| Mr Chairman
I thank you and the members of the Special Committee for the
opportunity to address you once again as Chief Minister of Gibraltar on the subject of
Gibraltar`s decolonisation, which it continues to be my honour and privilege to do,
following General Elections in February this year which returned my party to office.
During my own annual addresses to you since July 1996, and in addresses
to you by my predecessors in previous years, Gibraltar`s Chief Ministers have sought to do
three things. Firstly to appraise the Special Committee of the facts and the realities
about modern Gibraltar; secondly to assert and justify our claim to the same inalienable
right to self determination enjoyed by all colonial people; and thirdly to challenge the
arguments and the facts put to you by the Kingdom of Spain that systematically seeks to
rebut our contention on both these matters. These arguments have now been put repeatedly
and are therefore well known to the Committee.
We have asserted that we enjoy the inalienable right to self
determination because we are a colonial people. We are the people of a colonised
territory. We have been on your list of Non Self Governing Territories since 1946. All
such territories are entitled to decolonisation by the application of the principle of
self determination. This is the only principle applicable in the decolonisation process.
The Kingdom of Spain asserts that, despite the passage of 296 years since Gibraltar has
not been Spanish or part of the Kingdom of Spain we are not a colonial people but rather
(and I quote the Representative of the Kingdom of Spain to the 54th Session of
the Fourth Committee of the General Assembly on 7 October 1999) that we are "the descendants
of the colonising people". Gibraltarians are, in fact, the descendants of people from
many parts of Europe who over the different generations since 1704 settled in the colony
just as occurred with settlers in the United States of America, Canada, Australia, New
Zealand, South America and the Carribean countries – all of whom nevertheless
exercised the right to self determination in the colonies in which they settled. Indeed,
the people who exercised the rights equivalent to modern rights of self
determination in much of South America, were the descendants of the colonising people
– namely Spain!
We have asserted that it is the doctrine of the United Nations that in
the process of decolonisation there is no alternative to the principle of self
determination. This has been accepted by Regional Seminars of this Special Committee, by
this Special Committee and by the Fourth Committee. Spain nevertheless asserts that
Gibraltar must be decolonised, not pursuant to this exclusive principle of self
determination, but by what she asserts to be a principle called "territorial
integrity". Mr Chairman there is no such principle recognised in international law
for the decolonisation of a colony in violation of its peoples` right to self
determination. We are confirmed in this view by the judicial statement of the
International Court of Justice in the Western Sahara case that "even if integration
of the territory was demanded by an interested state, it could not be had without
ascertaining the freely expressed will of the people – the very sine qua non of all
decolonisation".
Spain asserts that there is a special UN doctrine relating to what she
calls colonies that are "territorial enclaves". We assert that there is no such
doctrine in the UN or elsewhere in international law.. There is but one universal
principle of decolonisation applicable to all colonised territories – and that is
self determination. Our view would appear to be endorsed by Spain`s own behaviour in
rejecting the Kingdom of Morocco`s claim to Spain`s territorial enclaves of Ceuta and
Melilla in North Africa.
Spain asserts that the application of the principle of self
determination to the decolonisation of Gibraltar and its people would breach her
territorial integrity. We assert that it does not do so, since her territorial integrity,
like that of many nations, was breached, if at all, 300 years ago. The breach is thus not
the result of our exercise of self determination. The principle of territorial integrity
applies only to secession of territories from a Member State, which cannot be
justified by alleging the application of the principle of self determination. This is not
the case of Gibraltar or any other colony.
The view that the principle of self determination applies to the
decolonisation of all the territories on this Committee`s list of Non Self Governing
Territories has been upheld by the International Court of Justice and numerous statements
by this Organisation. As recently as 18th February 2000 the UN Deputy Secretary
General said, on the occasion of the beginning of your 2000 session, "continued
support for the aspirations of the peoples of the remaining 17 Non Self Governing
Territories to exercise their right to self determination is a principal responsibility of
the Special Committee". Gibraltar is, of course, one of those 17 territories!
We assert therefore that we enjoy that inalienable right to self
determination. Spain, on the other hand asserts that we do not – not only for the
reasoning that I have attributed to her earlier in my address – but for the further
reason that – she alleges – a provision in the Treaty of Utrecht of 1713 has the
effect of denying us that right. Our own Administering Power, the United Kingdom, which in
1969 asserted before the General Assembly that it was undeniable that Gibraltar enjoys the
right to self determination and that the Treaty of Utrecht did not affect that right
– now asserts that we do have the right but that it is "curtailed"
by the Treaty of Utrecht so as to exclude the possibility of independence and free
association. We for our part assert that, whatever may be the proper interpretation of the
Treaty of Utrecht, it is, in any case, incapable of displacing the right to self
determination of the people of Gibraltar being rights enshrined in the Charter of the
United Nations and in accordance with other over riding modern international legal
principles.
