Alliance of Independent States

[Fantasia]

The website for the Alliance of Independent Cybernation States has been officially launched. We are looking for members who are new and old to Cybernation as well as members who may be thinking about switching alliances.

This peaceful alliance is just getting off the ground and looking for member nations to help build it. There are no restrictions on flag type or team color type. Also hoping to build inter-alliance diplomatic partnerships.

Please visit us at The AIS Website.

Our "unofficial" charter is listed below.

Edited January 12, 2009 by Fantasia

[Fantasia]

Charter of the Alliance of Independent States

These are proposed Articles of our International Alliance Charter. Once we have enough members of the Alliance, we, the member nations will review, ammend and ratify the following 41 Articles:

Article 1.

We, the nations and people of the Alliance of Independent States, present this charter as a declaration of our independent right to form an independent alliance of independent Cyber Nations.

Article 2.

We declare that we are the original peoples, the rightful owners and the cultures that defend our independent Cyber world.

Article 3.

Our territories are to us more than an economic resource. For us, they are life itself and have an integral value for our communities. They are fundamental to our social, cultural, spiritual, economic and political survival as distinct cyber nations.

Article 4.

The unity of people and territory is vital and must be recognized.

Article 5.

All policies towards the member nations must be based on mutual understanding and respect for cultural diversity and perspectives, for a promotion of, and an understanding that our peoples have developed ways of life closely attuned to our cyber environment.

THEREFORE WE DECLARE THE FOLLOWING PRINCIPLES, GOALS AND DEMANDS:

RESPECT FOR OUR RIGHTS

Article 6.

Respect for our human, political, social, economic and cultural rights, respect for our right to self-determination, and to pursue our own ways of life.

Article 7.

Respect for our autonomous forms of self-government, as differentiated political systems at the community, regional and other levels. This includes our right to control all economic activities in our territories.

Article 8.

Respect for our customary laws and that they be recognized by national and international law, as equally valid systems of law and decision-making.

Article 9.

Where the peoples so demand, member nations must comply with the different treaties, agreements, covenants, awards and other forms of legal recognition that have been signed with us now and in the past since independence, regarding our rights.

Article 10.

An end to violence and land grabbing; the disbanding of all private armies and militias and their replacement by an international army of the alliance and the rule of law and social justice; the means to use the law in our own defense, before we use war for resolution.

Article 11.

The approval and application of a nation, which affirms and guarantees our right to self-determination, which guides member nations in the application of some of these principles.

Article 12.

The setting up of effective international mechanisms and a tribunal to protect us against the violation of our rights and guarantee the application of the principles set out in this charter.

Article 13.

There can be no sustainable development until our fundamental rights as peoples are respected.

TERRITORY

Article 14.

Secure control of our territories, by which we mean a whole system of continuous and vital connection between member nations; expressed as our right to the unity and continuity of our ancestral domains; including the parts that have been usurped, those being reclaimed and those that we use; the soil, subsoil, air and water required for our self-reliance, cultural development and future generations.

Article 15.

The recognition, definition and demarcation of our territories in accordance with our local and customary systems of ownership and use.

Article 16.

The form of land tenure will be decided by the people themselves, and the territory should be held communally, unless the people decide otherwise.

Article 17.

The right to permanent sovereignty over the use and ownership of the territories which we occupy. Such territories should be inalienable, unleasable, unmortgageable and untransferable.

Article 18.

The right to demarcate our territories ourselves and that these areas be officially recognized and documented.

LAND RIGHTS FOR OUR NEIGHBOURS

Article 19.

Legalise the ownership of lands used.

Article 20.

Land reforms and changes in land tenure to secure the livelihoods of those who live outside the Alliance and indigenous territories, because we recognise that landlessness puts heavy pressure on our territories.

DECISION-MAKING

Article 21.

Control of our territories and the resources that we depend on: all development in our areas should only go ahead with the free, prior and informed consent of the people involved or affected. We insist on recognition of our right to veto any developments proposed within our alliance without our consent.

Article 22.

Recognition of the legal entity of our institutions and organizations, that defend our rights, and through them the right to collectively negotiate our future.

Article 23.

The right to our own forms of social organization; the right to elect and revoke the authorities and government functionaries who oversee the territorial areas within our jurisdiction.

