AN OPEN LETTER TO THE PRESIDENT OF NAMOR
Regarding the treatment of the Otekian people
4 February 2015 Last updated 18:37 Geadish Standard Time
Dagposten publishes a letter signed by 100 politicians and celebrities in Geadland to protest the Namorese government's treatment of the Otekian people.
To Your Excellency, the President-General of the People's Republic of Namor,
We, the undersigned, write this letter to you to petition for a fairer treatment of the Otekian people. We hope that our concerns are also heeded by the government of the People's Republic, and by the Namorese people.
Firstly, we must state with emphasis that we condemn all violent and cruel actions that have been carried out in the name of Otekian separatism. We condemn any group that condones, assists or carries out atrocities to this end. We condemn any attempt to establish an Otekian state that is neither free nor democratic. It is understandable that the Namorese government has had to make difficult moral decisions when dealing with the threats posed by such groups. Nevertheless, it is important that certain rights are respected at all times.
We recognise that many Otekian people consider themselves to be a nation with a separate identity to the Namorese nation, and that they should have a right to self-determination. We say this in the interest of democracy. After all, it is not democratic if a nation is forced to endure a domestic government that its citizens do not want to have in the long run. For the same reason, we believe that no nation should be forced to remain part of another country if its citizens do not, in the long run, wish to remain part of it.
All of us below have many varied political convictions, but we all have a common belief that freedom of speech is inalienable. We therefore are united opposing all Namorese laws and policies, including the Anti-Secession Law, that prevent Otekian separatists from operating peacefully within a democratic system. We deplore the fact that some Otekians have been harassed or punished for stating their views. This includes Manya Valerija and Csedomir Pantejmonov. It also includes many others who did not make the headlines.
We further criticise government policies in Namor that have worked to undermine the national identity of the Otekian people. These have permitted and (in some cases) encouraged a large influx of outsider Namorese into the region, leaving people who identify themselves with the Otekian nation as a minority in their own homeland. Doing so has complicated the dispute and made it impossible to solve with a simple referendum. Other government policies have also targeted the culture and religion of the Otekian people. No democracy should exert this type of compulsion on any citizens.
We call for the government to listen to the genuine grievances of the Otekian people and to implement policies that better respect their human rights.
We wish your nation a free, peaceful and prosperous future.