Referral to
International Court of Justice
Well Mr Chairman, there is an obvious course of action available to
resolve all these assertions and counter assertions. That is that the Fourth Committee
should refer the following questions to the International Court of Justice for a
declaratory ruling:
Does the principle of self determination by the people of Gibraltar
apply to the decolonisation of Gibraltar?
If it does, is this right curtailed or howsoever affected by the Treaty
of Utrecht of 1713, and if so, how?
Mr Chairman, I should report to the Special Committee that on 18th
November 1999 Gibraltar`s Parliament unanimously passed a resolution to this effect. I
shall hand a copy of its full text to the Secretariat for placing on the record.
Mr Chairman, I and others before me, in the name of Gibraltar have
urged you to recommend this course of action to the Fourth Committee. The people of
Gibraltar are entitled to clarity on these vital issues. We are confident of our rights in
international law. If others obstruct this course of action the Special
Committee and others will be entitled to draw obvious inferences and conclusions.
Mr Chairman, assertions and counter assertions relating to Gibraltar
are not limited to legalistic and political issues. They extend to factual matters as
well. Over the years Gibraltar`s Chief Ministers have set out to inform the Special
Committee of the reality of the facts and circumstances of Gibraltar. And so last year I
told the Special Committee that Gibraltar is a vibrant, self sufficient economy based on
tourism (6 million visitors a year), financial services (we operate one of the world`s
best legislated and best regulated offshore financial services centres which is fully
compliant with EU and international standards and requirements), port services (Gibraltar
is the largest ship bunkering port in the Mediterranean and operates a strategically
located and successful ship repair facility). We are increasingly attracting new
industries, especially in the field of internet and international telecoms based
activities and international satellite telecommunications. We have our own parliament in
which we make all our own laws. We have a ministerial system of elected Government which
exercises self government in all areas of political and executive activity except external
affairs, defence and internal security, which remain the responsibility of the
Administering Power. We have our own police force and judicial system and our own Civil
Service. We raise our own taxes which we spend as we please. We make and implement our own
economic, fiscal, social, education, health, land and other policies. It is vital that
Excellencies dispel from their minds the pre 1960s spectre of a territory governed by
colonial Governors and administrators sent out to the territory by the Administering
Power. We are very substantially self governing in practice.
Spain by contrast systematically
seeks to paint a very different and wholly false picture of Gibraltar. For example, the
Spanish Representative told the General Assembly on 7th October 1999 that:
"Gibraltar lacks natural resources and agricultural land. Her
economy, formerly dependent on the British military base, is now based on its exceptional
and privileged status within the EU given that it is exempt from VAT and is excluded from
the EU Common Customs Zone. This added to the opaqueness of its financial system converts
it into a parasite economy that lives from and at the expense of Spain and from depressing
the neighbouring Spanish territory". She said also that our economy was established
on "corrupt bases" and that Gibraltar had to establish a sound economy, fully in
conformity with EU directives and regulations in which there is no illicit trafficking nor
financial opaqueness which permits fiscal competition which have negative consequences for
Spanish interests and Spanish exchequer".
Mr Chairman this is a wholly false and propagandistic characterisation
of Gibraltar designed to undermine the UN`s confidence in our legitimacy and in our rights
as a people and as a country. It is an unworthy attempt, at the collective criminalisation
of my country and its people that Spain systematically engages in to undermine Gibraltar`s
reputation and support.
We do what we can for ourselves but the inequality of resources,
diplomatic and political influence and access severely handicaps us.
Mr Chairman the truth is that Gibraltar has implemented, complies with
and enforces every international convention and standard relating to the international
fight against drugs trafficking and money laundering relating to the proceeds of all
crimes, not just drugs. In this respect it will interest the Special Committee to know
that Gibraltar was a founding and adviser member of the new United Nation Offshore Forum
relating to the fight against drugs trafficking and money laundering and that Gibraltar
complies with every criteria established by that Forum. Gibraltar complies with all
applicable EU requirements on the regulation of the financial system. Our financial system
is no more opaque than the UK`s and the rest of Europe and the modern world. Ironically,
Spain herself is in non compliance with many more EU Financial Directives than Gibraltar.