DEVELOPMENT POLICY

Article 24.

Our policy of development is based, first, on guaranteeing our self-sufficiency, material welfare, cosmo-visions and spirituality, as well as that of our neighbours; a full social and cultural development based on the values of equity, justice, solidarity and reciprocity, and balance. Thereafter, the generation of a surplus for the market must come from a rational and creative use of natural resources developing our own traditional technologies and selecting appropriate new ones.

Article 25.

Our right to self-development and to redirect the development process away from large-scale projects towards the promotion of small-scale initiatives controlled by our peoples. The priority for such initiatives is to secure our control over our territories and resources on which our survival depends. Such projects should be the cornerstone of all future development.

Article 26.

The right of our peoples to be broadly informed, consulted and, above all, to participate in the making of decisions on legislation or policies: and in the formulation, implementation or evaluation of any development project, be it at local, national or international levels, whether private or of the state, that may affect our futures directly or indirectly.

Article 27.

All major development initiatives should be preceded by social, cultural, health and environmental impact assessments, carried out with the full participation of local communities and indigenous peoples. All such studies and projects should be open to public scrutiny and debate by the indigenous peoples affected.

Article 28.

National or international agencies considering funding development projects which may affect us, must set up tripartite commissions - including the funding agency, government representatives and our own communities as represented through our representative organizations - to carry through the planning, implementation, monitoring and evaluation of the projects. In all such negotiations, the right to involve technical advisers of our choice.

Article 29.

The cancellation of all mining concessions in our territories imposed without the consent of our indigenous organisations. Mining policies must prioritise, and be carried out under, our control, to guarantee rational management and a balance with the environment. All mining on our lands should be subject to our free, prior and informed consent and should be carried out subject to freely agreed, openly negotiated, legally binding contracts assented to by our own indigenous institutions, communities and peoples.

Article 30.

An end to imposed development schemes and fiscal incentives or subsidies that threaten the integrity of our lives and territories.

Article 31.

A halt to all imposed resettlement programmes.

Article 32.

The problems caused in our territories by international criminal syndicates trafficking in products from plants like poppy and coca must be confronted by effective policies which involve our peoples in decision-making.

Article 33.

Promotion of the health systems of the indigenous peoples, including the revalidation of indigenous medicine and health care, and the promotion of programmes of modern medicine, with measures to ensure our free and equal access to them. Such programmes should allow us to have control over them, providing suitable training to allow us to manage them ourselves.

Article 34.

Establishment of systems of bilingual and intercultural education. These must revalidate our beliefs, religious traditions, customs, and knowledge; allowing our control over these programmes, by the provision of suitable training, in accordance with our cultures; in order to achieve technical and scientific advances for our peoples, in tune with our own cosmo-visions, and as a contribution to the Cyber Nations world community.

Article 35.

Promotion of alternative financial policies that permit us to develop our economies.

BIODIVERSITY AND CONSERVATION

Article 36.

Environmental policies and legislation should recognise indigenous territories and systems of natural resource management as effective 'protected areas', and give priority to their legal establishment as indigenous territories.

INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY

Article 37.

Since we highly value our technologies and believe that our technologies can make important contributions, we demand guaranteed rights to our collective intellectual property in both national and international law, and control over the development and manipulation of this knowledge.

RESEARCH

Article 38.

All investigations in our territories should be carried out with our free, prior and informed consent and under joint control and guidance according to mutual agreement; including the provision for training, publication and support for indigenous institutions necessary to achieve such control.

INSTITUTIONS

Article 39.

The international community, particularly other Alliances of Cyber Nations, must recognise us peoples as peoples, as distinct from other organized social movements, non-governmental organisations and independent sectors, and respect for our right to participate directly and on the basis of equality, as indigenous peoples, in all mechanisms, processes and funding bodies so as to promote and safeguard the future of the Alliance.

EDUCATION

Article 40.

The development of programmes to educate the general public about our rights and about the principles, goals and demands in this charter. For this we call on the international Cyber Nations community for the necessary recognition and support.

Article 41.

We, the member nations of the Alliance of Independent States will use this charter as a basis for promoting our own strategies for our actions.

[Fantasia]

Still Looking for members.