Copyright Inter Press Service 1993, all rights reserved. Permission to re-
print within 7 days of original date only with permission from 'newsdesk'.
an inter press service feature
by guido de bruin
the hague, feb 5 (ips) -- the world's minorities and indigenous
peoples are very aware of the forum they have in the unrepresented
nations and peoples organisation (unpo). but they don't want it to
be just a complaints desk; they want it to have political
influence if not clout.
the view of many of its members is that the organisation should
not focus on its members' suffering, but on strategies to improve
their lot. ''we should overcome our inferiority complex,'' is how
a representative from south ossetia puts it.
and to the mind of secretary-general michiel van walt van praag,
the unpo is gaining in stature, or as he puts it ''coming of age''
since it was founded in 1991.
praag's comments were made in the light of the developments and
tone taken at the unpo's recently held third general assembly in
the hague -- the home of the organisation labeled as the
'alternative united nations'.
the six-day session saw the taking in of 13 new members in the
fold which now numbers 39 minority and indigenous peoples groups.
among the new members are the komi, udmurt and chuvash from the
former soviet union, the council of khalistan from punjab,
nigeria's ogoni, and the east timorese from indonesia.
the older members include abkhazia in georgia, the australian
aboriginals, people from the chittagong hill tracts in bangladesh,
the greeks in albania, kurdistan, taiwan, tibet and west papua.
unpo aims to serve the interests of unrepresented indigenous
peoples and minorities in their struggle for self-determination
through diplomacy training, lobbying at u.n. organisations and
efforts to mediate between members and governments.
van walt van praag terms last month's assembly a ''turning
point'' in the organisation's history. ''we have changed from a
small, informal group of people into an important international
organisation with sometimes contradictory interests,'' he says.
but like any parent, van praag is protective when it comes to the
organisation growing too big too fast. he has strongly resisted
calls to open up the organisation to all who wish to join; as he
has resisted actively seeking out new members.
effective service could be jeopardised if unpo grows too quickly,
he says, stressing the importance of thorough examination of the
candidates' position with regard to non-violence and the right to
represent the majority of their community.(more/ips)
human rights: unrepresented peoples' forum 'coming of age'(2-e)
human rights: unrepresented (2)
his caution may be justified. in the last assembly, the body was
confronted with its first internal squabble rooted along the very
same non-violent premises on which the unpo stands.
in the conflict between abkhazia and georgia -- a supporting
member -- the former by way of a resolution accuses the latter of
genocide and condemns the georgian government for atrocities
against abkhazian citizens struggling for self-determination.
the resolution was adopted by the assembly, but sanctions were
not taken against the georgians, who were unrepresented at the
session. the unpo is yet to develop mechanisms to punish members
that step out of line with the organisation's charter.
at any rate, the abkhazians themselves are not in favour of
expulsion of georgia from unpo. ''unpo is the only organisation of
which both abkhazia and georgia are members. it provides the
opportunity to communicate with the georgian side,'' said
abkhazian delegate guram gumba.
the council of khalistan, campaigning for an independent sikh
state in the present indian state of punjab, was one of the groups
calling for a more generous admission policy, having itself been
originally rejected as a unpo member.
the unpo steering committee however raised questions about the
council's attitude towards terrorism. such concerns were in part
allayed by council president gurmit singh aulakh who publicly
denounced terrorism and expressed his commitment to a non-violent
solution of the sikh problem.
''the whole sikh community is coming together under one
democratic and non-violent banner. terrorism is a marginal
phenomenon in the punjab,'' added council representative parajit
singh ajrawat.
''the question always remains whether we can really keep them to
their promise,'' notes van walt van praag. ''but we have at least
something to judge their conduct in the future.''
the council of khalistan is another on a list seeking to have a
voice through the unpo which in the words of van praag is slowly
gaining influence.
''unpo is very important. we do not expect anything dramatic from
them, but how could we make contact with the outside world without
them?'' asked ogoni representative ken saro-wiwa, happy to have
been included in the grouping.
at the assembly, saro-wiwa accused the international oil company
shell of ''waging ecological war on the ogoni nation'', and
according to van praag ''within one day'' there was a shell
representative to talk to the ogoni people. this is testimony that
''we are being listened to'', adds praag.
(end/ips/hr/gdb/jm/cpg/93)