Research conducted in this thesis revolves around the issue of state sovereignty. More precisely, this thesis aims at examining the foreign policy of the United States of America and its impact on sovereignty of Georgia and Serbia. Different attitude towards the recognition of unilateral declarations of independence of South Ossetia and Kosovo, breakaway regions of Georgia and Serbia, by the US officials represents the starting point of this study. Following state-centric approach this thesis presents an assessment of bilateral relations between the USA and case study countries Georgia and Serbia. The purpose of this study is to enable better understanding of different approaches by the US officials towards the issue of respecting state sovereignty.

The thesis deals with the international law situation of Western Sahara. It analyses the historical development of Western Sahara, in particular its decolonization, and by means of the analysis of the proposed solutions it tries to reach the actual status of the area and outlines some possibilities of the future development. The right of self-determination of Saharawi people is the key issue and appears in many resolutions of the United Nations dealing with Western Sahara. This territory is the topic of long-lasting disputes between Morocco and the Front Polisario. Attempts to solve the problem have lasted for many years but there has been almost no advance because of the different attitudes of the parties. Not only neighbouring countries but also other states with the special interests in the region interfere in the negotiations. Since 1991, when the ceasefire came into effect after many years of the military conflict, the proposals of solution have been refused.

The thesis deals with the international legal aspects of secession and the right to self-determination of nations. This issue will be presented in more detail on the cases of Kosovo and the Crimea. The aim of the thesis is to clarify the problems of Kosovo and the Crimea using the terminology of international law. In this paper, we will try to find answers to two research questions and whether it is possible to apply the conclusions of the MSD opinion on the independence of Kosovo in the case of the Crimea? Furthermore, whether there has been a violation of international law by the Russian authorities in the Crimea? The thesis is divided into four chapters. In the first are used the concepts of international law. In the second chapter, the notion of Art Nouveau and the development of the principle of the right to self-determination are theoretically defined in their present form. The third chapter is then focused on Kosovo. The greatest attention will be paid to the declaration of independence in 2008 and, in particular, to that of the International Court of Justice in 2010. In the fourth chapter, we will focus on the international legal issues of the events in the Crimea. The key part will be the assessment of the consequences of the declaration of the independence of the Crimea and its subsequent...

4 Bibliographic note CHOWDHARY Chetan, Unilateral Secession in International Law: The cases of Kashmir and Catalonia, 84 p. Master thesis. Charles University, Faculty of Social Sciences, Institute of International Relations. Supervisor: JUDr. Milan Lipovsky, Ph.D. Abstract: In the recent times, unilateral secession in International Law has come under widespread discussion with the major issues revolving around the circumstances under which a minority group or sub-state can secede from the state incorporating it. The study focuses on the principles of self-determination, an important factor to secede from a state over which international law has an ambiguous stand. International Law regards unilateral secession to be legal only in the aspects of decolonization as a last resort, that is one of the reasons why Kosovo remains unrecognized by the United Nations. The study focuses on two important cases i.e. Kashmir and Catalonia and compares them with Kosovo and Western Sahara respectively to understand the stance of International law on their demands for secession. The examination of these cases reveals that historical violence and injustice are not the only factors influencing the secessionist demands in Kashmir; similarly, the reasons for the demand for secession in Catalonia extend beyond collective identity...

Si l’État moderne s’est constitué par un processus d’unification de sa souveraineté territoriale, celle-ci doit aujourd’hui être repensée. En effet, bien que demeure une inclination de tout État à préserver son unité, il apparaît que le territoire sur lequel l’État entend étendre sa souveraineté fasse désormais l’objet de revendications diverses. Cette situation est particulièrement prégnante dans les États issus de la colonisation et au sein desquels l’indépendance n’a pas nécessairement remis en cause le lien de subordination des peuples colonisés aux peuples colonisateurs. Faisant perdurer une situation de domination largement condamnée sur le plan international compte tenu de la proclamation du droit des peuples à disposer d’eux-mêmes, ce phénomène de décolonisation partielle pose inévitablement question du point de vue de la théorie de l’État. En effet, cela conduit à opposer d’un côté, un modèle étatique d’inspiration européenne aspirant à la souveraineté territoriale et de l’autre, des peuples autochtones entretenant une revendication vis-à-vis de ce même territoire, fondée su l ’illégitimité originelle de la conquête dont sont finalement issus ces États. Ainsi, la réhabilitation de la vérité historique et la condamnation plus ou moins unanime de la colonisation a pu conduire à ce que de manière générale, les peuples autochtones soient rétablis dans leurs droits territoriaux. Ce faisant, le droit qu’ont les États sur le territoire ne peut désormais s’exercer sans tenir compte des privilèges originels dont ils sont susceptibles de jouir. En conséquence, une telle démarche peut conduire à la remise en cause de la souveraineté territoriale de ces États puisqu’ils ne disposent plus d’une puissance absolue et inconditionnelle sur leur territoire, mais bien d’une autorité conditionnée par le respect des droits des peuples autochtones, dimension alors largement confirmée par le développement d’un droit international des peuples autochtones. Ce phénomène, qui caractérise les États d’Amérique latine issus de la colonisation hispanique ainsi que certains États issus de la colonisation britannique – États-Unis, Canada, Australie, Nouvelle-Zélande – peut conduire à voir émerger une catégorie particulière d’État que représente l’État postcolonial. / Modern State has been formed by unification process of its territorial sovereignty but this must be redefined today. Indeed, although all States have a tendency to preserve their unity, it appears that the territory on which the State intends to extend its sovereignty is the subject of various claims. This situation is particularly characterized for States deriving from colonization and for which, independence did not challenged the subordination of colonized peoples to colonizing peoples. By perpetuating a situation of domination largely condemned by International law, considering the right of peoples to self-determination, this partial decolonization raises question in State theory. This leads to oppose on the one hand, an European State model aspiring to territorial sovereignty and on the other hand, some indigenous peoples having a claim to the same territory, based on the original illegitimacy of the conquest from which these States have emerged. Thus, there habilitation of historical truth and the unanimous condemnation of colonization have restored indigenous peoples in their territorial rights. Thereby, the States’ right on territory cannot be exercised without considering the original privileges of first inhabitants. Consequently, such approach may dispute territorial sovereignty of these States because they no longer have an absolute and unconditional power over their territory, but only aconditioned authority by the respect of indigenous peoples’ rights, which is largely confirmed by the development of an international law of indigenous peoples. This situation, which appear in the Latin-America States derived of Hispanic colonization, and in some States derived British colonization – United States, Canada,Australia, New-Zealand –, may contribute to define a particular category of States, which represents the postcolonial State.

