Jun 15 – SDGG Chairman: “We Will Not Allow Anyone To Trample Over Our Political Freedom”
This is the text of today’s address to the UN’s Committee of 24 by Richard Buttigieg, Chairman of the SDGG.
Good afternoon Mr Chairman and members of the Committee.
I thank you for the opportunity afforded to me to address you all.
I appear before you today as the recently appointed Chairperson of the Self Determination for Gibraltar Group, after my predecessor, Mr Denis Matthews, has done so for years before me.
I am of course honoured to be able to speak here today but I must confess that I do so with a sense of sadness and incredulity. The latter, because it beggars belief that more than 30 years into the so called ‘last decade of decolonisation’ proclaimed by the United Nations, Gibraltar still finds itself having to appear before forums such as this one to advocate its right to self-determination and to seek its removal from the United Nations’ list of colonies.
And sadness, because it is to me inconceivable that in an era of increased European and worldwide collaboration, at a time when the world rightly unites in fighting inequality, racism and discrimination in its various forms, Gibraltar still finds itself ignored by this Committee.
And I do not say you ignore us lightly. I say so because, Her Majesty’s Government of Gibraltar and my own organisation, have repeatedly asked this Committee and the UN 4th Committee what else Gibraltar needs to do in order to meet the United Nations’ criteria for removal from the list of colonies. Yet you have not even deigned to acknowledge our request, much less an answer upon which we can progress. You cannot blame Gibraltar, therefore, for having very little faith in this Committee given its track record on our issue. What little faith does remain, however, makes us hope your silence is not intended to appease third parties with outdated irredentist claims.
This year Gibraltar marks the anniversary of the evacuation of the women, children and residents of Gibraltar that had to leave our country during the Second World War. Those that were not evacuated, remained behind to fight a war shoulder to shoulder with many of the Nations that comprise this Committee today. Yet none of you speak up to uphold the rights of those that gave their lives for the cause. Your silence is deafening and painful to those whose memory Gibraltar commemorates this year.
Members of the Committee, do you not think the time has come for the people of Gibraltar, especially those that suffered during the war, to hear, once and for all, that this Committee actually cares about the people of Gibraltar?
Your position, however, has consistently been one of useless rhetoric which does not advance the position one iota and effectively undermines the right of the Gibraltarian people to choose their future; so one cannot but despair.
I must therefore ask once again for your support in recognising that Gibraltar and its people have the inalienable right to self-determination. If you are not convinced, please come and visit us and see the reality of our country and our people for yourselves. Her Majesty’s Government of Gibraltar has often extended an invitation to the United Nations for it to send a fact finding mission. I am very confident that, should you visit us, you will be convinced that the Gibraltar issue is not a case that can or ought to be resolved bilaterally by the United Kingdom and Spain. The people of Gibraltar have a right to be heard and their wishes respected.
And I use the word ‘people’ quite purposefully because The Government of Spain argues that the Gibraltarians are not a people. They have called us ‘parasitic’, ‘artificial’, ‘prefabricated’, ‘alien’ and ‘of unnatural human assemblage’. Quite extraordinary remarks from a supposed Western democracy which this Committee has unfortunately never challenged or cared to contrast.
One would think that a visiting mission would have followed almost as a matter of course after hearing such claims, especially if Spain’s assertions are taken to be an impediment to the exercise of the right of self determination by the people of Gibraltar (a contention which we obviously do not accept). Yet no such visit has ever taken place in spite of repeated invitations, thereby leading the Gibraltarians to think the United Nations shirks from its responsibilities and duties.
With the greatest respect to the Kingdom of Spain, it is the height of political hypocrisy for them to champion the rights and liberties of the new world but to quite openly say that (a) either the inhabitants of Gibraltar are not a ‘people’ and/or (b) that, even if we are, the principles of territorial integrity should prevail over the rights of a people. In considering the latter and to highlight the Government of Spain’s hypocrisy, please permit me to paraphrase the following statement, which was made by Ambassador Aldo Mantovani, Deputy Permanent Representative of Italy to the United Nations, on behalf of the European Union on October 24, 2003 and, which I emphasise, is a statement endorsed by the Kingdom of Spain at the time.
The statement is entitled ‘Right of peoples to self-determination and, inter alia, reads as follows:
The right of peoples to self-determination deserves the closest attention of the international community… There has been a growing demand for the recognition of the right to self-determination. We are all called to make sure that this right is fully respected and ensured in accordance with international law. In this respect the United Nations have a prominent role to play.
