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What resonated at a conference of the Unrepresented Nations and Peoples Organization (UNPO) was the opinion that small countries are more effective than large ones, for example, there are a number of small countries in Europe that can successfully cooperate with each other. It was also found that the Universal Declaration of the Rights of Peoples, adopted in Tallinn in 2001, should be reissued with comments.
The Unrepresented Nations and Peoples Organization (UNPO), which had been in a state of decline for a while, is back in operation again and, for the first time in a while, held a major conference on the right to self-determination (May 9-11 in Madeira). A number of experts were present, and Estonians were included to refresh historical memory. After all, Linnart Mäll was one of the founders of the UNPO, and both he and Estonia played a central role in the early years. In 1991, Estonia was also a founding member, but soon we became independent again and UNPO membership ended.
Have we thought about where the protection of minorities comes from? Where does all this more or less blah-blah-blah come from in the reports of various organizations that «direct attention» and «condemn» but do not solve the main problems?
Nicolas Levrat, a Swiss professor and UN special rapporteur on minority issues, says that states and organizations have failed to do anything about the right to self-determination. It is a fundamental principle of international law – one of two, along with state sovereignty – but in reality, states do not want to see new states formed on their territory. If at all, self-determination is offered in cautious doses, for example in the form of cultural or limited self-governing autonomy.
The Unrepresented Nations and Peoples Organization (UNPO)
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The Unrepresented Nations and Peoples Organization (UNPO) is a non-governmental international organization that unites indigenous peoples whose right to self-determination is limited and who are therefore unable to be represented in the United Nations.
The UNPO was founded on February 11, 1991 in The Hague by representatives of the following nations or territories:
- Greek minority in Albania
- Australian Aboriginals
- Armenia
- Palau
- Cordillera in the Philippines
- East Turkestan, the Uyghurs
- Estonia
- Georgia
- Crimean Tatars
- Kurdistan
- Latvia
- Tibet
- Taiwan
- Tatarstan
- West Papua
The first president of the UNPO from 1991 to 1993 was Linnart Mäll (1938–2010) as a representative of the Estonian Congress, but with the restoration of Estonian independence, Estonia's direct activities in the UNPO also ended. In addition to Estonia, the founding members of UNPO, Armenia, Belarus, Georgia and Latvia, have restored their independence or become independent. The UNPO currently has 39 members.
So minority protection was invented as a soothing substitute where self-determination is not allowed. But it is often too small a band-aid for too big a wound. Of course, if treated politely, national minorities should be able to decide some things for themselves, or at least not be persecuted. But if states do not behave politely, there are not many good measures against it.
The UN rapporteur has to navigate twists and turns. On the one hand, the big powers order the music, but if the UNPO already exists as a forum and is invited to a conference, then it cannot be ignored. In any case, Levrat seems like a completely reasonable man and I soon find myself on a panel led by him.
But something has gone wrong, because the peoples of Russia are no longer in the UNPO. Their situation is getting worse and worse, and their gene pool has been turned into cannon fodder against Ukraine.
I say that Russia has a large number of colonized peoples and they must be protected, but in the meantime, strange people from organizations here and there have appeared with the idea that the rights of former colonists in Estonia and Latvia should be protected first. Although the UNPO is increasingly leaning towards the global south, explaining these tricks ends up being successful in this auditorium. In addition, the issue of Ukraine, which is also important to us, is kept sharply alive by a Crimean Tatar.
But something has gone wrong, because the peoples of Russia are no longer in the UNPO. Their situation is getting worse and worse, and their gene pool has been turned into cannon fodder against Ukraine. In other words, the victims of the colonial empire are made to fight their master's colonial war against the next victim.
The UNPO is increasingly bringing together refugees
But the exile communities of minority peoples support Ukraine, work can be done with them. The problem seems to be that, as conditions have deteriorated, the UNPO’s activities have not always been redirected to foreign communities. At the same time, new organizations have emerged, such as the Free Nations of Post-Russia Forum. They are directly fighting for the disintegration and complete decolonization of today's Russia.
Unfortunately, the UNPO is also increasingly an organization in which exile communities play a significant role, because the peoples' original areas of settlement lack the necessary freedom. This has been the case for Tibetans and Uyghurs from the beginning, because back then China was worse than Russia. What about the others? A representative of the Berbers of Algeria, or more precisely the Kabyles, is based in Paris and cannot return home. A man from Nagaland, located in the eastern corner of India, lives in Copenhagen and says that his way home is also closed, otherwise he would be imprisoned.
The Sindhis, numbering around 30 million in Pakistan, plus smaller communities in other countries, consider themselves the oldest people in the world. They say their roots go back to the Indus Valley Civilization, and their ancestors were also the creators of the Rigveda hymns. That's thousands of years of history.
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Current UNPO president Rubina Greenwood was previously the head of the World Sindhi Congress, she is a British citizen and is now active mainly in the US. When someone says, «Oh, you're from Pakistan,» Rubina laughs bitterly. She is from Sindh, but because of her activism, she can't return there because Pakistan won't let her.
One of the two representatives from Zanzibar, however, is Mohammed Khelef, a poet who works in Swahili for Deutsche Welle in Germany, and he says he can still go home. But this is associated with increasing risks – trouble could befall both his relatives and himself.
