Additional Material
THE SEASON OF SELF-DETERMINATION: AN ANALYSIS OF CATALONIA’S INDEPENDENCE REFERENDUM
An analysis of Catalonia’s 2017 Independence Referendum by Margaux J. Day, PILPG Vice-President, and Dr. Williams, who was then appointed by the Catalonian Foreign Ministry to a Commission of International Experts on the Independence Referendum.
Click here to read the op-ed, The Season of Self-Determination.
THE KURDISH REFERENDUM – IS IT LEGAL?
This article, co-authored by Margaux J. Day, PILPG Vice-President, and Dr. Williams, addresses the question of whether Kurdistan is prohibited by international law from holding its referendum and from declaring independence, and the significance of Iraq’s objection to the referendum.
Click here to read the op-ed, The Kurdish Referendum - Is It Legal?
CREATING A STRATEGIC FRAMEWORK FOR ADDRESSING THE CONFLICT BETWEEN SOVEREIGNTY AND SELF-DETERMINATION: EARNED SOVEREIGNTY
This Congressional Testimony from March 2016 features Dr. Williams speaking about the concept of earned sovereignty before the House Committee on Foreign Affairs Subcommittee on Europe, Eurasia, and Emerging Threats.
ON THE RIGHT TO EXTERNAL SELF DETERMINATION: “SELFISTANS,” SECESSION, AND THE GREAT POWERS’ RULE
In this article, PILPG Board Member and Cleveland-Marshall College of Law Professor of Law, Milena Sterio examines the notion of self-determination and how it is linked to other international law concepts, such as statehood, recognition, sovereignty, and intervention.
The Role of Hirak and the Southern Transitional Council
During Yemen’s street protests of 2011, and later during the war between 2015 and 2019, developments in the south were largely distinct from events in the north. To begin with, the demands of southern protesters in 2011 were unlike demands in the north because at the time southerners had been holding continuous street protests since 2007, four years before the northern opposition imported the “Arab Spring” model from Tunis and Cairo. Between 2007 and 2011, mass street protests in the south were part of a popular movement called al-Hirak, “the Movement,” which drew hundreds of thousands of citizens to the streets. When warfare erupted in early 2015, combat on southern lands increasingly played out as a war within the war, separate from Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) coalition operations in the north against Houthi rebels and remnant loyalists of Saleh. The most significant wartime difference between the north and the south happened when the UAE-backed Southern Transitional Council (STC) was announced in Aden on May 11, 2017. Just over two years later, the STC came to power in Aden after routing forces loyal to President Hadi during street battles in August 2019
Databases for Researching Self-Determination
The PA-X Peace Agreement Database - The PA-X Peace Agreement Database is a database and repository of peace agreements from 1990 to date hosted by the University of Edinburgh. Itt can be searched for peace agreements that contain provisions related to internal or external self-determination. PA-X provides a comprehensive dataset of peace agreements from 1990 to the end of 2018, capable of underpinning both quantitative and qualitative research. PA-X also publishes reports on various themes related to peace negotiations, agreements, and post-conflict peacebuilding.
Peace Accords Matrix - The Peace Accords Matrix project hosts a database of peace agreements from 1989 and the largest existing collection of data on the implementation of peace agreements. Each peace agreement in the database has a dozen or more content pages that sort the relevant provisions into topics areas such as “ceasefires” or “natural resource management” and provide a detailed timeline of the implementation of that section of the agreement. Many of the agreements have content pages for right to self-determination and they include a timeline of the implementation.
UN iLibrary - UN iLibrary is the comprehensive global search, discovery, and viewing source for digital content created by the United Nations. It includes material related to the right to self-determination and conflicts over self-determination.
The Uppsala Conflict Data Program - The Uppsala Conflict Data Program (UCDP) is the world’s main provider of data on organized violence and the oldest ongoing data collection project for civil war, with a history of almost 40 years. Its definition of armed conflict has become the global standard of how conflicts are systematically defined and studied.
NGOs Working on Self-determination
The Unrepresented Nations and Peoples Organization (UNPO) - UNPO is an international, nonviolent and democratic membership organisation. Its Members are indigenous peoples, minorities, unrecognised States and occupied territories that have joined together to defend their political, social and cultural rights, to preserve their environments and to promote their right to self-determination.
Liechtenstein Initiative on Self-Determination - The Liechtenstein Initiative on Self-Determination aims to promote ways to address self-determination claims while respecting the territorial integrity of states. The initiative’s main goal is to prevent conflict between governments and communities that seek a greater measure of governance over their own affairs, with an emphasis on solutions that do not lead to secession and independence, but instead ensure appropriate levels of self-governance. In service of this goal, the approach of the Liechtenstein Initiative highlights the need for early and ongoing dialogue between governments and communities, and puts forward possible solutions for them to pursue together in order to create and sustain peaceful societies.
Minority rights group international - Minority Rights Group International (MRGI) campaigns worldwide with around 130 partners in over 60 countries to ensure that disadvantaged minorities and indigenous peoples can make their voices heard. MRGI supports minority and indigenous people as they strive to maintain their rights through training and education, legal cases, publications and the media and cultural programs.
Conciliation Resources - Conciliation Resources is an independent organisation working with people in conflict to prevent violence and build peace, providing advice, support and practical resources. Conciliation Resources also takes the lessons learned to government decision-makers and others working to end the conflict to improve peacebuilding policies and practice worldwide. Conciliation Resources provides has regional programs, learning hubs, and frequent publications on conflicts related to self-determination.
Cultural Survival - Cultural Survival supports a movement of empowered Indigenous Peoples organizing their communities to engage the international processes, national policies and human rights bodies to respect, protect, and fulfill their rights. The organization is Indigenous-led and has a diverse board of directors bringing experiences from the Indigenous and non-Indigenous worlds to inform our perspectives and scope of work