Human Rights Council holds Panel discussion to commemorate the twentieth anniversary of the Declaration on the Rights of Minorities

Human Rights Council
MIDDAY 13 March 2012

The Human Rights Council at a midday meeting today held a panel discussion to commemorate the twentieth anniversary of the Declaration on the Rights of Persons Belonging to National or Ethnic, Religious and Linguistic Minorities.

Kyung-wha Kang, United Nations Deputy High Commissioner for Human Rights, opening the panel discussion, said that the violation of minority rights constituted a wide-scale problem, which affected all regions of the world with multiple manifestations ranging from attacks on religious minorities to the systematic exclusion of minorities from decision making in economic and public life. It had contributed to statelessness and other serious human rights challenges around the world. The protection of minority rights was a key factor in the prevention of conflicts and atrocities as well as in peace-building.

The panellists were Rita Izsak, United Nations Independent Expert on minority issues; Soyata Maiga, Member of the African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights and Special Rapporteur on the Rights of Women in Africa; Joshua Castellino, Professor of Law – Head of the Law Department, Middlesex University; and Pastor Elias Murillo Martinez, Member of the Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination. Mark Lattimer, Director of Minority Rights Group International, moderated the discussion.

Mr. Lattimer said that the history of human rights had unfortunately been a history of gross human rights violations of communities based on their identity or religion. The protection of minorities and the implementation of the rights evoked in the Declaration were more needed than ever. The Declaration provided authorities with standards on minority rights; however, its visibility was limited.

Ms. Izsak said members of minority groups continued to be discriminated against and excluded from many aspects of society. Governments should evaluate their legislation and policies to make sure they were consistent with the Declaration as well as gather and study disaggregated data on the situation of minorities.

Ms. Maiga said that over the last 20 years the position of minorities in Africa had remained weak due to social exclusion. There was a need for greater cooperation among the bodies established by international instruments including a reference in the guidelines on periodic reports to the Declaration so that States would have to take stock of the application of the Declaration and its level of knowledge among citizens.

Mr. Castellino said minority communities were often the best indicators of the state of human rights in a country because they belonged to the most vulnerable in the society. The Council should support the Minority Rights Forum and engage national human rights institutions in the dissemination of the Declaration.

Mr. Martinez said the Declaration on the Rights of Persons Belonging to National or Ethnic, Religious and Linguistic Minorities was important for peace and security. The Declaration had attracted less attention due to its non-binding nature and because its adoption coincided with International Labour Organization Declaration 169 on indigenous peoples’ rights as well as the widespread constitutionalism of diversity, which in some regions had become high profile, in Latin America for example.

In the discussion, speakers said that Muslims were stigmatized as well as negatively profiled in some Western countries and asked the panellists to elaborate on how minority groups could overcome this discrimination? The Minority Issues Forum had contributed to the enhancement of the visibility of minority rights. How could the Council best use the outcome of this discussion? Some speakers were concerned about the increase in neo-Nazi attacks against Roma and gypsies. Could the panellists elaborate on what measures should be taken to counter the rise of neo-Nazi attacks.
The recent wave of expulsions of Roma and the deportation of migrants and asylum seekers from some European countries violated minority rights. Speakers condemned attacks against religious communities of any religion and belief, including Christian minorities. It was unfortunate that in the twenty-first century some of the most advanced countries in the world had expelled minority groups from their territories. Minority groups were often among the poorest of the poor and forgotten in development programmes, not least in the Millennium Development Goals which were targeted at a macro level. Building the rule of law was key to protecting minority groups.

Speaking in the panel discussion were the European Union, Pakistan on behalf of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation, Austria, Italy, China, Russian Federation, Hungary, Kuwait, Malaysia, Costa Rica, Angola, United States, Iran, Azerbaijan, Nepal, Slovenia, Ethiopia, Honduras, Romania, Greece, Ecuador, Norway, Latvia, Sri Lanka, Morocco, and India.

Non-governmental organizations which took the floor included Badil Resource Centre, and National Association of the Advancement of Coloured People.

During its afternoon meeting, the Council will conclude its general debate on human rights situations that require the attention of the Council. Time permitting, it will then start its interactive dialogue with Ms. Izsak, the Independent Expert on Minority Issues.