This does not make her shy to make false allegations against us on the issue.
It would take for ever to list all the instances of this propaganda to
which I have referred. By way of example only, I would inform the Special Committee of the
latest, outrageous example.
Distinguished delegates will be aware that the Financial Action Task
Force established by the G7 under the auspices of the OECD has been conducting an enquiry
into 47 financial services centres to ascertain which are co-operative, and which are not
co-operative, in the international fight against drugs money laundering and the laundering
of the proceeds of organised and serious crimes.
The FATF report, published on 22nd June 2000, categorises
Gibraltar as co-operative saying that Gibraltar has "comprehensive anti money
laundering systems", and does not find that Gibraltar fails any of the
FATF 25 tests of non co-operation. The FATF report categorises 15 countries as being
"non-cooperative". When reporting on the FATF report, Spanish state owned,
national television nevertheless added Gibraltar to the list of 15 countries that
the FATF had found to be non-co-operative, thus publicising the very opposite of the
Report`s findings and fabricating information for the sole purpose of blackening
Gibraltar`s name. This was placed on their world wide internet website.
Mr Chairman, it is not only administrative powers that have obligations
and responsibilities, under UN doctrines, towards Non Self Governing Territories. Numerous
UN Resolutions and Covenants impose on all UN Members the obligation not to oppress
and harass Non Self Governing Territories. Spain is persistently and systematically in
breach of these obligations.
Mr Chairman, this harassment does not just take the form of the
dissemination of false propaganda about us. Spain also causes unnecessary delays in
crossing the international frontier between us and then uses spurious pretexts, such as
drug smuggling and money laundering to try and justify what everyone, including her own
citizens in the region, know to be unjustified and injustifiable. Spain also interferes
with the development of our telephone services by obstructing the expansion of our
telephone numbering plan and mobile phone network.
The People of Gibraltar
I would respectfully submit that the reality of our legitimate
existence as a people is inescapable to anyone who visits Gibraltar. No one who visits
Gibraltar can conclude that we are not a distinct people. The origins of our people are
indeed a mixture of various Mediterranean and British stock. This ethnic cocktail, so
common to the
historical and current make up of many of the UN`s Member States, is
complemented by a wonderful diversity of cultural influences from many countries. These
differing ethnic and cultural backgrounds, Mr Chairman, have long ago over the decades,
and continuously since 1704, fused a cohesive people small in number, but immensely rich
in heritage, culture, social and religious tolerance. Our identity is distinct, separate
and unique. As a people the only way in which we can be accurately described is therefore
as "Gibraltarians".
Spain on the other hand asserts that even though Gibraltar is a colony
of the UK, the people of Gibraltar are not a colonial people because, she says, we are the
descendants of the colonising people and of people brought to the colony by them.
This leads her to the peculiar conclusion, for which there is no basis in international
law or in the history of decolonisation of the world, that we therefore do not enjoy the
right to self determination.
Well, Mr Chairman, there is also an obvious course of action available
to resolve these assertions and counter assertions relating to factual matters. And that
is that the Special Committee should take neither Spain`s word nor Gibraltar`s word for
these issues and should simply visit Gibraltar and assess and judge for itself what are
the physical, economic, political, social and cultural realities of Gibraltar and whether
the people of Gibraltar are a distinct people worthy of that name and of the right to
achieve decolonisation through the exercise of self determination.
In our view, Spain`s position in relation to the decolonisation and
other aspects of Gibraltar is based on a distortion of both international law and of the
facts and circumstances of Gibraltar. Both of these are capable of objective assessment
and resolution. The first by referring the question of the existence or otherwise of our
right of self determination to the International Court of Justice for a declaratory ruling
and the second by the Special Committee despatching a delegation to visit Gibraltar to
assess the factual situation of our circumstances. I, and my predecessors before me, have
invited the Special Committee to pursue both and I once again renew that invitation.
Dialogue
Mr Chairman, I have said on many occasions to this Committee and to
the Fourth Committee and it is fully reflected in the Secretariat’s Working Paper on
the question of Gibraltar at paragraph 64, that the Government of Gibraltar is not afraid
of, and positively seeks dialogue and good relations and co-operation with Spain. However,
dialogue about Gibraltar must be structured so as to give the people of Gibraltar, as the
primary interested party, a proper voice of its own in the form of their elected leaders and Government.