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Zanzibar's big problem is the forced union with Tanzania, they think they’re like apples and oranges and that the island country should be separate. They would like election observers to come from Estonia. I explain that it's not as simple as just taking the initiative and going to observe. There must be a decent team and a clear mandate from a reliable organization. Missions known in Europe such as the OSCE and others do not operate in Africa. There is the African Union, but the man from Zanzibar knows that there’s quid pro quo and the eye that observes the elections is not very critical.
This problem is also universal. Just as elections once became a means of democratic and inclusive social order, so electoral fraud and manipulation have now become a mechanism of dictatorial power. The West, which was supposed to make liberal democracy attractive everywhere, is now struggling with subversion on many fronts – electoral interference and disinformation, accompanied by the internal erosion of democratic institutions.
One speaker, Indiana University professor Timothy Waters, predicts that the new world order will see less justice and more violence. At the same time, all developments will be unexpected and could give nations opportunities they haven't had before. For example, the US Senate will begin debating recognizing Somaliland.
It is currently a strange situation where, against the backdrop of the general chaos in Africa, the peaceful and economically developing Somaliland is without international recognition because it broke away from Somalia. It shares its fate with Taiwan, both are unrecognized and both are in the UNPO. A person from Somaliland tells me that they work as a freelance diplomat for the European Union and would be happy to visit Estonia soon.
The UNPO looks back – back to roots
In one discussion, Michael van Walt, a UNPO veteran currently active as an advisor, points at me, saying that, look, Estonia was able to use its window of opportunity at the right time, became free and quickly linked itself to the West. I then describe in general terms how that went. But when I talk about legal continuity in restoring statehood, I have to admit that it gave us a completely different position, which the nations striving for initial self-determination do not have.
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The discussion culminates in the conclusion that smaller states are actually more efficient and stable than large ones. Look at Europe, says van Walt – so many small states and they cooperate. Indeed, can anyone imagine a brutal warlord, an arrogant world destroyer or a builder of a paranoid surveillance society coming to power in some small European state? But the world’s largest countries have exactly such leaders – Russia, the US, China.
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During dinner, I search the internet for a few cultural symbols for the Kabyle grilling me – his name is Mourad Amellal. I show him Eduard Viiralt’s «Berber Girl with a Camel» and the cover of Xavier Bouvet’s book «Le bateau blanc» in the French language. The novel is about the government of Otto Tief («Valge Laev» in Estonian, original and translation 2024) and moving continuity into exile. Mourad promises to look for this book in Paris. He is active in business and at the same time is the chief of staff of the president of the «temporary» government in exile. It is an important position.
The Berbers are a very ancient and diverse group of peoples in North Africa, and their total number is believed to be around 30 million, give or take. They also include the Tuareg, who inhabit the internal areas of the Sahara Desert.
The Kabyle are known to number around six and a half million in northern Algeria, with a few million more in exile. The most famous Kabyle is probably football legend Zinédine Zidane.
The Kabyle, who have a much lighter skin tone than the Tuareg, have perhaps counted themselves more accurately than others. They are known to number around six and a half million in northern Algeria, with a few million more in exile. If they could have their own country, the community in France would probably not be as large, at around one million people. The most famous Kabyle in the world is probably football legend Zinédine Zidane.
The UNPO now wants to go back to its roots. That is why the founders of the organization and their representatives were invited to Madeira.
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Mäll's daughter Maaja Mäll and the exile politician sister of the Tibetan Lodi Gyari are present. Two men are still alive and present: van Walt and 85-year-old Uyghur Erkin Alptekin, a former colleague of Toomas Hendrik Ilves at Radio Free Europe. He is very friendly with everyone, calling the other participants «brothers» and «sisters».
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Bringing us back to the roots is also the Universal Declaration of the Rights of Peoples, adopted in Tallinn in 2001, which is also considered a success by the invited international law experts. In the corridors, the idea is born to republish this document, consisting of only 19 articles, as an annotated edition, which can be supplemented with longer explanations and comments from experienced lawyers. This would be similar to an annotated edition of the constitution of some country.
The lion's share of all conflicts in the world are internal, not international. This in turn leads to the idea that overly large states, especially empires, are evil, and that self-determination is the key to solutions – whether within an existing state or by creating a new one.
At the end, Vice President Elisenda Paluzie from Catalonia quotes an interview found by Maaja Mäll in the newspaper Sirp (19.07.1991). There, a Catalan politician of the time explains why they are not joining the UNPO – because they do not want to associate themselves with marginal groups. Now this recollection sounds like Catalan self-irony and everyone laughs, because Catalans have long been members, and are very active, too.
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By the way, the UNPO board includes two other very interesting members. First, the District of Columbia, which has no voting representation in the US Congress, is represented by Senator Paul Strauss. The District of Columbia does not want to form a separate state based on the US capital, Washington, but demands equal voting rights and representation. The UNPO board also includes Afrikaners, who are demanding equal rights in South Africa – in the form of MP Tammy Breedt.
Time passes and the world changes. We must not give up hope yet that perhaps the 21st century will be the century of the rebirth of nations.
Madeira-Tallinn, May 2025