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MALVINAS
ISLANDS
(picture of the Malvinas Islands
- © Copyright Pablo Ruíz Díaz)
Resolution
of the United Nations Special Committee
on Decolonisation on the Malvinas Islands
Resolución del Comité de Descolonización de Naciones Unidas sobre
las Islas Malvinas
OAS General Assembly Declaration on the Malvinas Islands
Declaración de la Asamblea General de la OEA
Address by the
Foreign Minister of the Argentine Republic to the United Nations
Special Committee on Decolonization
Discurso del
Canciller en la reunión del Comité de Descolonización de Naciones
Unidas
Historical
precedents
The Malvinas Islands became part of an area under Spanish
jurisdiction with the entry into force of the first international
instruments to delimit the “New World” soon after its discovery in
1492. Papal Bulls and the Treaty of Tordesillas of 1494 are the
first instruments reflecting Spanish titles in accordance with
international law of the period.
For most of the 16th century only navigators in the service of Spain
travelled the maritime routes along the South American coast,
advancing southwards in their search for an inter-oceanic passage.
In this process the Malvinas Islands were discovered by members of
Magellan’s expedition of 1520. From that moment on they were
recorded on European maps under a variety of names and remained
under effective control of the Spanish authorities.
During the 17th century the Malvinas Islands were sighted by
navigators from other nations who had ventured into Spanish domains
at the risk of provoking reactions and protests from Spain whenever
it received news of such expeditions. But the whole southern region
of America, with its coasts, seas and islands, indisputably remained
under Spanish sovereignty through the different treaties signed in
the period, such as the “American “ Treaty of 1670 between Spain and
England.
The Peace of Utrecht, signed in 1713, assured the integrity of
Spain’s possessions in South America and confirmed its exclusive
right to sail in the waters of the South Atlantic. As a signatory of
the Utrecht agreements, and of later treaties in the 18th century
ratifying them, England accepted these clauses. However, towards the
middle of that century, the Malvinas Islands provoked the interest
of Great Britain and France, which were seeking to establish a
strategically located settlement opposite the Strait of Magellan.
In 1749 Spain received news of a British project to settle the
Malvinas Islands and strongly protested to the government of Great
Britain which as a consequence decided against it.
When in 1764 France established Port Louis on Soledad Island, Spain
objected and won the recognition of its rights to the islands from
France. The French government ordered the evacuation and handover of
the settlement to the Spanish authorities. The handover was made in
1767 and from then on a Spanish governor responsible to Buenos Aires
was resident in the Malvinas Islands.
The year after the French settlement, a clandestine British
expedition arrived in the archipelago and in 1766 English sailors
established a fort at a place they named Port Egmont on an island to
the west of Gran Malvina. Despite the secrecy of the British
government, Spain became aware of it and insisted on protesting its
rights. Not receiving an acceptable response, it set out to find the
illegal settlement and in 1770 expelled the settlers by force. As a
result of that act, both countries were on the verge of war which
was averted by a bilateral agreement signed in 1771. This agreement
consisted of a Declaration by which Spain returned Port Egmont to
the British in order to save the honour of the King of England,
making express reservation of its sovereignty over the whole of the
Malvinas Islands, and also of an Acceptance of this Declaration in
which Great Britain remained silent as to the reservation of Spanish
rights. As part of the agreement it was verbally agreed that the
English would withdraw from Port Egmont, which they did in 1774.
From then on the Spanish authorities in Puerto Soledad continued to
exercise their jurisdiction and control over the whole of the
archipelago.
In 1790, with the signing of the Treaty of San Lorenzo at the El
Escorial, Great Britain undertook not to establish any settlements
on either the eastern or the western coasts of South America or on
the adjacent islands already occupied by Spain such as the Malvinas
Islands.
Spain appointed a succession of thirty-two governors in the Malvinas
Islands up to 1811, when the garrison at Puerto Soledad was summoned
to Montevideo to defend the the Spanish monarchy at the beginning of
the Wars of Independence. In the framework of this conflict, the
first governors of the United Provinces of the Río de la Plata
included the Malvinas in different administrative acts, considering
them an integral part of their territory inherited from Spain by the
succession of States in accordance with the uti possidetis juris of
1810.
