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Unrepresented Nations and Peoples Organization (UNPO)
Flag
Headquarters		The Hague, Netherlands
Membership		541 population groups
Leaders
-	General Secretary	Marino Busdachin (since 2003)
Establishment		February 11, 1991
Population
-	estimate	c.200 million
Website http://www.unpo.org/
1	Last updated in September 2008.

Map showing states containing one or more members of the UNPO

The Unrepresented Nations and Peoples Organization (UNPO), initiated in 1990 in Tartu, Estonia,^[1] and formed in February 11, 1991, in the Hague, is a democratic, international organization. It is a roof organisation whose members are political organisations and governments representing indigenous peoples, occupied nations, minorities and independent states or territories which lack representation internationally. The organization educates groups in what channels to use to make their voices heard, and helps defuse tensions so that frustrated groups do not turn to violence to gain attention for their demands. Some former members, like Armenia, East Timor, Estonia, Latvia and Georgia, have gained full independence and joined the United Nations.^[2][3]

UNPO aims to protect the members' human and cultural rights, preserve their environments, and to find non-violent solutions to conflicts which affect them. UNPO provides a forum for member aspirations and assists its members to participate at an international level.

UNPO members are generally not represented diplomatically (or only with a minor status, such as observer) in major international institutions, such as the United Nations. As a result, their ability to have their concerns addressed by the global bodies mandated to protect human rights and address conflict is limited.

UNPO is dedicated to the five principles enshrined in its Covenant:

• The equal right to self-determination;
• Adherence to the internationally accepted human rights standards as laid down in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and other international instruments;
• Adherence to the principles of democratic pluralism and rejection of totalitarianism and religious intolerance;
• Promotion of non-violence and the rejection of terrorism as an instrument of policy; and
• Protection of the natural environment.

All members are required to sign and abide by the UNPO Covenant. They must affirm that they support the principle of nonviolence in their people’s struggle for a peaceful solution and that they apply the democratic methodology as their guiding principle. Despite the "UN" in its acronym, UNPO is an NGO and not an agency of the United Nations.

Founding members

The UNPO was founded by the representatives of:^[4]

• Armenia
• Australian Aboriginals
• Cordillera
• The Crimean Tatars
• East Turkestan
• Estonia
• Georgia
• The Greek Minority in Albania
• Iraqi Kurdistan
• Latvia
• Palau
• Taiwan
• Tatarstan
• Tibet
• West Papua

Members

The following are the 54 members listed on the UNPO Nations & People page, the organizations that currently represent them, and the dates on which they joined the UNPO ^[5] (original members listed with blue background):

Suspended Members

• Buffalo River Dene Nation -- 02004-12-19 19 December 2004 to 02009-10-09 9 October 2009; (membership suspended);
• Komi -- 01993-01-17 17 January 1993 to 02009-10-09 9 October 2009; (membership suspended);
• Mari -- 01991-08-06 6 August 1991 to 02009-10-09 9 October 2009; (membership suspended);
• Nahua Del Alto Balsas -- 02004-12-19 19 December 2004 to 02008-09-20 20 September 2008; (membership suspended);
• West Papua -- 01991-02-11 11 February 1991 to 02008-09-20 20 September 2008; (membership suspended)

Former members

The following former members of the UNPO have since gained United Nations (UN) recognition:

• Four former republics of the Soviet Union:
  • Two Baltic republics:
    •  Estonia -- 01991-02-11 11 February 1991 to 01991-08-17 17 August 1991; (withdrew); independence restored in 1991
    •  Latvia -- 01991-02-11 11 February 1991 to 01991-08-17 17 August 1991; (withdrew); independence restored in 1991
  • Two Transcaucasian republics:
    •  Armenia -- 01991-02-11 11 February 1991 to 01992-03-02 2 March 1992; (withdrew); independence restored in 1991
    •  Georgia -- 01991-02-11 11 February 1991 to 01992-07-31 31 July 1992; (withdrew); independence restored in 1991
• Others:
  •  Timor-Leste -- 01993-01-17 17 January 1993 to 02002-09-27 27 September 2002; (withdrew); former Portuguese colony annexed by Indonesia in 1975 and independent since 2002
  •  Palau -- 01991-02-11 11 February 1991 to 01994-12-15 15 December 1994; (withdrew); formerly part of the US–administered Trust Territory of the Pacific Islands and independent since 1994
• Non–UN Members:
  • Other former members of the UNPO.^[6]
    • Aceh -- 01991-08-06 6 August 1991 to 02008-03-01 1 March 2008; (membership discontinued); reached autonomy agreement with Indonesia in 2005
    • Albanians in Macedonia -- 01994-04-16 16 April 1994 to 02008-03-01 1 March 2008; (membership discontinued); reached agreement on wider rights with Macedonia in 2001
    • Bashkortostan -- 01996-02-03 3 February 1996 to 01998-06-30 30 June 1998; (withdrew);
    • Bougainville -- 01991-08-06 6 August 1991 to 02008-03-01 1 March 2008; (membership discontinued); reached autonomy agreement with Papua New Guinea in 2000
    • Chuvash -- 01993-01-17 17 January 1993 to 02008-03-01 1 March 2008; (membership discontinued);
    • Gagauzia -- 01994-04-16 16 April 1994 to 02007-12-01 1 December 2007; (membership discontinued); reached autonomy agreement with Moldova in 1994
    • Ingushetia -- 01994-07-30 30 July 1994 to 02008-03-01 1 March 2008; (membership discontinued);
    • Kumyk -- 01997-04-17 17 April 1997 to 02008-03-01 1 March 2008; (membership discontinued);
    • Khalistan -- 01993-01-24 24 January 1993 to 01993-08-04 4 August 1993; (membership discontinued); , suspension made permanent 22 Jan 1995
    • Lakotah Nation -- 01994-07-30 30 July 1994 to 02007-12-01 1 December 2007; (membership discontinued); , followed by the declaration of the Republic of Lakotah
    • Maohi -- 01994-07-30 30 July 1994 to 02007-12-01 1 December 2007; (membership discontinued);
    • Nuxalk -- 01998-09-23 23 September 1998 to 02008-03-01 1 March 2008; (membership discontinued);
    • Rusyn -- 01998-09-23 23 September 1998 to 02007-12-01 1 December 2007; (membership discontinued);
    • Sakha -- 01993-08-03 3 August 1993 to 01998-06-30 30 June 1998; (withdrew);
    • Talysh -- 02005-06-26 26 June 2005 to 02008-03-01 1 March 2008; (membership discontinued);
    • Tatarstan -- 01991-02-11 11 February 1991 to 02008-03-01 1 March 2008; (membership discontinued);

General Secretaries

• Michael van Walt van Praag 1991–1997
• Tsering Jampa 1997–1998
• Helen S. Corbett 1998–1999
• Erkin Alptekin 1999–2003
• Marino Busdachin 2003–present^[7]
  • Karl Habsburg-Lothringen – Since 19 January 2002, the Director General of the Organization

See also

• Afrikaners
• Assyrian independence
• Buryat
• Circassians
• Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples
• Federal Union of European Nationalities
• Government of Tibet in Exile
• Kurdish people
• Mari El
• Micronations
• Movement for the Survival of the Ogoni People
• Native Americans of the United States
• Politics of Khuzestan
• Tibetan people
• United Nations list of Non-Self-Governing Territories
• Universal Declaration of the Rights of Peoples
• Western Sahara

References

External links

• UNPO Website
• UNPO Covenant
• UNPO Universal Declaration of the Rights of Peoples
• UNPO brochure
• Institute of the Rights of Peoples, UNPO Tartu Coordination Office, (Eastern Europe and Northern Asia)
• Fourth World: Nations Without a State, Nadesan Satyendra
• Political Resources list of Unrepresented Nations & Peoples Organisations