It is therefore wrong and pointless, for this Committee to continue,
year after year, to recommend to the Fourth Committee a decision that calls for bilateral
dialogue between our Administering Power, the UK, and the territorial third party
claimant, Spain. It is wrong because Spain derives from such bilateralism comfort for her
thesis that this is not a case of decolonisation by self determination of the people of
Gibraltar but rather a bilateral sovereignty dispute between the UK and Spain in which the
people of Gibraltar have no rights. It is pointless because such bilateral talks have made
no progress since they commenced in 1984. Indeed, as the Working Paper correctly observes
at para 69, such meetings have not taken place at all since 10 December 1997.
I hope that distinguished representatives will appreciate and
understand that despite our desire to engage Spain in dialogue, it is not reasonable to
expect us to do so within a structure, which of itself, prejudices our substantive
position and rights as we see them. We would hope that the Kingdom of Spain can also
understand our position and concern in that respect, just as we understand that the
structure of dialogue should not prejudice Spain`s position either. It seems to us that
all that is required is a little imagination, good faith and will on all sides to seek a
formula for dialogue that properly safeguards the fundamental interests and concerns of
all sides. For Gibraltar`s part, the Gibraltar Government is willing to participate fully
in the exploration of those possibilities.
I therefore renew my petition to the Special Committee that it
introduces into its annual recommendation the call for meaningful and constructive
dialogue structured in manner which includes the representatives of the people of
Gibraltar in their own right and with their own voice.
Mr Chairman, whilst on the subject of dialogue, I note the restatement
by the Spanish representative during her address to the Fourth Committee on 7th
October 1999 of the point that Spain`s offer of transitory co-sovereignty between Britain
and Spain followed by full integration into Spain – the so-called Matutes Proposals -
were not a final offer, but rather a starting point for negotiations. I had, just two days
earlier, told the Fourth Committee that this statement was positive if it meant that Spain
is able to contemplate and seek a solution to the issue of her territorial claim that does
not involve a Spanish Gibraltar and which is in accordance with the wishes of the people
of Gibraltar.
However, in assessing whether the so-called Matutes Proposals genuinely
were a final offer or an opening offer, it is necessary to consider the language in which
they were couched. The reality is that they came with a very comprehensively spelt out
"health warning" as to the adverse consequences for Gibraltar of a negative
response.
Mr Chairman, on several occasions the Kingdom of Spain has said
publicly that the Matutes proposals have been hastily rejected by the people, Parliament
and Government of Gibraltar without proper consideration. This is not so since the
proposals intrinsically involve immediate Spanish co-sovereignty followed by permanent and
exclusive Spanish sovereignty over Gibraltar under the Spanish State, to both of which the
people of Gibraltar are firmly and practically unanimously opposed. There has been a
unanimous resolution of Gibraltar`s Parliament and a massively subscribed public petition
rejecting these proposals. The people of Gibraltar now await the UK`s formal rejection of
the proposals consistent with their commitment to respect the wishes of the people of
Gibraltar in this respect and with the unanimous wishes of Gibraltar`s Parliament
expressed in a motion to that effect.
Mr Chairman, such rejection of the Matutes` Proposals does not mean
that the Gibraltar Government is unwilling to participate constructively in properly
structured dialogue about Gibraltar.
Delisting Of Territories
Mr Chairman, during the last year or two the issue of delisting
territories, that is to say removing them from the Special Committee`s list of Non Self
Governing Territories and therefore from the Committee`s and the UN`s oversight has been
increasingly under discussion.
My Government supports the development of modern, realistic and
workable criteria for the delisting of territories. Those criteria must however include a
genuine and free act of self determination, namely a referendum, by which the people of
the territory make a valid decolonisation choice.
It would be wholly wrong and inappropriate for any of the 17
territories to be delisted without the consent of the people of the territory and other
than in the context of the decolonisation of the territory consequent upon the exercise of
the right to self determination by the people of that territory.
I say these things, Mr Chairman, because I understand that the Kingdom
of Spain is lobbying the Special Committee to delist Gibraltar, without an act of self
determination on our part, and precisely because she alleges that Gibraltar is not a case
of decolonisation by self determination within the Committee`s jurisdiction, but rather a
simple territorial sovereignty dispute. This would be tantamount to the Special Committee
comprehensively adjudicating against the people of Gibraltar on the question of the
existence of their right to self determination.
Mr Chairman, I cannot believe that the Committee would even contemplate
such a course of action which would be regarded by the people of Gibraltar as a betrayal
of them by the very organisation in which they have placed their trust.
