the « Organization of African Unity » and of the « Organization of the United
Nations », and of the re-affirmation of the need for respect for the principles of
good neighbourliness, of brotherhood, of solidarity, of non-interference in the
internal affairs of States, of the settlement of conflict through peaceful means and
of the rejection of all forms of violence and extremism.
ARTICLE 21
The Right to the free disposal of natural wealth
and to international cooperation
503. Article 21 of the Charter recognizes the right of peoples to freely dispose of
« their wealth and their natural resources » (paragraph 1) and the responsibility
of States to combat « all forms of foreign economic exploitation, notably that
which is practiced by international monopolies, so as to allow the population of
each country to fully enjoy the benefits accruing from its natural resources »
(paragraph 5).
504. From Tunisia’s point of view, to help Africa implies that an end must
inextricably be put to the persistent paternalist and neo-colonialist relationships.
505. The Human and Peoples’ Rights, in movement, is based on the findings that
new rights should be added to those which had been proclaimed, notably on the
social and economic aspects, without forgetting those which influence all the
others: the right to peace, the right to self-determination and the right to the free
disposal of natural wealth which shows that democracy goes first and foremost
through each people taking their destiny into their own hands and which implies
that all development projects should, in order to succeed, be endogenous and not
the product of a so-called model imposed by the foreign major powers.
506. In this regard, Tunisia has ceaselessly strived towards the recovery by the
African Continent of its total independence, of its detachment from foreign
dominance, to freely dispose of its natural wealth, that it contributes to the
building of a world order, of cooperation on equal terms, of collective security and
of disarmament, of listening to the African peoples and of contributing to their
development, of the protection of the natural balances of the Continent, of the
free choice by each people of their economic and social system, of the respect for
sovereignty and the independence of each nation.
507. Besides its significant contribution to a self-centred development of the
African countries, this form of action spreads the increasing awareness of the
African public opinion to inter-african solidarity – which has become, in the minds
of numerous citizens, a requirement for the reversal of the growing current of
world social fracture.
508. Two principles govern this action: the re-affirmation of the first responsibility
of a country with regard to its own development, which assumes that all
development projects should first of all be based on local human and material
resources. Thus, there is need for action towards a better integration of the
developing countries in the inter-african decision making process. Furthermore,
good cooperation cannot be achieved without the mobilization of all the actors of
development, and democracy presumes the primacy of politics. This is why
Tunisia has set itself objectives for the promotion of new relations of cooperation,
107