In 1820, while difficult conditions reigned due to internal
struggles faced by the Argentine state in formation, naval Officer
David Jewett took possession of the Malvinas Islands on behalf of
the United Provinces of the Río de la Plata at a public ceremony at
Puerto Soledad, which was attended by sealers and whalers of
different nationalities, including American and British, who
happened to disembark on the islands in the course of their work.
The news was published in the media in the United States and the
United Kingdom but there was no official comment from either
country. Nor did Great Britain stake any claim to the Malvinas
Islands in the process of recognition of Argentina which ended with
the signing by both countries of the Treaty of Friendship, Trade and
Navigation in 1825.
During the 1820s, Argentine governments took various actions
confirming their sovereignty over the Malvinas Islands, including
the appointment of governors, legislation on fishing resources and
the granting of territorial concessions. As a result, Puerto Soledad
grew and its inhabitants worked in stockbreeding, sealing and
providing services to the boats which came into port.
On 10 June 1829, the Argentine government enacted a decree creating
the Political and Military Command of the Malvinas Islands. After
having remained silent for over 50 years, in the course of which
there had been successive uncontested Spanish and Argentine
administrations in the Malvinas Islands, in November 1829 the United
Kingdom objected to that decree against the backdrop of renewed
strategic interest in the South Atlantic.
At the end of 1831, a United States warship razed Puerto Soledad as
reprisal for the capture of sealing vessels caught infringing
fishing laws by the Argentine authorities. The Argentine government
immediately began attempts to obtain reparations from the United
States and at the same time sent a navy schooner to restore order in
the islands upset by the arrival of the American vessel.
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Origin of the
sovereignty dispute
Once order had been restored in Puerto Soledad, a British Royal Navy
corvette, with the support of another warship in the vicinity,
threatened to use greater force and demanded the surrender and
handover of the settlement. After the expulsion of the Argentine
authorities and population, in 1834 the British government assigned
a Navy officer to remain in the islands and only in 1841 did it
decide to “colonise” the Malvinas Islands and appoint a “governor”.
The act of force of 1833, carried out in peacetime without prior
communication or declaration by a government friendly to the
Argentine Republic, was immediately rejected and protested against.
On 16 January 1833, when news of the events in the Malvinas Islands
reached Buenos Aires, the Argentine government demanded explanations
from the British Chargé d’Affaires who was unaware of the actions
carried out by vessels of his country. On 22 January the Minister of
Foreign Affairs presented a protestation to the British government
official, which was renewed and extended on repeated occasions by
the Argentine representative in London. The Argentine presentations
were rejected by the British government.
The issue remained unsettled and was recognised as such by the
British Foreign Secretary in 1849. Meanwhile Argentina continued to
present the issue at different levels of government and it became a
subject of debate in the Argentine Congress. In 1884, at the lack of
response to the protests, Argentina proposed to submit the issue to
international arbitration, which was also rejected by the United
Kingdom without any reason being given.
From that time on, the Argentine Republic made repeated demands
formulating the relevant protests whenever it had notice of British
actions contradicting its sovereignty over the Malvinas Islands,
South Georgia and South Sandwich and the surrounding maritime spaces
not only bilaterally but also in different multilateral fora,
including the United Nations and the Organisation of American
States, thus promoting the adoption of resolutions calling on both
Parties to settle the controversy and of declarations in support of
the Argentine position.
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There are
only two parties to the
sovereignty dispute: the Argentine Republic and the United Kingdom
Within the framework of Resolution 2065 (XX) of 1965 of the General
Assembly of the United Nations - which establishes that the
controversy between the Argentine Republic and the United Kingdom
concerning the sovereignty over the islands must be solved through
negotiations which take into account the dispositions and objectives
of the United Nations Charter, Resolution 1514 (XV) of the General
Assembly as well as the interests of the population of the islands -
a process of bilateral negotiations got under way which analysed
various formulas to solve the dispute. No agreement was reached.
In 1982 the conflict of the South Atlantic took place and diplomatic
relations between Argentina and the United Kingdom were broken off.
These were restored in February 1990.
