A committee of the UN General Assembly has unanimously adopted a Pakistan-sponsored resolution reaffirming the right of peoples to self-determination, and called for cessation of foreign military intervention, occupation and repression, says a statement released by the Pakistan government in Islamabad. Pakistan has been tabling this draft in the social committee since 1981 and each year the General Assembly passed it by consensus. The text serves to focus attention on struggle by people for their inalienable right to self-determination. The draft will come up for adoption in the 192-member Assembly next month. The resolution reaffirms the universal rights of people to self-determination as enshrined in the UN Charter and international covenants on human rights. It welcomes the progressive exercise of this right by peoples under colonial, foreign or alien occupation and their emergence into sovereign statehood and independence. The resolution calls upon those states responsible to cease immediately their military intervention in and occupation of foreign countries and territories and all acts of repression, discrimination, exploitation and maltreatment, in particular the brutal and inhuman methods reportedly employed for the execution of those acts against the peoples concerned. The text requests the Geneva-based Human Rights Council to continue to give special attention to the violation of human rights, especially the right to self determination, resulting from foreign military intervention, aggression or occupation. Besides, Pakistan, a large number of countries from Asia, and Africa co-sponsored the resolution this year, including Saudi Arabia, Algeria, Angola, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Bahrain, Bangladesh, Brunei Darussalam, Burkina Faso, China, Congo, Egypt, Eritrea, Guinea, Iran, Jordan, Kuwait, Lebanon, Libya, Malaysia, Niger, Nigeria, Panama, Qatar, South Africa, Singapore, Somalia, Thailand, and United Arab Emirates. Earlier, introducing the draft, Pakistan's delegate Ahmad Bilal said the right to self-determination enjoyed primacy in international law and was the cornerstone of the Charter of the United Nations. It had been subsequently upheld at the 2005 World Summit, he said.
