MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency
Special Committee of 24 scheduled to hold Pacific Regional Seminar in Ecuador
The United Nations Special Committee on Decolonisation — also known as the Special Committee of 24 — is to hold its Pacific Regional Seminar in Guayaquil, Ecuador, from 28 to 30 May. Its agenda is to review progress in the United Nations decolonisation process. Read full article
Comments
Disclaimer & comment rulesFirst chance for the committee to show the world that they understood what ban ki moon was telling them.
Apr 17th, 2013 - 09:11 am - Link - Report abuse 0(tenner says they flunk it - spectacularly)
So the Pacific regional seminar would be dealing with:
Apr 17th, 2013 - 09:18 am - Link - Report abuse 0American Samoa (which hasn't expressed any wishes to be any more “independent” than it already is - has its own constitution, its own parliament, its own legal system etc)
Guam (which has a significant political movement to make it more a part of the US rather than less)
New Caledonia (which when last asked voted to stay an overseas territory of France, despite what the local politicians wanted).
Pitcairn (which really doesn't have the population to be practically independent and doesn't want to be independent either)
and Tokelau (which has had two referenda on independence in the last decade, sponsored by the C24, neither of which actually achieved the required majority)
Sounds like a pleasant jolly for the committee-of-no-verifiable-results for them to talk lots and accomplish the square root of bugger all. I'm sure that it will be a magnificent success in their press releases.
Is this the 4th decade of the end of colonialism? lol the C24 committee is the biggest waste of money in the UN has (and they waste a lot!).
Apr 17th, 2013 - 10:57 am - Link - Report abuse 0Dear UN you can remove the 10 British BOT's they are NOT non-self governing, get with the time you dinosaurs!.
“The members of the Committee are Antigua and Barbuda, Bolivia, Chile, China, Congo, Côte d’Ivoire, Cuba, Dominica, Ecuador, Ethiopia, Fiji, Grenada, India, Indonesia, Iran, Iraq, Mali, Nicaragua, Papua New Guinea, Russian Federation, Saint Kitts and Nevis, Saint Lucia, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Sierra Leone, Syria, Timor-Leste, Tunisia, United Republic of Tanzania and Venezuela.”
Apr 17th, 2013 - 12:11 pm - Link - Report abuse 0Will someone please explain which of the above “influential” nations are in a position to produce some real solutions to the non-problem they are addressing?
All you need to know about C24. Indonesia is a member. East Timor is not.
Apr 17th, 2013 - 12:46 pm - Link - Report abuse 0Sounds more than just a coincidence that this follows 'Falkland Islands’ delegation received in Latam with open doors and genuine interest', http://en.mercopress.com/2013/04/13/falkland-islands-delegation-received-in-latam-with-open-doors-and-genuine-interest
Apr 17th, 2013 - 01:01 pm - Link - Report abuse 0So who arranged this? & probably some revisionist history...
So if C24 can make to Ecuador, why can't they travel further to hear the viewpoint of those on their list, particularly Falkland Islanders?
They've been asked before and show that they are not interested.
C24 should be re-named: The Argentinian Colonisation committee!
Viewpoints.....? (Prove me wrong, show some sense - time will tell.)
To add, Ban Ki Moon no doubt advised them about peoples right to Self-Determination, I think they should remember that if or when they have an end of seminar statement.
@6 Well I think it's pretty obvious isn't it. The source of the broader SA narrative over the claim is that Latin Colonialism and forced annexations and genocides of first nation people is good based and is grounded on sanctifying previous holy Spanish/Portuguese Colonialism handed down by the Borgia Witchdoctor. “Norte” devolution of past colonialism (however its origins) to increasingly local rule is bad -- for no other reason that it denies them a neck to stand on and the thought of having someone who won't live as such is a threat to their “national identity.”
Apr 17th, 2013 - 01:31 pm - Link - Report abuse 0@5, actually East-Timor is a member (Timor-Leste)
Apr 17th, 2013 - 01:37 pm - Link - Report abuse 0Although the list is in most part a roll call of reprobates
@7 Exactly!
