Minorities and Self-determination of Peoples
Minorities and Self-determination of Peoples

Summary/Abstract: Among the essential elements for the formation of a State are the population, territory and State power. The people, established in a certain territory, have the right to self-determination and the other States have the obligation to respect this right. Persons belonging to national minorities enjoy certain fundamental rights and freedoms, but the minority is not a distinct holder of the right to self-determination, but only together with and within the people. Likewise, not only is the holder of the right to self-determination different from the holder of rights belonging to national minorities, but also the content of these rights is distinct. Thus, the right to self-determination includes the right of peoples to dispose of themselves free from outside interference, the right to freely express their political, economic, social, cultural benchmarks, as well as the correlative obligation of otherStates to respect its territorial integrity. The rights of persons belonging to national minorities include aspects related to the ethnic, linguistic, cultural or religious identity of the persons belonging to this category.

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