Opening Statements

KYUNG-WHA KANG, United Nations Deputy High Commissioner for Human Rights, in opening the panel commemorating the twentieth anniversary of the adoption of the Declaration on the Rights of Persons Belonging to National or Ethnic, Religious and Linguistic Minorities, said that the violation of minority rights constituted a wide-scale problem, which affected all regions of the world with multiple manifestations ranging from attacks on religious minorities to the systematic exclusion of minorities from decision making in economic and public life. It had contributed to statelessness and other serious human rights challenges around the world. The protection of minority rights was a key factor in the prevention of conflicts and atrocities as well as in peace-building. Minority women were often particularly targeted, including for sexual violence in detention or in armed conflicts. The Declaration on the Rights of Persons Belonging to National or Ethnic, Religious and Linguistic Minorities was built on four pillars: the protection of existence; the protection and promotion of identity; equality and non-discrimination; and the right to effective participation in cultural, religious, social, economic and public life. Since 2008, the Office of the High Commissioner had organized a series of regional consultations to gather good practices that could be replicated at the national level to encourage participation of minorities in the administration of justice through law enforcement and policing. The Office of the High Commissioner’s Minorities Fellowship Programme had built the capacity of civil society actors by bringing to Geneva representatives of minorities from various countries to gain better understanding of United Nations instruments and mechanisms dealing with human rights and minority rights as well as the skills needed to assist their communities in the protection of these rights. The role of the State in protecting the rights of minorities was crucial. Ms. Kang said that the adoption and implementation of national legislation to protect minority rights should be complemented by targeted policies and programmes, including in education, to address exclusion and discrimination.

MARK LATTIMER, Director of Minority Rights Group International, moderator of the panel discussion, said the history of human rights had unfortunately been a history of gross human rights violations of communities based on their identity or religion. The protection of minorities and the implementation of the rights evoked in the Declaration were more needed than ever. The Declaration provided authorities with standards on minority rights, however, its visibility was limited. Its provisions were rarely invoked by practitioners. What measures could be taken by different actors, including the Human Rights Council, to improve the promotion of the Declaration and encourage its implementation?

Statements by the Panellists

RITA IZSAK, United Nations Independent Expert on minority issues, said in many countries, the principles of the Declaration on the Rights of Persons Belonging to National or Ethnic, Religious and Linguistic Minorities had been incorporated into constitutions, legislation, policies and practices. However, members of minority groups continued to be discriminated against and excluded from many aspects of society. Governments should evaluate their legislation and policies to make sure they were consistent with the Declaration as well as gather and study disaggregated data on the situation of minorities. The international community must step up its efforts to promote human rights education and ensure that it was in the curriculums of schools in all regions. The Independent Expert would like to see more national human rights institutions created in line with the Paris Principles and with mandates clearly requiring them to monitor and advise governments on minority issues and minority rights. The international community must be better at putting the Declaration and all of the related tools, resources and recommendations into the hands of minorities and assisting them to use them. New technology provided incredible opportunities to reach out and connect with vast audiences globally.

SOYATA MAIGA, Member of the African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights and Special Rapporteur on the Rights of Women in Africa, responding to a question from the moderator on what measures could be undertaken to improve the promotion of the Declaration, said that over the last 20 years the position of minorities in Africa had remained weak due to social exclusion. There was a need for greater cooperation among the bodies established by international instruments including a reference in the guidelines on periodic reports to the Declaration so that States would have to take stock of the application of the Declaration and its level of knowledge among citizens. The Council should work with States at the national level to develop programmes. Dissemination was not enough; training was required so that lawyers would be able to invoke the Declaration in court. National human rights institutions and non-governmental organizations could assist in awareness-raising of the Declaration and translating it into minority languages.

JOSHUA CASTELLINO, Professor of Law and Head of Law Department of Middlesex University, said that it was important to focus on how political transitions could be made while upholding the rights of all. Minority communities were often the best indicators of the state of human rights in a country because they belonged to the most vulnerable in the society. The Council should support the Minority Rights Forum and engage national human rights institutions in the dissemination of Declaration. Preventive measures could act as a bulwark against the exclusion of minorities which often occurred in the project to build a strong national unity. Mr. Castellino said that States should understand that their strength was based on diversity and broaden their vision to become more inclusive. There was a need to develop a strong minority focus to the practice of human rights.

