Self-determination
The right to self-determination is a fundamental principle of international law. It is found not only in the Charter of the United Nations but in both the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights and the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights. Its importance to the respect for all human rights is reinforced by the Human Rights Committee’s reference to it in General Comment 12 as being “of particular importance because its realization is an essential condition for the effective guarantee and observance of individual human rights and for the promotion and strength- ening of those rights.” It is generally recognized that the right to self- determination has two aspects, the internal and the external. The external aspect is defined in General Comment 21 of the Human Rights Committee which states that it:

“implies that all peoples have the right to determine freely their political status and their place in the international community based on the principle of equal rights and exemplified by the liberation of peoples from colonialism and by the prohibition to subject peoples to alien subjugation, domination and exploitation.”
The external consideration of self-determination is fundamental as it relates to development. It is necessary for a State to be free from the above-mentioned conditions to be able to determine its own policies fully in all realms of govern- ance, and more particularly in the area of development policy.
The internal aspect of the right to self-determination is best illustrated by the Human Rights Committee which defines it as:
“the rights of all peoples to pursue freely their economic, social and cultural development without outside interference.” [General Comment 21]
The Committee goes on to link this internal aspect with a Government’s duty to “represent the whole population without distinction as to race, colour, descent or national or ethnic origin.”