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Present situation
Bilateral diplomatic relations between the Argentine Republic and
the United Kingdom were restored as a result of the Joint
Declarations of Madrid of 1989 and 1990 which adopted a formula
safeguarding sovereignty and jurisdiction over the Malvinas Islands,
South Georgia and South Sandwich and the surrounding maritime
spaces. Pursuant to the Joint Declaration of 19 October 1989, this
formula applies to all bilateral meetings concerning practical
aspects in connection with the Malvinas as well as with declarations
and acts of the parties or third parties which occur as a
consequence of what has been agreed at the meetings.
After the 1989 and 1990 Joint Statements signed in Madrid with the
United Kingdom various provisional understandings on practical
questions related to the South Atlantic were adopted in successive
joint statements and exchanges of notes in accordance with the
formula of safeguarding of sovereignty. These refer to mutual
trust-building measures in military matters in order to avoid
incidents, conservation of fishing resources, exploration and
exploitation of hydrocarbons, air and sea communications between the
Argentine mainland and the islands, access by Argentine passport
holders to the islands, the construction of a memorial to the
Argentines who fell in the islands in 1982, the exchange of
information on the outer delimitation of the continental shelf, the
carrying out of a feasibility study on mine clearance in the
Malvinas Islands and the analysis of place names in the Malvinas
Islands. Such understandings concerning the creation of a modus
vivendi for the area in dispute have a provisional character and aim
at bringing about conditions for resuming negotiations about
sovereignty.
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Sovereignty is
the core of the dispute
The sovereignty question, the issue that is central to the dispute,
has not yet been addressed due to the reluctance of the United
Kingdom to include this topic in the negotiations despite the many
calls of the international community in favour of a definitive
solution.
The First Transitory Provision of the Argentine National
Constitution of 1994 stipulates: "The Argentine Nation ratifies its
legitimate and imprescriptible sovereignty over the Malvinas
Islands, South Georgia and South Sandwich and the corresponding
maritime and island spaces, as they are an integral part of the
national territory. The recovery of said territories and the full
exercise of sovereignty, respectful of the way of life of their
inhabitants and in accordance with the principles of International
Law, are a permanent and irrenounceable objective of the Argentine
people.”
President Kirchner’s Government has reaffirmed State policy as
regards the Malvinas Islands Question which favours the search for
ways to resume negotiations on sovereignty and has continued to
comply with the provisional understandings under the sovereignty
formula with the United Kingdom on practical aspects of the South
Atlantic, displaying its willingness to enter into new
understandings which might be of interest to Argentina and
contribute to create the conditions for the resumption of
negotiations on sovereignty.
On 2 April 2006, at the commemoration ceremony dedicated to the
veterans and the fallen of the Malvinas war, President Nestor
Kirchner said: “Our citizens, our people have the common
determination to rescue the sovereignty over our islands. Once more
therefore we express again our will to resume dialogue with the
United Kingdom. It will be a dialogue between democracies to face
and solve a controversy which affects our relations. It will be a
process in which we shall show good faith and which will require
good faith, tenacity and good will also on behalf of the United
Kingdom. They have to show good will to negotiate about our
sovereignty over the Malvinas Islands.”
The call on the United Kingdom to comply with the repeated
international summonses to resume negotiations on sovereignty in
accordance with the resolutions and declarations of the United
Nations and the Organisation of American States has been repeated in
international and regional organisations and to the international
community in general, as well as the permanent willingness of
Argentina in this regard. At the same time, the Argentine government
has reaffirmed its respect for the way of life of the islanders
guaranteed by the National Constitution and the Argentine commitment
to consider their interests, pursuant to the United Nations
resolutions.
Notwithstanding the above, the Argentine Republic rejects and
objects to British unilateral acts in the disputed area which do not
take into account the provisional understandings under the
sovereignty formula and are contrary to the provisions of Resolution
31/49 of the United Nations General Assembly, which urges the
Parties to abstain from introducing unilateral modifications in the
situation.
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General Assembly of the United
Nations
On 14 December 1960, the General Assembly adopted Resolution
1514 (XV) “Declaration on the Granting of Independence to Colonial
Countries and Peoples” which proclaimed “the necessity of bringing
to a speedy and unconditional end colonialism in all its forms and
manifestations“, enshrining two fundamental principles that were to
guide the decolonisation process: self-determination and territorial
integrity.