PASTOR ELIAS MURILLO MARTINEZ, Member of the Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination, said statements that “not all civilizations were the same or worth the same” had been a part of an effort over the centuries by some people to take down other countries. This highlighted the pertinence of documents like the Declaration on the Rights of Persons Belonging to National or Ethnic, Religious and Linguistic Minorities and its importance for peace and security. The Declaration had attracted less attention due to its non-binding nature and because its adoption coincided with International Labour Organization Declaration 169 on indigenous peoples’ rights as well as the widespread constitutionalism of diversity, which in some regions had become high profile, in Latin America for example. The Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination addressed the question of minorities and addressed these issues in many recommendations.

Discussion

The European Union asked what role civil society and grass roots organizations could play in the promotion of the Declaration? Pakistan, speaking on behalf of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation, said that Muslims were stigmatized as well as negatively profiled in some Western countries and asked the panellists to elaborate on how minority groups could overcome this discrimination? Austria said that the Minority Issues Forum had contributed to the enhancement of the visibility of minority rights and asked how the Council could best use the outcome of this discussion? Italy condemned attacks against religious communities of any religion and belief, including Christian minorities. China said it followed a national ethnic policy of equality and joint prosperity and noted that the living conditions of ethnic populations had improved. The Russian Federation said it was concerned by the increase in neo-Nazi attacks against Roma and gypsies. Could the panellists elaborate on what measures should be taken to counter the rise of neo-Nazi attacks. Hungary said the adoption of the Declaration had initiated important institutional developments and asked which provisions of the Declaration should be strengthened the most? Kuwait said its constitution guaranteed freedom of religion and stressed the need to respect the rights of Muslim minorities in all countries without any restrictions. Malaysia said it agreed that language was one of the essential components of personal identity and said there were 523 Tamil and 1,291 Chinese primary schools in the country. Costa Rica said that it had created a national plan against racism and racial discrimination and asked how could the cultural vision of minorities be effectively included in society? Angola said the Government had worked hard to provide birth registration and free education for the four major ethnic minorities in the country. The United States said it was committed to ensuring full political participation in democratic processes through enforcement of voting rights laws. Iran said that the recent wave of expulsions of Roma and the deportation of migrants and asylum seekers from some European countries violated minority rights. Azerbaijan said that minorities were well represented in official State institutions and held senior posts in the areas with a high proportion of ethnic minorities.

Badil Resource Centre said that the indigenous Palestinian people were threatened through a policy of forced population transfer with more than 7 million Palestinian people displaced. The National Association of the Advancement of Coloured People said it was concerned about State enacted voter suppression laws in the United States and asked that the Independent Expert on minority issues pay attention to voter disenfranchisement.

MARK LATTIMER, Director of Minority Rights Group International, said as there was not enough time to answer every question, each panellist should answer just one particular concern.

RITA IZSAK, United Nations Independent Expert on Minority Issues, said the growing rise of Nazis and right-wing racist and extremist groups was a serious concern. History showed that such groups often rose up in times of economic and social dissatisfaction. During this current time of financial crisis people had to be careful that certain groups of minorities were not used as scapegoats for economic hardships. Special attention must be paid to young people who were most vulnerable, and easily recruited.

SOYATA MAIGA, Member of the African Commission on Human and People’s Rights and Special Rapporteur on the Rights of Women in Africa, said that some African constitutions did refer to minorities rather than indigenous people. In terms of promotional missions, the African Commission worked with grassroots non-governmental organizations in order to bring local concerns to official levels, and sensitize minorities as to their rights. There were also specialized agencies within the United Nations in order to bring all actors working on those issues together.

JOSHUA CASTELLINO, Professor of Law, Head of the Law Department, Middlesex University, on the question concerning legislative initiatives to protect minorities and what could be done at the international levels to encourage passage of the Declaration on the Rights of Minorities, said that examples of good practice in legislation were very important as they sent messages to the practitioners. It was important to send the signal that the international community was fully behind the protection of the rights of minorities, but this could not replace legislative measures. Mr. Castellino encouraged the Council to pass a binding document laying down standards in legislation for participation of minorities. It was important to pay attention to the fact that creating human rights societies could not be done without the participation of minorities and without equal protection of their rights.

