A/HRC/21/45
Miguel Alfonso Martínez on treaties, agreements and other constructive arrangements
between States and indigenous populations (E/CN.4/Sub.2/1999/20). He will also build on
the work of the family of special rapporteurs of the Human Rights Council, the General
Assembly and the Commission on Human Rights, in particular with respect to resolutions
on the right of peoples to peace (Assembly resolution 39/11 and Commission resolution
2002/71). The pertinent conventions and directives of specialized agencies, such as the
International Labour Organization (ILO), will be incorporated into the analysis of thematic
issues in future reports.
C.
Ethical and historical perspective
23.
It is appropriate to recall that the objectives of the present mandate reflect
aspirations expressed by the leaders of many countries, even before the creation of the
United Nations. For instance, President Franklin Roosevelt of the United States of America
articulated universal hopes in his ―Four Freedoms‖ address of 6 January 1941, notably the
freedom from want and the freedom from fear. These principles were confirmed in the
eight-point peace plan known as the Atlantic Charter of August 1941, subsequently adhered
to by 26 governments in the Declaration by United Nations of 1 January 1942. Article 2 of
the Atlantic Charter stipulates that the anti-Hitler coalition ―desire to see no territorial
changes that do not accord with the freely expressed wishes of the peoples concerned‖; its
article 3 provides that ―they respect the right of all peoples to choose the form of
government under which they will live‖, its article 4 commits States to promote ―the
enjoyment by all States, great or small, victor or vanquished, of access, on equal terms, to
the trade and to the raw materials of the world which are needed for their economic
prosperity‖; and its article 8 reaffirms the need for disarmament.
24.
For centuries secular and religious thinkers have promoted peace and social justice.
A central thesis of Immanuel Kant‘s philosophy was the imperative to recognize that
humans are ends and should not be used as mere means to an end. Mahatma Ghandi
propounded the philosophy of satyagraha7 in his campaigns to reform Indian society and to
7
10
Corr.1), endorsed by the Commission on Human Rights and the Economic and Social Commission
but never elevated to the General Assembly for adoption. The first United Nations High
Commissioner for Human Rights stated at the opening of an expert consultation convened by Mr. AlKhasawneh in February 2007:
Sub-Commission resolutions 1994/24, 1995/13 and 1996/9 recognize ‗that
practices of forcible exile, mass expulsions and deportations, population transfer,
‗ethnic cleansing‘ and other forms of forcible displacement of populations within a
country or across borders deprive the affected populations of their right to freedom
of movement.‘
But I would go further, because the right to live in one‘s native land is a very
precious and fundamental right. Compulsory population transfers, including the
implantation of settlers and settlements are a serious matter, not only because they
affect many people, but also because they violate the whole gamut of civil and
political rights, economic, social and cultural rights.
See further A. de Zayas ―Forced population transfer‖ in Wolfrum, ed., Max Planck Encyclopedia of
Public International Law, Vol. IV (2012) 165-175; Felix Ermacora et al., Grundrechte der
europäischen Volksgruppen (1993); Christian Tomuschat, ―Das Recht auf die Heimat: Neue
rechtliche Aspetke‖ in J. Jekewitz et al., eds., Des Menschen Recht zwischen Freiheit und
Verantwortung (1989) pp. 183–212.
Satyagraha (Sanskrit), ―insistence on truth‖, is a philosophy relating to non-violent resistance.
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