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The principle of
self-determination does not apply to the Malvinas Islands Question
The specificity of the Malvinas Islands
Question lies in the fact that the United Kingdom occupied the
islands by force in 1833, expelled the original population and did
not allow its return, thus violating Argentine territorial
integrity. Therefore, the possibility of applying the principle of
self-determination is ruled out, as its exercise by the inhabitants
of the islands would cause the “disruption of the national unity and
territorial integrity” of Argentina. It is important to note that
Resolution 1514 (XV) “Declaration on the granting of independence to
colonial countries and peoples” stipulates in paragraph 6 “Any
attempt aimed at partial or total disruption of the national unity
and the territorial integrity of a country is incompatible with the
purposes and principles of the Charter of the United Nations”.
The General Assembly of the United Nations included this doctrine in
the Malvinas Question - it applies the principle of territorial
integrity taking into account the interests and NOT the wishes of
the population of the islands - in its resolution 2065 (XX) of 1965
which was reaffirmed by other resolutions in 1973 (3160, XXVIII)
1976 (31/49), 1982 (37/9), 1983 (38/12), 1984 (39/6), 1985 (40/21),
1986 (41/40), 1987 (42/19) y 1988 (43/25). They all declare the
existence of a sovereignty dispute and reaffirm the invitation made
in resolution 2065 (XX) to the Parties “to proceed without delay
with the negotiations recommended by the Special Committee on the
Situation with regard to the Implementation of the Declaration on
the Granting of Independence to Colonial Countries and Peoples with
a view to finding a peaceful solution to the problem, bearing in
mind the provisions and objectives of the Charter of the United
Nations and of General Assembly Resolution 1514 (XV) and the
interests of the population of the Falkland Islands (Malvinas)“.
As of 2004, by virtue of a process of revitalisation of the General
Assembly, the Argentine government ensured that the Malvinas Islands
Question appeared on the permanent agenda and in the
Document of the General Assembly Bureau. The
topic may be discussed subject to prior notification by a Member
State.
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Special Committee on
Decolonisation of the United Nations
This Committee, currently comprising twenty-seven countries,
annually adopts a resolution which -among other things- requests
both governments to consolidate the present process of dialogue and
cooperation through the resumption of negotiations, with a view to
finding a peaceful solution to the controversy over sovereignty as
soon as possible. The last Resolution of this type was made on 15
June 2006.
In relation to this subject, the United Nations Secretary General
said, in his report of 5 April 2005 on the Second Decade for the
Eradication of Colonialism that, in the case of the Malvinas
Islands, there exists a sovereignty dispute and that the Special
Committee on Decolonisation and the General Assembly have continued
to urge the interested governments to continue negotiating in order
to find a definitive solution to this question.
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Organisation of American States
Every year since 1982, the General Assembly of the Organisation
of American States has adopted a resolution, and since 1993 a
declaration stating that the Malvinas Islands Question is of
permanent interest to the whole hemisphere. It calls on Argentina
and the United Kingdom to resume negotiations with a view to finding
a peaceful and definitive solution to the sovereignty dispute as
soon as possible; it expresses its satisfaction at the reaffirmation
of the will of the Argentine government to continue exploring all
possible ways to securing a peaceful solution to the controversy,
particularly its positive considerations on the inhabitants of the
Malvinas Islands; and decides to continue examining the question
until its final solution. The last pronouncement of this type was
made on 6 June 2006.
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Mercosur
On 25 June 1996 the Mercosur
member countries Argentina, Brazil, Paraguay and Uruguay plus
Bolivia and Chile expressed in the Declaration of Potrero de los
Funes their full support for Argentina’s rights of sovereignty over
the Malvinas Islands, South Georgia and South Sandwich and their
surrounding maritime spaces, sending a clear message from the
subregional bloc on the need to find a solution to the controversy.
Their full support was reiterated in the Asuncion Declaration of 15
June 1999.