The right of peoples to self-determination is included in States’ obligations in the field of human rights. For the European Union, it is important that peoples should be able to determine the framework of their lives in the present international community. We encourage all States to respect their obligations in this field and to co-operate with others to ensure that they are implemented world-wide.
The Kingdom of Spain supported such statement but then has the audacity to proclaim that Gibraltar must be returned to Spain on the basis of an outdated claim over Gibraltar, based on the Treaty of Utrecht, the validity of which they are not brave enough to test in the International Court of Justice. It is an archaic and undemocratic position to take, totally out of touch with modern Human Rights and definitely not in keeping with the aforementioned statement made by the European Union and endorsed by Spain.
Mr Chairman, I said this when I last appeared before the 4th Committee and I shall say it again today, for it is of the utmost relevance. The people of Gibraltar have been born, have lived and have died in our land for three hundred and ten years, longer than peoples in the United States of America, Australia and many other countries which sit here today. The people of Gibraltar have struggled over all these years to build a small nation with a great degree of maximum self-government which may be as close to being non-colonial as possible.
The Gibraltar 2006 Constitution provides Gibraltar with a level of self-governance that is not akin to that of a colony, but if that is not enough for the Committee to recommend its removal from the United Nations list of colonies (and we believe it is) please tell us what else we need to do. What you should not continue to do is ignore us whilst advocating that you wish to see the end of colonisation. Be coherent, be brave, take positive action now.
Gibraltar is ready and waiting. But the United Nations has to be courageous enough to do that which it is mandated to do. The world looks towards the United Nations as a beacon of guidance and leadership so you must take affirmative action once and for all. It is simply not good enough for the United Nations to ask the United Kingdom and Spain to resolve the ‘Gibraltar issue’ between themselves. The only right thing is for the people of Gibraltar (and we are a people whether Spain recognises it or not) to freely and democratically elect their own political status going forward.
Spain has had a painful transition into a democracy, is part of the European Union and NATO yet still continues to oppress Gibraltar at almost every opportunity. To name but a few instances, they continuously spew false accusations about Gibraltar’s fiscal regime when the OECD and IMF have positively endorsed us; they are currently seeking to block Gibraltar’s accession into the single skies agreement and they routinely oppose Gibraltar’s applications to become members of any international sporting association.
The Government of Spain continue to cause hardship at the Gibraltar-Spanish frontier where there are over 10,000 cross frontier Spanish workers who, when coming into Gibraltar each day to earn a living, have to endure unjustified queues and delays. The Government of Spain allege that the delays at the border are justified in order to control the passage of goods but the European Union have admonished them and they have therefore been forced to carry out extensive works to the area in order to improve the flow.
Perhaps they do this because of a misplaced sense of national pride, or to uphold misconceived notions of symbolism and national unity, but the end result is that the Kingdom of Spain (which is not to say its people) antagonise Gibraltar and does not even acknowledge that Gibraltar should have a separate voice when its future is being decided. With the greatest respect, that is not the mark of the progressive and democratic nation that Spain says it is and I am confident it can be.
Ladies and Gentlemen of the Committee, please do not misinterpret my message.
We are not secessionists. We do not seek to create conflict or division. All we ask for is to be recognised as a people with the right to decide our own future for ourselves.
We are listed as a colony by the United Nations. We nevertheless consider that, after may years of struggles, arguments, set backs and achievements, we have finally reached a partnership with the United Kingdom based on respect and recognition for our right to decide our future which is non-colonial in nature.
We are integrated within the European Union to which both the UK and the Kingdom of Spain belong. It is a Union where national sovereignties have progressively been diluted for more than 30 years. It therefore simply defies all logic that an outdated sovereignty claim might be used as the reason to deny us our right to self determination and to continue to keep Gibraltar on the United Nations list of colonies.
Mr Chairman, members of the Committee, I have said this before and will not tire of repeating it. The people of Gibraltar are resolute and tenacious. We will never surrender in our resolve to exercise our rights and justify the sacrifices of our forefathers. I am here today because my forefathers came before me and fought hard to do so, many of them even sacrificed their lives for our Gibraltar. And there is a strong young generation of Gibraltarians who will follow (some of our school students are even here with us today). My own children will follow and our children’s children, because we will not allow anyone to trample over our political freedom and no one will deny the Gibraltarians the right to freely decide their own future. No one.
Thank you all for your time.
Pic: From left to right: SDGG members Fortunato (‘Forti’) Azzopardi and Richard Buttigieg.
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