Derogation of Self-Determination Rights of Minorities – an Important Cause to Other Human Rights Violations

Abstract

The self-determination in modern International law has attained its importance especially after the World War II. At that time, several countries such as India, Pakistan, Israel, etc., got their independence through the decolonization process across the world, to protect their self-determination right. Several International law documents emphasizes the importance of state sovereign and self-determination of states including United Nations Charter. By upholding the above mentioned principle, a state is free from inference from other states in determining their own status. But, consider a religious state which has their religious and cultural shade even in their government and administrative blocks. Then minorities in that nation, who may be indigenous people as well, who follow different religions may face discrimination even by that State itself. Though several documents like ICCPR protect the self-determination rights of such people, still those minorities' rights were derogated at several instances. And at the worst case, their basic Human rights itself got violated. Here arises the question of protection and standard of life of minority groups who follow different religious, cultural or ethnical practices other than the majority practice of that state. This article deals about the minority rights of self-determination (internal self-determination), derogation of Human Rights of those minorities and status of International law and International community in handling these issues relating to the rights and protection of minority groups.