ELIAS MURILLO MARTINEZ, Member of the Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination, responding to a question concerning measures to combat discrimination against Muslims in the Western societies, said that the practice of racial profiling was frequent and was linked to a lack of understanding of the concept of diversity. A reliable indicator of discrimination was a disproportionate number of ethnic or religious minorities that were in prison. Special and integrated measures were needed to combat this discrimination and a lot had been done to combat the phenomenon. Some countries were reluctant to provide disaggregated data on different ethnic group, which was an obstacle in understanding racial profiling practices.

RITA IZSAK, the Independent Expert on the rights of minorities, said that there were many policies that threatened particular identities of minorities. If left unidentified, they could damage the identity of minorities and lead to tension between groups. It was therefore important to encourage the implementation of the Declaration on the Rights of Persons Belonging to National or Ethnic, Religious and Linguistic Minorities. The Independent Expert said it was very fortunate that the mandate contained also the aspects of technical assistance and capacity building. The Forum on Minorities was led by the Independent Expert and its recommendations provided guidelines to States with regard to the rights of minorities. Institutional arrangements were particularly important for the protection of the rights of minorities. However, Ms. Izsak said that she would often see impressive constitutions with all safeguards to protect the rights of minorities, but it did not necessarily mean they were translated into practice. Country visits provided a unique opportunity to see the situation first hand, inform the mandate and it was the intention of the Independent Expert to visit as many countries as possible to deliver the message of the Declaration, build constructive relationships and provide technical assistance. Ms. Izsak reiterated the importance of civil society organizations in the discharge of her mandate.

SOYATA MAIGA, Member of the African Commission on Human and People’s Rights and Special Rapporteur on the Rights of Women in Africa, answering a question on what could be done at a national level to support the use of minority languages to aid integration, said a number of countries had shown good practice in the area of education, taking into account teaching of minority languages in school and pre-school education. However, the process was hampered by a lack of political will on behalf of States. The use of national languages also needed to be promoted in literacy programmes for adults. For example it was essential that women could access justice, healthcare, tax and administrative services etcetera, in their minority language. More training should be provided for teachers from minority backgrounds.

PASTOR ELIAS MURILLO MARTINEZ, Member of the United Nations Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination, answering a question on what role special measures could play and how they could address long-standing or entrenched discrimination against minorities, said special measures were separate from positive-discrimination laws. Governments sometimes faced problems implementing special measures because their legitimacy was questioned. When implementing special measures three main factors had to be respected: justification by demonstration of factual conditions, for which statistics were very important; rationality; and the order in which special measures were taken. Special measures were intrinsically temporary. For example, in the fight against women’s discrimination in Europe, studies showed that special measures played an important role towards achieving equality and reducing the gender equality gap by 50 per cent. In countries such as the Americas, where inequality was entrenched, special measures were often the only way to overcome it.

JOSHUA CASTELLINO, Professor of Law and the Head of the Law Department, Middlesex University, on the right to the effective participation of minorities and the related examples of good practice, emphasized the fact that the right to effective political participation was the most important, in addition to a recognition of the existence of minorities. Despite positive developments at the international level, the progress in the protection and enjoyment of human rights occurred at national levels. People were in reality removed from settings such as the Human Rights Council and that was why robust legislative and institutional arrangements and mechanisms were needed to ensure the effective political participation of minorities. Fifty years ago it had been fashionable to borrow models from Europe, United States, Canada or Australia, which had proven to be ill-fitted for a number of societies dealing with realities of post-colonialism. States needed to keep the issue of minorities high on their political and legislative agendas and so prove their commitment to building egalitarian and pluralistic societies. Positive examples could be seen in Lebanon, Singapore or Fiji, but Mr. Castellino cautioned against taking solutions off the shelf and implementing them in one’s own society. The place to start was to ensure that all minorities were fully represented in political and institutional arrangements and mechanisms.

