Jul 15 - Treaty of Utrecht 300th Anniversary Commemorated – Government Insists ‘it is Not a Bar to Self-Determination’
Marking the 300th anniversary of the signing of the Treaty of Utrecht, Chief Minister Fabian Picardo, along with Dr. Garcia, the Deputy Chief Minister, this weekend printed their own version of the document as a museum open day commemorating the anniversary.
This week the Government has insisted that the Treaty is ‘hopelessly out of date’ and it ‘cannot be used 300 years after its signature as a means to deny the people of Gibraltar their right to self-determination and decolonisation’.
For these reasons the administration chose not to celebrate the anniversary, but instead to commemorate its tercentenary. They have publically rejected the concept that a Treaty signed 300 years, when the right to self-determination did not even exist, can be used to curtail the application of that principle and its exercise in the case of Gibraltar.
During a conference held in Seville during May, discussing the Treaty and its anniversary, the Chief Minister highlighted the fact that many aspects of the Treaty are ‘repugnant in this day and age’. In a recent statement to the press the Government added, ‘this includes the provision in Article X, the one that refers to Gibraltar, which prohibits Jewish and Moorish persons from residing here. There are others elsewhere.
The reversion clause is also a source of considerable controversy. The reality is that Spain cannot have it both ways. If the Treaty is applicable then Gibraltar is British in perpetuity and the reversion clause is irrelevant. If the Treaty is not applicable, then Gibraltar is British by right of conquest and the people of Gibraltar have same the right to self-determination and decolonisation as any other non-self-governing territory.’
A symposium debating the matter has been organised for October. A panel of international historians and experts will discuss the Treaty as a whole.
As part of the commemoration, the Government has issued a set of stamps and a commemorative coin has been approved. Speaking on the matter, historian and Deputy Chief Minister Dr. Garcia noted, ‘in 1713 territories and countries were bandied about from one monarch to another, regardless of the wishes of the people who lived in them. Three hundred years on Europe is a very different place. The fundamental democratic right of a people to decide their own future, the right to self-determination, is now an overriding principle of international law. This means that the future of Gibraltar can only be decided by the people of Gibraltar. It is a serious error of judgement and of fact to see this question through the eyes of 1713, as some continue to do. The days of absolute monarchies in Europe who ruled by divine right ended very many years ago. Today people come first. The Treaty of Utrecht is not a bar to Gibraltar’s self-determination and decolonisation’.