<p>The objective of this thesis is to analyse whether Sri Lanka could have avoided the civil war, if changes in the constitution, from 1948 to 1978, offered a political structure guaranteeing the minority rights. Furthermore, the thesis intends to study if the Swiss and Lebanese political models could offer any guidelines for the Sri Lankan conflict.</p><p>The stated purpose of the thesis is studied by analysing official documents, literatures and articles. The finding of the study is that Sri Lanka might have prevented the civil war if the constitutional arrangements had guaranteed the minority rights.</p><p>The Sri Lankan conflict is a unique case, which probably requires its own resolution model. The Swiss and Lebanese models may be applicable in the Sri Lankan case to some extent. However, a possible solution that could prevent the current political and ethnic conflict in Sri Lanka, by avoiding another fatal civil war, is to establish power-sharing political arrangements, under a federal state. Whether or not Sri Lanka can achieve a sustainable peace is a question of political willingness.</p>

"This paper relies on the belief that amelioratoin of the ethnic porblem requires the recognition and entrenchment of ethnic claims as part of a constitutional settlement in Africa not only as a matter of practical expediency but also a human rights necessity. It is expected that institutionalising group rights in a way to allow political participation and self-administraton by the sub-state groups contains ethnic conflict and necessitates collaboration and national cohesion. It is, thus, submitted that self-determination as a human right is an overriding norm and institution in the contemporary African situation. It vindicates group rights and captures some of the fundamental tensions in the politico-legal set-ups of states in Africa. As such, the potential of the right to self-determination in the realization of such objectives is closely considered. The focus of this study is, therefore, to wrestle with the query of whether institutionalising the right to self-determinaton would address inter-ethnic tension in the context of Africa. Such questions as how the right to self-determinaton is related to ethnicity and group rights and what institutional and normative solutions are present in the right to self-determination are also examined. This is done by way of examining the elements and various institutional dimensions of the right to self-determination and the experience of Ethiopia and South Africa. ... The study is divided into four chapters. Chapter one outlines the context of the study, objectives and significance of the study as well as the hypothesis and literature review. It is sought in the second chapter to explore the ethnicity problem and the right to self-determination in Africa. Chapter three deals with analysing the elements of the right to self-determination, its potentials to address the ethnicity dilemma of African and the modalities of institutionalising it. Chapter four examines the recognition of the right to self-determination under the Federal Constitution of Ethiopia and the Constitution of the Republic of South Africa, the manner in which it is entrenched and institutionalised in the set-ups of the two states and the lessons, good or ill, to be drawn from their experience. Finally, the study seeks to draw some conclusions that involve recommended suggestions." -- Chapter 1. / Mini Dissertation (LLM)University of Pretoria, 2003. / http://www.chr.up.ac.za/academic_pro/llm1/dissertations.html / Centre for Human Rights / LLM

The situation of Palestinian refugees is one of the most burning issues related to the Arab-Israeli conflict. Its solution is at the same time one of the key conditions for the settlement of this conflict, whose beginning may be traced back already in connection with the first alija - the first wave of Jewish immigration after the anti - Semitic pogroms in 1881. The importance of this problem is confirmed e.g. by the text of the Resolution 242 (S/RES/242) of 1967, which considers the upright solution for Palestinian refugees as one of the prerequisites for lasting peace in the Middle East. This question has been subject of many peace negotiations between the representatives of the concerned states lately, which only illustrates the high international topicality of the given problem. The aim of the dissertation is to define the term Palestinian refugee in the historic, political and legal context and in this connection to determine the position of Palestinian refugees in international law as an initial point, which is followed by the international law analysis of their right to return. First part of the study therefore will try to make a systematic overview in the extent of the term Palestinian refugee. The second part of the dissertation analyses the right of return in the general level and then...

