By: Chris Burke
The United Nations has a long-standing history of advocating to end world colonialism. In so doing, decades ago, the UN general assembly created a special committee for decolonization to work specifically to eradicate colonization in the world. We learn that the UN special committee will meet in Kingstown, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, from May 31 to June 2 in its annual convention.
Turks and Caicos Islands is scheduled on the agenda for discussion, along with the other remaining 15 non-self-governing territories.
The United Nations General Assembly has declared all forms of colonialism incompatible with the principles of international law, and as such supports the colonies' ability to preserve the cultural identity and national unity of Territories under their administration, encouraging the full development of indigenous cultures so as to facilitate “the unfettered exercise of the right of self-determination”. The UN has unrelentingly reaffirmed its committment calling for an end to colonialism and calling for the governing powers to grant colonies the right to achieve genuine self-government and economic self-reliance.
The call for self determination is particularly important for one of the last remaining 16 colonies, Turks and Caicos Islands (TCI) in the Caribbean. TCI was a self governing territory of the United Kingdom whose government fell to the UK powers on August 14, 2009 amidst allegations of local government corruption.
Shortly thereafter, the United Nations specifically addressed the matter of Turks and Caicos on September 23, 2009, condemning UK’s actions in Turks and Caicos. In Section X (4) of the UN report, the United Nations addresses Turks and Caicos Islands’ direct rule by Great Britain and specifically calls for, “restoration of constitutional arrangements providing for representative democracy through elected territorial Government as soon as possible.” The UN also declared UK’s actions in Turks and Caicos is a "clear step in the wrong direction."
The UN should know and understand when discussing the UK’s seizing of Turks and Caicos, that the TCI citizens’ have suffered a complete loss of democracy, right to trial by jury and right to vote on any matter or for their own local leader.
Since the UK takeover of Turks and Caicos, the entire populace has been governed under a literal dictatorial political system, ongoing now for two years. In these two years, the special corruption team installed by the UK has discovered no proof of corruption, issued no indictments, scheduled no trials. Yet, the entire populace has been victims of democracy injustice and other abuses by the UK, merely predicated on the alleged wrong doing of just a handful of people. Nonetheless, the UK maintains that the people must wait until after it imposes its own constitution on the islands, a new constitution that will forcefully replace the constitution created by the TCI people in 2006 which demonstrated no constitutional failings of any kind.
It is every democracy-loving citizen’s hope that the UN’s Chairman of the Special Committee, Ambassador Francisco Carrión-Mena of Ecuador, will intervene on behalf of the citizens of TCI who have had their democracy forcibly taken. The UN is urged to make an inquiry and its own findings as to the new UK constitution, findings show that it will permanently take democracy and self determination from the TCI people giving UK ultimate power there, as it has been enjoying for the last two years. An UN inquiry is even more important because the UK refuses to allow a referendum on the new constitution and is relying solely on collecting “suggestions” from the citizens instead of using a democratic method of weighing the will of the people.
The over-reaching political system that the UK has established in Turks and Caicos has many trickle down affects, such as the disappearance of the local treasury, the firing of local citizens from their jobs (replaced by British nationals) and certainly not least the forcible eviction of average citizens from their lands. The British have also allegedly been engaging in special interest contracts in the Turks and Caicos including government health care contracts as well as land development, which is suspected to have contributed to this government takeover zeal.
Every world citizen should uphold the Turks and Caicos citizens’ right to democracy and self determination. We hold the UN to a higher standard and specifically call for it to be incumbent on the UN to investigate the political failings by the UK and taking of rights and freedoms from the Turks and Caicos people.