If the Committee has the remotest doubt about our political and legal
rights under the Charter and other international law the fair and proper course of action
would be, as I have already said, to recommend to the Fourth Committee that it refers the
matter to the International Court of Justice for a declaratory ruling.
We however have no such doubts about our political and legal rights. We
have no doubt that we are the beneficiaries of the inalienable right to self
determination.
Report on the
situation of Gibraltar
Mr Chairman, there are two issues affecting Gibraltar upon which I
think that it is both necessary and appropriate that I report to the Committee:-
EU Agreements
I have previously reported to the Committee on Gibraltar’s
difficulty in enjoying its EU Rights in accordance with our Constitutional authority and
autonomy because of Spain’s refusal to recognise our domestic competent authorities
in the context of dealings within the EU. I am delighted to report, as does the
Secretariat in its Working Paper, that the Gibraltar Government has been able to agree to
what we consider to be good agreements which
establish arrangements which satisfactorily overcome this particular
category of difficulties (other types of difficulties remain unresolved). The agreements
means that Gibraltar’s own Constitutional domestic competent authorities will be
designated in and under EU legal instruments as competent to administer and implement
those instruments in and for Gibraltar and that their acts and decisions will be
recognised throughout the European Union. This fully upholds our Constitutional and
jurisdictional autonomy and our self Government both domestically and for EU business.
However, given that we are not a separate Member State of the EU in our own right we have
agreed that, given that the UK is the Member State responsible for Gibraltar in the EU,
communications between Gibraltar’s competent authorities and the competent
authorities in other EU Member States will be physically conveyed on Gibraltar’s
behalf by the British Government. We believe that these agreements are good for Gibraltar
and all EU Member States.
In addition, agreements have been reached that result in the
recognition by all EU Member States of identity cards issued in and by Gibraltar’s
statutory administrative authority in that respect. And finally an agreement has been
entered into which finally establishes a formal structure for co-operation between
Gibraltar’s police force and police forces in Spain.
Contrary to the report in the Working Paper the Agreements do not
relate to finance. The Government of Gibraltar has been engaged with the United Kingdom
Government in the negotiation of every aspect of the Agreements.
Eurovote
In February 1999 the European Court of Human Rights ruled that the
United Kingdom was in violation of the European Convention of Human Rights as a result of
its failure to make arrangements for Gibraltar to participate in elections for Members of
the European Parliament. The United Kingdom has committed itself to the rectification of
this violation. It has not yet occurred. The Kingdom of Spain has objected to the United
Kingdom’s attempt to end this violation of human rights which is occurring within the
European Community. Given the ruling of the European Court of Human Rights it would be
inconceivable in terms of the EU`s commitment to uphold internationally agreed standards
of human rights for Gibraltar not to be properly enfranchised to participate in the next
European elections due in 2004.
New Action Plan
Mr Chairman I have in the past expressed to the Committee the view that
it would need to deal with the remaining 17 territories on a case by case basis if the
Committee wanted to make an impact on their decolonisation and help the peoples of the
remaining 17 territories to realise their aspirations in that respect. This is the only
approach that will yield practical results in the Second Decade for the Eradication of
Colonialism.
I therefore fully support the Committee`s determination to formulate an
updated plan of action for the eradication of colonialism, and especially the Chairman`s
objective to develop a constructive programme of work on a case by case basis for all the
Non Self Governing Territories by the end of this year and with input from the
representatives of each territory.
In her address to you at the opening of your session this year, the
Deputy General Secretary expressed confident hope that the Committee would be able to
develop a programme of work for each Non Self Governing Territory before the end of the
year.
In this respect we welcome the apparent recent inclination of some
administrative powers, including the UK, to co-operate informally with the Special
Committee. There is even talk of changing attitudes to allowing visits by the Committees
to the territories. Mr Chairman, this is imperative.
I would therefore urge the Committee when it develops, pursuant to its
new objectives, a constructive programme of work on a case by case basis, that in the case
of Gibraltar this should include the following 4 points:
the despatch of a visiting delegation to Gibraltar
the proclamation, for the avoidance of doubt, of the Special
Committee`s belief in the existence of the inalienable right to self determination of the
people of Gibraltar
if the Committee has any doubt whatsoever in that respect it should
recommend the referral of the legal points of conflict relating to our right of self
determination to the International Court of Justice for a declaratory ruling, and
the call for dialogue by the UN should be on the basis that I have
described, namely with a proper and distinct voice and representation for the people of
Gibraltar.
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