On 21 July 2006, the Mercosur member countries and associated
countries issued a joint press statement: “We renew the commitment
with the “Declaración sobre Malvinas” signed at Potrero de los Funes
on the 25 June 1996, reaffirming our support for the legitimate
rights of the Argentine Republic in the sovereignty dispute
regarding the Malvinas Question. Likewise, we recall the hemispheric
interest in seeing the protracted dispute between the Argentine
Republic and the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern
Ireland over the Malvinas Islands, South Georgia Islands and South
Sandwich Islands and the maritime surrounding areas reach a prompt
solution in conformity with the resolutions and declarations of the
United Nations and the Organisation of American States”.
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South American Summits
The Rio Group has issued statements on the Malvinas Islands
Question since 1993. On the occasion of the treatment of the
question by the Special Committee on Decolonisation of the United
Nations and the Fourth Commission of the General Assembly of the
United Nations, the representative of the country occupying the
Group Secretariat that year intervened in the debates on behalf of
the Rio Group.
On 10 May 2005 the Rio Group issued a declaration supporting the
legitimate rights of the Argentine Republic in the sovereignty
dispute and expressed its concern over the inclusion of the South
Atlantic islands in Annex II to the Treaty establishing a
Constitution for Europe of 29 October 2004. Copies of this
declaration were submitted by the Argentine embassies to foreign
ministries in all the European Union Member States and to European
Union authorities.
On 2nd March 2007, the Rio Group issued this statement: The Heads of
State and Government of the Rio Group reaffirm their support to the
legitimate rights of the Argentine Republic in the sovereignty
dispute with the United Kingdom about the Malvinas Question.
They remind the regional interest that the Governments of the
Argentine Republic and the United Kingdom of Great Britain and
Northern Ireland resume negotiations in order to reach as soon as
possible a fair, peaceful and lasting solution to the sovereignty
dispute about the Malvinas, South Georgia and South Sandwich Islands
and the sorrounding maritime areas, according to the relevant
resolutions and declarations of the United Nations and the
Organization of the American States.
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Rio Group
The Rio Group has issued statements on the Malvinas Islands
Question since 1993. On the occasion of the treatment of the
question by the Special Committee on Decolonisation of the United
Nations and the Fourth Commission of the General Assembly of the
United Nations, the representative of the country occupying the
Group Secretariat that year intervened in the debates on behalf of
the Rio Group.
On 10 May 2005 the Rio Group issued a declaration supporting the
legitimate rights of the Argentine Republic in the sovereignty
dispute and expressed its concern over the inclusion of the South
Atlantic islands in Annex II to the Treaty establishing a
Constitution for Europe of 29 October 2004. Copies of this
declaration were submitted by the Argentine embassies to foreign
ministries in all the European Union Member States and to European
Union authorities.
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Summit of South-American
Countries and Arab Countries
The Declaration of Brasilia of 10 - 11May 2005 of the Summit of
South-American Countries and Arab Countries stated that the
inclusion of the islands of the South Atlantic in Annex II to the
Treaty establishing a Constitution for Europe of 29 October 2004 is
incompatible with the existence of a sovereignty dispute over said
islands.
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Ibero-American Summit
The Ibero-American Summits which bring together the heads of
State and Government of the 19 Iberoamerican countries plus Spain
and Portugal, have stated on several occasions, the last time in
2006 in Montevideo (Uruguay), the need for Argentina and the United
Kingdom to renew, at the earliest opportunity, the negotiations to
seek a rapid solution to the sovereignty dispute over the Malvinas
Islands, in accordance with the resolutions of the United Nations
and the Organisation of American States and the provisions and
objectives of the United Nations Charter, including the principle of
territorial integrity.
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South American Nations Community Presidents’ Summit
During the II South American Nations Community Presidents’
Summit, the 9 December 2006 in the city of Cochabamba a Declaration
was approved reaffirming the support for the legitimate rights of
the Argentine Republic in the sovereignty dispute regarding the
Malvinas Question. Likewise, we recall emphatically both Governments
to resume the negotiations in order to find as soon as possible a
just, peacefully and lasting solution to sovereignty dispute over
the Malvinas Islands, South Georgia Islands and South Sandwich
Islands and the maritime surrounding areas in conformity with the
resolutions and declarations of the General Assembly and the Special
Committee on Decolonisation of the United Nations and the
Organisation of American States”.
Secretariat of
Foreign Relations, Minister of Foreign Affairs
www.cancilleria.gov.ar
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