Abstract
This edition, one of the most voluminous to date, opens with an oratio by IT Cohen Professor of International Law and Human Rights, Emory University School of Law, Johan van der Vyver. The paper was delivered in the HL Swanepoel series of lectures on 26 May in Potchefstroom. In a well documented paper covering historical perspectives on the right to self-determination, the definition thereof and limitations thereupon, Van der Vyver concludes that the 'drafters of the South African Constitution rejected segregation of rival ethnic, religious and linguistic communities, as well as the promotion of cultural, religious or linguistic homogeneity within our nation, as a means of counteracting group-related tensions in the country's social construct. . . . The new constitutional dispensation accordingly seeks to promote pride in one's group identities.' He also points out that 'pluralism, tolerance and broadmindedness have been singled out by the European Court of Human Rights as indispensable components of a democratic society.' A link to video material of the lecture is also included.
Highlights
The South African nation comprises perhaps the most diverse plural composition in the entire world and is known for the polarization of factions of the population.1 This raises the question how to bring about and to maintain the peaceful co-existence of the cultural, religious and linguistic varieties within its fold
One of the issues the "international experts" were asked to address was a proposal - one with wide support among politicians - to apply a federal system of government, based on the ethnic composition of the Nepalese population, as a means of securing internal peace in the years to come
Complete territorial segregation of ethnic varieties in any political community is almost impossible to orchestrate; and consinging regional powers of government to cultural, religious or linguistic factions could be a recipe for disaster
Summary
The South African nation comprises perhaps the most diverse plural composition in the entire world and is known for the polarization of factions of the population. This raises the question how to bring about and to maintain the peaceful co-existence of the cultural, religious and linguistic varieties within its fold. The failure of national systems to provide protection to sectional interests of peoples within their area of jurisdiction, or merely the perception of being marginalized, must be seen as an important contributing cause of the tireless aspirations toward the establishment of homogenous states for sections of the political community with a strong group consciousness: the Muslim community of Kashmir and in Kosovo, the Basques in Northern Spain, the Hindu factions in Sri Lanka, the Catholic minority in Northern Ireland, the Christian community in Southern Sudan, the Kurds in Iraq and Turkey, people of Macedonian extraction in Florina (Northern Greece), the peoples of Somaliland in Somalia, the northern provinces of Georgia, the Maoists in Nepal, and many others It must be emphasized, though, that the right of ethnic, religious and linguistic communities to self-determination does not include a right to secession; not even in instances where the powers that be act in breach of a minority's legitimate expectations. The disintegration of the former Yugoslavia represents a complicated conglomeration of both principles. And I might add that the 2010 judgment of the International Court of Justice concerning The Unilateral Declaration of Independence in respect of Kosovo makes no sense at all.
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