The
contemporary Caribbean remains the most politically diverse region of the world
in such a small geographic space. By the end of the 19th century,
much of the region was comprised of colonial dependencies controlled by various
European nations. Following the creation of the United Nations (U.N.) in 1945,
and the subsequent wave of independence which accelerated after 1960, many of
the Caribbean dependencies gained political independence. Others - in
particular, the overseas departments of Guadeloupe, Martinique and French
Guiana - became politically integrated with France. By 1960, these two
political options of independence and integration, coupled with free
association, had become the prevailing international standards of political
equality pursuant to United Nations (U.N.) General Assembly Resolution 1541
(XV).
Before U.N.
adoption of this self-governance criteria, political advancements in the
Netherlands Antilles and Puerto Rico in the 1950s yielded different forms of
autonomy but which were deficient in the requirements for full political
equality.
Meanwhile, the
remaining six United Kingdom (U.K.) dependencies of Bermuda, Turks and Caicos
Islands, Cayman Islands, Anguilla, British Virgin Islands and Montserrat; and
the United States (U.S.) dependency of the Virgin Islands; were classified by
the U.N. in 1946 as non self-governing territories (NSGT) along with most of
the non-independent world. Whilst other NSGTs evolved to full self-government,
incremental political evolution has been insufficient in the U.K. and U.S.
dependencies in the Caribbean.
United Kingdom
and United States Dependencies
Democratic
deficiencies are evident in both sets of dependencies since both are governed
through unilateral authority exercised by the cosmopole. U.K. abolition of the
elected government of the Turks and Caicos Islands and the institution of
direct colonial rule over three years ago is indicative of the abuse of such
unilateral power. Neither the U.K./U.S. dependency models were meant to be
permanent as these arrangements fall below the recognised threshold of full
self-government. These dependency models can be seen as transitional and
preparatory to the achievement of full self-government required under the U.N.
Charter and General Assembly resolutions.
For the U.K.
dependencies, unilateral authority is codified in the constitutions written by
the cosmopole, and is reflected in ‘reserved powers’ exercised by the British
governor resident in the dependency who can annul legislation after its
adoption by the elected government. The British Governor can also issue
Orders-in-Council to unilaterally enact legislation without the consent and
against the will of the elected dependency government. Initiatives beginning in
1999 to “modernise” the U.K. dependency constitutions were not intended to
transfer powers to the territories, as required by the international decolonisation
mandate under U.N. Resolution 1514 (XV). Instead, the result has been to retain
and further strengthen the unilateral powers even as changes in nomenclature
might suggest otherwise. The new arrangements, for example, change the
designation ‘dependency’ to ‘overseas territory,’ and the name of the elected
head of government from ‘chief minister’ to ‘premier.’ However, the unilateral
power of the cosmopole remains unchanged.
For the U.S.
dependencies, the U.S. Virgin Islands and Puerto Rico (and several Pacific
dependencies), similar powers of the cosmopole apply. The overarching
Instrument of Unilateral Authority (IUA) is the relevant provision of the U.S.
Constitution which authorises the U.S. Congress to apply laws to the
dependencies. This model provides for a non-voting representative in the lower
U.S. Congressional House but no participation in presidential elections of the
metropole. A proposed constitution in 2009 to replace the cosmopole’s Organic
Act – but not to change the dependency status - contains provisions to address
some aspects of the political power imbalance, but objections to its
inconsistency with U.S. unilateral authority have stalled the process.
Consistent with
the U.K., the U.S. practices a colonial avoidance strategy by not participating
in the U.N. Decolonisation Committee work on the substance of the dependency
arrangements. The U.S. position is that the dependencies have expressed no
interest in modifying their status, thus circumventing the need for the
cosmopole to justify the political power imbalance, as well as their
requirement to prepare the dependencies for full self-government under Article
73 (b) of the U.N. Charter.
Semi-autonomous
countries of the Netherlands
For the Dutch
semi-autonomous countries, provisions in the 1954 Charter of the Kingdom of the
Netherlands to ensure ‘good governance’ in the Caribbean semi-autonomous
countries have resulted in a similar, albeit less overt, expression of
unilateral power of the cosmopole. Emerging from the dismantlement of the
five-island Netherlands Antilles in 2010 were two semi-autonomous countries of
Curacao and Sint Maarten upon which have been imposed a lesser autonomous
governance model which shifted the budgetary process and other functional
competencies from the elected government to the cosmopole.
A 2012 expert
assessment of the level of self-governance of this new model for Curacao using
specific indicators revealed that the original autonomous country model
in 1954 was deficient in meeting even the less defined international standards
of self-government at the time due to the political imbalance of power. By
extension, the present semi-autonomous governance model in Curacao and Sint
Maarten emerging from the 2010 dismantlement of the Netherlands Antilles
further reduced the level of self-government, and is not in compliance with
contemporary international standards.
The dismantlement exercise also created three partially integrated ‘public
entities’ of the Netherlands - Saba, St. Eustatius and Bonaire - not integrated
enough to provide the people with full political rights but just enough to
create three new European Union borders in the Caribbean with implications for
fisheries, natural resources, security and regional integration.
Conclusion
In the
remaining U.K. and U.S. dependencies in the Caribbean, no legitimate acts of
self-determination have ever been undertaken as the political and constitutional
initiatives have all been done under the jurisdiction of the laws of the
cosmopole rather than international law. In the meantime, the current Dutch
semi-autonomous model does not meet the minimum standards of genuine autonomous
governance and full political equality.
The respective
metropoles have consistently argued that the dependencies are content in their
political dependency arrangements, and equate self-government to the conduct of
elections. However, this is inconsistent with the objective reality in the
dependencies and autonomous countries where varying degrees of dissatisfaction
with the democratic deficiencies have been continuously expressed by elected
leaders and civil society.
A concerted
effort of the international community is required if international law is to be
applied to bring about full self-government in the dependencies and the
semi-autonomous countries alike. Given the propensity of the cosmopoles to
maintain control over resources and capital flows in the non-independent
Caribbean, full self-government will remain a significant challenge.
- Dr. Carlyle
G. Corbin is an international advisor on
governance and multilateral diplomacy.
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