self-determination trump the territorial integrity and national unity of a country.
There's no argument against self determination, which is why it is in the UN Charter when so many other legal principles aren't.
5@ BECAUSE bRIT ARE USELLESS!
Jan 15th, 2013 - 12:43 pm - Link - Report abuse 0@8 Betelguese
Jan 15th, 2013 - 01:03 pm - Link - Report abuse 0You are clearly not up to date with what happened in 2008 when Argentina and Spain introduced a proposal at the UN to limit the principle of self-determination to “cases where there is no dispute over sovereignty”.
You lost. Heavily. The GA assembly affirmed that, in the process of decolonization, there was no alternative to the principle of self-determination, which was also a fundamental human right.
http://www.un.org/News/Press/docs/2008/gaspd406.doc.htm
Your attemtpt to distort the purpose of resolution 1514 won't work either. The reference to territorial integrity in that resolution was intended to ensure that “ acts of self-determination occur within the established boundaries of colonies”, and so to avoid Bantustanisation or similar subterfuges in the decolonization process. It does not, and was never intended to, support irredentist territorial claims masquerading under the name of decolonization.
Gustbury - if you insist on posting here why don´t you make a sensible contribution and justify your attitude?
Jan 15th, 2013 - 05:03 pm - Link - Report abuse 0I understand that there is a clause in Argentina's constitution that specifically excludes invading the Falkland Islands or taking them by force
Jan 15th, 2013 - 07:21 pm - Link - Report abuse 0Besides all the French and Spanish have done, is basically incorporated their ex colonies into the main stream.
Something Britain failed to do, for some reason,
But perhaps if Britain did the same, then all this rubbish would have to stop would it not.
Perhaps Britain should try it, at least in the short term.
@9Aussie
Jan 17th, 2013 - 07:56 am - Link - Report abuse 0Stop plagiarising cobber, find your own material!
Like the way you expressed yourself in the rest of your post, pot-kettle-black!
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