Apr 17th, 2013 - 02:25 pm - Link - Report abuse 0The previous President of Timor Leste supports Argentina over 'Las Malvinas', claiming that the Islanders no more live in British territory than the people who live in Chinatown in Buenos Aires
http://www.pagina12.com.ar/diario/elpais/1-187248-2012-02-09.html
As his dad was Portuguese, many people said he wasn't Timorese but mestizo. Hypocrite. Even when his country was occupied by Indonesia and Argentina was ruled by a military junta, he still supported it over 'Las Malvinas' - http://www.pagina12.com.ar/diario/elpais/1-187248-2012-02-09.html
The people of West Papua were handed over to Indonesia in 1969, after an 'Act of Free Choice' was held in which a group of people hand-picked by Indonesian military intelligence voted unanimously to become part of Indonesia - and the UN endorsed it. Hypocrites! See here - http://www.pagina12.com.ar/diario/elpais/1-187248-2012-02-09.html
It must be of concern that there are several member countries of the Commonwealth on this committee and, furthermore, some of them share Head of State with the United Kingdom and, of course, the Falkland Islands.
Apr 17th, 2013 - 02:50 pm - Link - Report abuse 0As a Chilean, I'm too predicial, would someone please explain why Tahiti and Easter Island are not on the list? What about Corsica?
Apr 17th, 2013 - 03:01 pm - Link - Report abuse 0@11 or the Canary Islands
Apr 17th, 2013 - 03:15 pm - Link - Report abuse 0@11,12 they all have votes in the Elections of the parent country.
Apr 17th, 2013 - 03:34 pm - Link - Report abuse 0Essentially if the UK said all the overseas territories are now part of the St Ives constituency so they could vote in the General Elections, then they would be same as the likes of French Polynesia.
@11 or the Faroe Islands?
Apr 17th, 2013 - 04:16 pm - Link - Report abuse 0Very important to pick out certain members of the C24: Bolivia, Chile, Cuba, Dominica, Ecuador, Iran, Nicaragua, Syria and Venezuela. Out of 29 “members”, 7 are latinos and 1 is a terrorist Islamic regime and 1 is engaged in a war against its own population. How very “above board” NOT! And doesn't the Committee Chairman, Diego Morejón, have some very specific and biased views on the Falkland Islands? He should be disqualified.
Apr 17th, 2013 - 04:21 pm - Link - Report abuse 0“He should be disqualified.”
Apr 17th, 2013 - 04:45 pm - Link - Report abuse 0why bother, its not as if it has any authority or use... its been going for 30 years and still hasnt done its job... in fact its only still going so that the various un-electeds and hangers-on can get some money out of the UN.
easy life, easy job, sit around saying the same old shyte all the time and, through one means or another, get “Paid” for it.
@8 -- My bad, thanks... but yes, while there are a few legitimate ex colonies who value self-determination, there are quite a few countries that spit on the principle not to mention the UN's agreements on human rights - but we have to let them all in don't we... And as per @9 apparently we can't even rely on countries that have been the object of brutal and barbaric colonization by fellow C24 members to value self-determinism and oppose fascist colonialist tendencies from Argentina. A completely rotten borough.
Apr 17th, 2013 - 04:54 pm - Link - Report abuse 0Ceuta?
Apr 17th, 2013 - 05:03 pm - Link - Report abuse 0Melilla?
Plazas de soberanía?
Melilla is twinned with Montevideo, Uruguay -> always makes me chuckle that does.
Diego Morejón es un don Nadie en su propio país.
Apr 17th, 2013 - 05:31 pm - Link - Report abuse 0@13 Don't forget French Guiana, part of the South American mainland.
Apr 17th, 2013 - 06:22 pm - Link - Report abuse 0@14 Glad you mentioned the Faeroe Islands - the UK has a good case for claiming them from Denmark, as a) they're closer to the UK than they are to Denmark, and b) as there are more people with Danish ancestry in the UK than in the Faeroe Islands, their identity will be preserved (just as that of the Anglo-Argentines has been in Argentina)
@17 Not all Timorese think like him, thankfully.
