Adopted by the VI UNPO General Assembly held in Tallinn, Estonia, in February 2001, the Universal Declaration of the Rights of Peoples (UDRP) represented the culmination of almost a decade of work by the UNPO’s Tartu Co-ordination Office directed by Linnart Mäll, the first UNPO chairman and respected academic historian. The declaration advocates for self-determination as a universal and fundamental right and reflects on pre-existing failures of human rights frameworks to centre peoples and nations rather than states.

Inspired by the project of Tatar legal scholar Rais Abdulkhakovich Tuzmukhamedov, the creation of a declaration on the rights of peoples to fit among the UNPO’s key legal documents was first proposed at a UNPO regional meeting held in Kazan, Russia, in May 1992. Tuzmukhamedov’s original project emphasised the durability of ‘peoples’ as a subject for human and political rights. This focus on peoples was embraced during early UNPO discussions on the declaration as a more suitable framework for rights, given the shortcomings of existing legal structures based on states or individuals in protecting unrepresented peoples and nations.

While initial proposals for the declaration were solicited in 1992, work on the declaration began in earnest in August 1998, when the first of three round-table conferences was held in Tartu, Estonia, to develop the document. An editorial committee was established, led by Linnart Mäll, Alexander Kirjanen, Atner Khuzangai and Teuvez Kazanokov, and opinions were sought from a wide range of representatives of UNPO members, academics, students, and politicians. The personal archives of Mäll, held at the University of Tartu, have been key to illuminating the content of discussions of this meeting and the subsequent two round-tables held in Otepää, Estonia, in October 1998 and April 1999. After 10 years of input and work, the document’s fifth draft was adopted by the UNPO at its VI General Assembly meeting in Tallinn, Estonia on 17 February 2001.

The declaration provides important insights into the priorities of and rationale behind the UNPO during its first decade of existence, shaped in particular by those involved in the Tartu Co-Ordination Office. Outcomes of discussions remained steadfast in a conviction that self-determination should be an equal right for all peoples, and that it should be the peoples themselves that specify their own futures. While the declaration has echoes of previous discussions of a right to self-determination, such as the Algiers Charter of 1976, it re-imagines the right to underline the importance of representation and self-government over that of the principle of territorial integrity.

Furthermore, ecological security and environmental protection is established as a right in the text when sustainability narratives were still at an early stage in the global agenda. The ‘right to a healthy environment’ was only adopted by the United Nations General Assembly two decades later in July 2022. The declaration also places a strong emphasis on the rights of peoples to culture, history, language, tradition, religion and customs as a fundamental basis for all other rights, particularly calling out the dangers imposed by politically-pressured and state-driven violations.

Given these foci, the principles outlined in the declaration remain just as pertinent today as at its time of writing, in a geopolitical context where the rights of unrepresented peoples and nations are increasingly violated. Going forward, the UNPO intends to work closely with members to re-centre the declaration at the heart of the organisation’s campaigns. In this spirit, we have reprinted the declaration in full below.

UNIVERSAL DECLARATION OF THE RIGHTS OF PEOPLES

Preamble

Whereas the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights and the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (jointly referred to as the International Bill of Human Rights) are universal and should be universally respected and implemented, Whereas not all states respect human rights, including the right to self-determination of peoples, and the International Bill of Human Rights has not yet achieved universal implementation,

Whereas human rights cannot be fully realized without the recognition of the right to cultural, national, linguistic, and ethnic identity of individuals and peoples, Whereas the coexistence of different peoples is a necessary condition for the preservation and development of all cultures, languages, and spiritual traditions,

Whereas the diversity of peoples, cultures, languages, and spiritual traditions constitutes the genuine richness of human existence, guaranteeing the continued survival and development of humankind, just as preservation of the variety of natural species ensures continuation of life on Earth, Whereas in the history of humankind, peoples have endured longer than the states of the world, Whereas the attempts to force people to adopt new identities to suit the political objectives of states have led to violations of human rights and the rights of peoples,

Therefore, the General Assembly of the Unrepresented Nations and Peoples Organisation reaffirms the universal human rights and the rights of peoples as inalienable rights in international law and declares:

Article 1

All peoples have the equal right to self-determination. According to this right they freely determine their political status and freely determine their eco- nomic, social and cultural development. States shall respect this right and the principle of territorial integrity shall not unilaterally form an obstacle to its implementation.

Article 2

All peoples have the equal right to live in dignity and to be respected. It is the duty of all states to treat equally and justly all peoples living within their respective jurisdictions.

Article 3

All peoples have the right to their own abode, within their ancestral territory, where they can exercise their right to self-determination. Peoples shall not be expelled from their respective territories. These territories or portions thereof shall not be taken from them, annexed or otherwise altered by force or without the agreement of the people or peoples concerned.

Article 4

All peoples have the right to return to their own abode if they have been expelled therefrom or their territories have been taken in violation of Article 3.

Article 5

All peoples have the right to sovereignty over the natural wealth and resources within their territories. All peoples also have the right to intellectual property. They are obliged to respect the equal right to natural wealth and resources of all other peoples.

Article 6

All peoples have the right to organize and to form legitimate representative bodies. This may, if they so wish, include their diaspora.

Article 7

In accordance with the exercise of their right to self. determination, peoples should, if they so desire, exercise self-government and create appropriate organs for self-government within their territory.

Article 8

The right to self-determination includes the right to independent statehood where the exercise of the right to self-determination cannot be implemented without establishing an independent state.

Article 9

All peoples have the right to self-preservation and physical existence. Peoples with small populations shall not be involuntarily subjected to harmful demo- graphic policies, such as population transfers and coercive birth controls.

Article 10

All peoples have the right to live in peace. States shall not use force against peoples peacefully exercising their right to self-determination. Peoples have the right to defend themselves against such use of force against them.

Article 11

All peoples have the right to security and inter- national legal protection. They shall be protected against genocide and illegal use of force, including terrorism, against them.

Article 12

All peoples have the right to ecological security and protection of their natural environment.

Article 13

All peoples have the right not to allow the production, testing, storage, transportation and use of weapons of mass destruction, including nuclear, chemical and bacteriological weapons, on their territory and the right to strive for the demilitarisation of their territory.

Article 14

All peoples have the right to development as well as the right to preserve and develop their traditional way of life.

Article 15

All peoples have the right to self-identification and have the right to know, learn, preserve and develop their own culture, history, language, religion and customs.

Article 16

All peoples have the right to be informed about policies of the state and should be involved in discussions on an international level on matters that affect their existence and their rights.

Article 17

All peoples have the right to demand from state and international organisations the observance and protection of their rights, as listed in this Declaration.

Article 18

All peoples shall respect the equal rights of all other peoples and therefore abide by all the provisions of this Declaration with respect to all such peoples.

Article 19

The provisions of this Declaration should be interpreted in the context of the international law of human rights, including, in particular, the right to self-determination of peoples.

Adopted by the UNPO VI General Assembly in Tallinn, Estonia, February 17th, 2001.