Scotish group takes Britian to UN.

A group of supporters of Scottish independence, calling themselves SCOTLAND FIRST, are planning to take their case against the British government to the United Nations. They claim that exercise of self-determination is a fundamental human right and is recognised as such in UN legislation to which the UK is a signatory.

For over two years now they have been seeking a way to exercise that democratic right, through involvement with the campaign for a referendum on Scottish independence. They promoted awareness of poll results from 1998-2000, which indicated that if a clear and simple question is put in a referendum, a majority would vote for independence.

When opinion polls restarted in 2005, with one or two marginal exceptions, they indicated that a majority support for dependence would still be the result in a referendum. A complaint to the UN only requires indication of significant support for independence, and is therefore fully justified. In June last year, one of their number, ANGUS COULL, formally requested an independence referendum from both the British government and the Scottish Executive.

Both replied in writing. The Executive effectively washed their hands of the matter saying it was reserved by Westminster. For their part, the British government declared they had no intention of holding a referendum on independence.

A petition was then raised by another member of the group, NEIL CAPLE, and presented to the public petitions committee of the Scottish Parliament in a final attempt to instigate a debate in Holyrood to examine what powers might actually exist regarding a referendum being raised there.

However, the Public Petitions Committee did not refer the matter to Parliament and again cited the reserved status of constitutional matters to Westminster as the main reason for not doing so.

In February this year, Mr Coull, on behalf of the group, wrote a follow-up letter asking if the government could suggest any alternative democratic mechanism whereby the people of Scotland could pursue and acquire independence.

However, the written response from the British government was that there was NO ALTERNATIVE MECHANISM. Angus Coull says, "The British government, despite the clear indicated support for independence in opinion polls, refuse to initiate a referendum and furthermore states that there is no other mechanism by which the Scots may exercise their right to self-determination.

"This is a direct violation of the internationally-recognised human right to self-determination as enshrined in the UN Charter and the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights. A basic tenet of this right is that it is only the people seeking self-determination who can legally decide whether they acquire it or not. It is a fundamental and universal right, not one to be granted or refused by some external seat of power".

Another group member, SHEENA McGREGOR, asserted "UN policy units have determined that the host state should not only allow the process of self-determination to take place, but should also provide and describe a mechanism by which this process might be completed.

"Since this is obviously not being complied with by the British State it represents a clear violation of Scotland's right to self-determination. And with no indication of any impending change in that regard, we are sadly forced to conclude that there remains no alternative but to register a formal complaint with the United Nations Human Rights Council in Geneva.

"It is regrettable, given the UK's already lamentable standing internationally, that a formal UN investigation into the British State's violation of Scotland's fundamental human right of self-determination needs to be initiated, but after due consideration we feel that we have been left with no alternative. We will take the first step in this process within the next few days."