@18 Spain gave Ifni back to Morocco in 1969 without an act of self-determination - http://books.google.co.uk/books?id=V4G_qDMEdIoC&pg=PA123&dq=ifni+1969+ceded+to+morocco&hl=en&sa=X&ei=COhuUYiqGKKM0AW9z4DAAg&ved=0CDUQ6AEwAA#v=onepage&q=ifni%201969%20ceded%20to%20morocco&f=false
@20 re @14.... Screeeeewwww that... I want the Bahamas -- they're only 50 mi or so off our coast...... that or Kirribilli.
Apr 17th, 2013 - 06:35 pm - Link - Report abuse 0Ding Dong the Witch is Dead....
Apr 17th, 2013 - 06:35 pm - Link - Report abuse 022 Searinox (#) “Ding Dong the Witch is Dead....”
Apr 17th, 2013 - 07:18 pm - Link - Report abuse 0Well thank you for that incisive contrribution to this interesting debate. If you don't want people to think you are a tit, it would be best to keep quiet rather than post bollocks and confirm that your are complete tit.
@21 re @20 Well, the Faroe Islands look like a bigger version of the Falklands, so not much point.
Apr 17th, 2013 - 07:55 pm - Link - Report abuse 0http://www.theatlantic.com/infocus/2012/10/a-trip-to-the-faroe-islands/100388/
That's Kiribati (pronounced 'Kiribass', but they don't have a letter 's' in their alphabet.) Kirribilli is in Sydney.
@22 Searinox
Apr 17th, 2013 - 08:18 pm - Link - Report abuse 0Has la Kretina died? She is the only witch whose death will be celebrated in these columns!
'the Committee would also celebrate the Week of Solidarity with the Peoples’ of the Non-Self-Governing Territories '
Apr 17th, 2013 - 10:11 pm - Link - Report abuse 0well I bet they are truly thrilled to bits...
hang on a mo.... solidarity with the peoples of the Falklands..... golly
@26 are those capital-P People, little-p people or “populations.” I just can get nuances on those straight?
Apr 17th, 2013 - 11:01 pm - Link - Report abuse 0At least half of the countries on the C24 are in no position to be doing so ... war / starvation / sponsors of terrorism / murdering their own people (Syria) / barely able to run their own affairs!!!!
Apr 18th, 2013 - 10:19 am - Link - Report abuse 0They would be better served returning to their own countries and 'helping out on the ground'!
The UN really is bordering on (if not already) incompetent!
@24. Oh, I know where Kirribilli is (which is why I want it :-p). I can't see why AR should gave a monopoly on the GimmeGimmies!
Apr 18th, 2013 - 10:30 am - Link - Report abuse 0The Faroe Islands are about 200 miles from the UK mainland (slightly closer to the Shetland Islands) and 600 miles from Denmark. In fact if you draw a line between Torshavn and Copenhagen it actually goes through the islands of Yell and Fetlar.
Apr 18th, 2013 - 10:42 am - Link - Report abuse 0Not only that but the British have administered the Faroe Islands for about nineteen times as long as Argentina has administered the Falkland Islands, and on far better terms.
Surely by the usual line of lunacy that passes for arguement from some around here that would be enough for the British to claim soverignty, and the opinions of the people who have actually lived there naturally wouldn't count?
@30 Sure. Using Alicia Castro's warped logic, I could argue that as the east of England was under the Danelaw, and there are lots of towns with names ending with '-by' (meaning 'town' in Norse, like 'by' in Danish and 'bý' in Faroese) the 'inhabitants' way of life' would be 'respected' under British (or Scottish) sovereignty. No sillier than claiming that the existence of a suburb of Buenos Aires called 'Hurlingham' means that the 'inhabitants' of the Falklands have nothing to fear from Argentine sovereignty.
Apr 18th, 2013 - 04:01 pm - Link - Report abuse 0Commenting for this story is now closed.
If you have a Facebook account, become a fan and comment on our Facebook Page!