Dear Editor,
When the Netherlands joined the United Nations in 1945, it committed itself to two fundamental obligations as far as St. Maarten is concerned. The first was to fulfill in “good faith” its obligations under the United Nations (“present”) Charter and the second was to ensure a “full measure of self-government” for St. Maarten.
The idea behind the “full measure of self-government” was to ensure that European colonial powers no longer exercised control over colonized peoples. The United States and Russia had just defeated Nazism in Europe. Just as the United States and Russia had helped to free Europe from Nazi domination, both nations were demanding that European colonial states free their colonial peoples from foreign domination. That was the basis behind the concept of a “full measure of self-government” or decolonization if you will. The Netherlands signed onto the UN Charter and ratified it. Therefore, it is bound to comply with its obligations under the “present charter”.
The Kingdom of the Netherlands and the “putative” (that which appears lawful, but in fact is not) Kingdom Charter was met with much skepticism by the UN General Assembly in 1955. The members pointed out that a governor, as well as Articles 44, 50, and 51 of the Kingdom Charter were incompatible with a “full measure of self-government”. The members consequently refused to acknowledge the “Kingdom of the Netherlands” and instead addressed Resolution 945X of December 1955 to the “Government of the Netherlands”. They furthermore rejected the Kingdom Charter, and for the first time included two amendments in Resolution 945X stating that it did not grant the peoples of the Netherlands Antilles a full measure of self-government.
The Kingdom Charter, COHO [Caribbean Reform Body – Ed.], and the CFT [Committee for Financial Supervision] agreements are of the same legal character as an employment contract in which the employee “out of free will” agrees to work for less than minimum wage. We know those types of contracts well on St. Maarten. What the Netherlands is attempting with the Kingdom Charter, COHO and the CFT was, and is, to cheat St. Maarten out of its full measure of self-government. (The UN wisely saw through that move with the Kingdom Charter in 1955.)
The fundamental problem with the Kingdom Charter is that it stands in direct contradiction to the UN Charter. Once the full measure of self-government has been achieved, there is simply no role for the Netherlands, which includes the CFT and COHO, to play in these parts any longer. In 1945, the Netherlands signed onto the UN Charter and ratified it. Therefore, it is bound to comply with its obligations under the “present charter”. Simply put, there is no lawful role for neither the Kingdom government nor the CFT on St. Maarten.
Pro Soualiga Foundation