Submitted by JOSIANE SANTOS DE OLIVEIRA (josianeso) on 2018-10-03T17:02:52Z No. of bitstreams: 1 Paulo Víctor Silva Schroeder_.pdf: 1621111 bytes, checksum: 1bd99e768986a862bc4413e5e1c227e0 (MD5) / Made available in DSpace on 2018-10-03T17:02:52Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 Paulo Víctor Silva Schroeder_.pdf: 1621111 bytes, checksum: 1bd99e768986a862bc4413e5e1c227e0 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2018-03-19 / CAPES - Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior / Desde o período colonial, a proteção dos direitos humanos de comunidades indígenas é sistematicamente afetada por violações decorrentes da extração de minério sob o solo da América Latina, uma prática historicamente realizada pelos estados coloniais e cujos principais agentes, contemporaneamente, são as empresas transnacionais. Em razão do crescente aumento do potencial violador destas empresas, discute-se, no âmbito da ONU, a possibilidade de um tratado internacional que vincule diretamente as empresas transnacionais ao cumprimento de regras de direitos humanos internacionalmente reconhecidas. Todavia, no que se refere aos interesses das comunidades indígenas, a possibilidade de adoção de um tratado internacional para empresas e direitos humanos se insere em um campo de disputas. De um lado, os direitos indígenas são protegidos pela Declaração dos Direitos dos Povos Indígenas da ONU (2007) e pela Convenção nº 169 da OIT (1989); de outro, estes direitos são relativizados pela a ausência de mecanismos de responsabilização direta das empresas transnacionais por violações de direitos humanos. Desde a perspectiva decolonial, observa-se que a adoção de um tratado internacional que vincule diretamente as companhias transnacionais a parâmetros de direitos humanos só será emancipatória para os povos indígenas se incorporar as suas reivindicações comunitárias por autodeterminação, em oposição a uma leitura predominantemente liberal acerca dos direitos humanos. Para referida análise, o método de abordagem adotado é tributário da tradição dialética, tendo em vista a contraposição das reivindicações de direitos pelos indígenas com a lógica moderno/colonial. / Since the colonial period, the human rights protection of indigenous communities has been systematically affected by aggressions from the industrial mining activities over the soil of Latin America, historically carried out by colonial states and whose main agents contemporaneously are transnational corporations. In view of the companies increasing potential for violating human rights, the possibility of an international treaty that binds transnational corporations with human rights parameters is being discussed in the UN. Thus, the possibility of adopting an international treaty for companies and human rights is part of a field overgrown by disputes, which resulted in two contradictory positions for the protection of human rights of indigenous communities. On one hand, indigenous people’s rights are protected by the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous People (2007) and ILO Convention 169 (1989); on the other, these rights are relativized by the absence of mechanisms about transnational corporations legal accountability. From a decolonial perspective, it is noted that discussions about the adoption of an international treaty will only be emancipatory for indigenous people by incorporating the community demands for self-determination, in opposition to a predominantly liberal reading of human rights. For this analysis, the method of approach adopted is tributary to the dialectical tradition, in view of the contraposition arising from indigenous people’s claims with the western-modern-capitalist logic.

Doctor of Philosophy / This thesis analyses the concept of indigenous peoples’ right to self–determination within the international human rights system and explores viable avenues for the fulfilment of indigenous claims to self–determination through the design, implementation and evaluation of development policies. The thesis argues that development policy plays a crucial role in determining the level of enjoyment of self–determination for indigenous peoples. Development policy can offer an avenue to bypass nation states’ political unwillingness to recognize and promote indigenous peoples’ right to self–determination, when adequate principles and criteria are embedded in the whole policy process. The theoretical foundations of the thesis are drawn from two different areas of scholarship: indigenous human rights discourse and development economics. The indigenous human rights discourse provides the articulation of the debate concerning the concept of indigenous self–determination, whereas development economics is the field within which Amartya Sen’s capability approach is adopted as a theoretical framework of thought to explore the interface between indigenous rights and development policy. Foundational concepts of the capability approach will be adopted to construct a normative system and a practical methodological approach to interpret and implement indigenous peoples’ right to self–determination. In brief, the thesis brings together two bodies of knowledge and amalgamates foundational theoretical underpinnings of both to construct a normative and practical framework. At the normative level, the thesis offers a conceptual apparatus that allows us to identify an indigenous capability rights–based normative framework that encapsulates the essence of the principle of indigenous self–determination. At the practical level, the normative framework enables a methodological approach to indigenous development policies that serves as a vehicle for the fulfilment of indigenous aspirations for self–determination. This thesis analyses Australia’s health policy for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples as an example to explore the application of the proposed normative and practical framework. The assessment of Australia’s health policy for Indigenous Australians against the proposed normative framework and methodological approach to development policy, allows us to identify a significant vacuum: the omission of Aboriginal traditional medicine in national health policy frameworks and, as a result, the devaluing and relative demise of Aboriginal traditional healing practices and traditional healers.