Nepal referred to its significant initiatives protecting rights of minorities, including the Caste-Based Discrimination and Untouchability Act to promote and protect the rights and welfare of the Dalits, a marginalized minority group. Slovenia, as a State with minorities in all its neighbouring States, said it was concerned that many States did not fulfil all of the Declaration’s obligations in good faith. Ethiopia said minority issues were a top priority on its agenda and it took significant measures to empower linguistic minorities as the very foundation of its political structure. Honduras said as a multi-ethnic and linguistic State it had concentrated on inclusion for indigenous and Afro-Honduran people, and education for children from indigenous and ethnic groups. Romania noted that European Union policies were often decided within the Council of Europe and said the work of the United Nations bodies on discrimination was still very important. Greece said it officially recognized the Muslim minority in Thrace, which consisted of three distinct groups, and they enjoyed all rights reserved to Greek citizens, while measures of positive discrimination had been adopted. Ecuador said it was unfortunate that in the twenty-first century some of the most advanced countries in the world had expelled minority groups from their territories. Norway said minority groups were often among the poorest of the poor and forgotten in development programmes, not least in the Millennium Development Goals which were targeted at a macro level. Building the rule of law was key to protecting minority groups. Latvia had a long history of inter-ethnic tolerance among its 150 ethnicities: education in minority languages was a pre-condition for preservation of cultural identity, and bilingual education was an advantage of the Latvian education system. Sri Lanka said 2012 had been declared the Year for a Trilingual Sri Lanka, to motivate people to learn all three major languages, Sinhala, Tamil and English, which was a key component of the reconciliation process. Morocco said that the promotion and protection of the rights of minorities, and elimination of racism and discrimination in all forms, helped both the stability and the prosperity of any society. India said its vision was to improve the socio-economic conditions of minority communities through affirmative action and inclusive development.

Closing Remarks

RITA IZSAK, United Nations Independent Expert on minority issues, on the role of the Human Rights Council in advancing the next generation of human rights and in her closing observations, said that approaches that did not recognize the existence of minorities did not allow the use of positive measures either. That was why the recognition of minorities was essential. The Universal Periodic Review could be very useful to assess countries’ progress in respecting minority rights and the continuing support of the Human Rights Council to the Forum on Minority Issues was important.

SOYATA MAIGA, Member of the African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights and Special Rapporteur on the Rights of Women in Africa, on the question concerning minorities falling behind in achieving the Millennium Development Goals and ensuring the human rights-based approach to development, said that the human rights-based approach had to be global and inclusive, especially with regard to people belonging to minorities. All national, regional and international legal instruments that recognized the Declaration needed to permit the implementation of its principles. States needed to be able to set programmes and policies providing greater access of minorities and indigenous people; moreover, States needed to provide the necessary financial and budgetary resources for this to happen. Capacity building of minorities and their participation in decision-making process were essential.

ELIAS MURILLO MARTINEZ, Member of the Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination, on the question on groups affected by multiple forms of discrimination, said the Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination was attentive to these groups and had taken ethnic and religious issues on board as a concern. This was reflected in many studies that the Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination had produced. Today there had been a renewal on the part of States to take on discrimination in all its forms.

JOSHUA CATELLINO, Professor of Law and Head of the Law Department, Middlesex University, responding to the question of what the international community could do to address widely based minorities such as cross-border minorities like the Roma population, the Batwa in many States of Africa, and groups discriminated based on caste, said in some ways these groups had been created with the creation of States. The fact that these existed highlighted the extent to which cooperation was needed. This was not likely to be addressed through the strict lens of national sovereignty. The Council was an ideal forum in fostering the type of collaboration and exchange of ideas needed.

MARK LATTIMER, Director of Minority Rights Group International, said the link between development and minority rights had been evoked by the panellists. Special measures with respect to the Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination were not just a power but an obligation of States when disadvantage was faced by religious and ethnic minorities. The need for legally binding force for the Declaration was mentioned, such as through a specialized treaty or incorporating it into constitutions or other national legal systems. It was often what happened at the national level that counted most and all the good practices mentioned today were just that, the implementation of the Declaration. Certain States made commitments under the Declaration. The United States committed to ensuring the full enforcement of voting rights. Sri Lanka had committed to a year celebrating its multilingualism and protecting linguistic rights of minority groups. Minorities often felt and experienced great vulnerability. This was raised with regard to the momentous events taking place in the Middle East and North Africa. It was important that these States were supported in protecting minority groups while moving towards democratization.

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