A/HRC/34/53
I. Introduction
1.
The present report of the Special Rapporteur on minority issues, Rita Izsák-Ndiaye,
is submitted pursuant to Human Rights Council resolution 25/5. It is the last report that she
will submit to the Council as mandate holder. Section II contains an overview of her
activities since her previous report to the Council (A/HRC/31/56). In section III, the Special
Rapporteur reflects on her six-year tenure as mandate holder. She provides a brief overview
of her thematic priorities and outcomes and considers some major challenges and emerging
issues relating to the rights of persons belonging to national or ethnic, religious and
linguistic minorities. She also provides some reflections on the work of the Forum on
Minority Issues during her mandate.
2.
The Special Rapporteur thanks the numerous entities that have supported and
collaborated with the mandate during her tenure, including minority communities, Member
States, United Nations agencies, civil society organizations, academic and research
organizations, and numerous other stakeholders. She would like to particularly thank the
Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) for the
continuous support provided to the mandate.
II. Activities of the Special Rapporteur in 2016
3.
The Special Rapporteur wishes to draw the attention of the Human Rights Council
to the biannual bulletin published on her website, which summarizes all the activities of the
mandate, including country visits, communications, thematic reports, press statements and
public appearances.1
A.
Country visits
4.
During the reporting period, the Special Rapporteur conducted visits to Iraq, the
Republic of Moldova and Sri Lanka. The reports of these missions will be issued as
addenda to the present document.
5.
The Special Rapporteur visited Iraq from 27 February to 7 March 2016. She
expressed the need for bold steps to be taken to give hope to ethnic and religious groups
facing an uncertain future. She concluded that while all communities had suffered under the
criminal brutality of the so-called Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL), also known
as Daesh, many smaller ethnic and religious groups, including the Yazidis, had borne the
brunt of violence and atrocities and thousands had been displaced. Some community
leaders stated that their communities felt vulnerable to violence and abandoned and were
concerned about their future in the country, with many deciding to leave Iraq. She
acknowledged that confronting the clear and immediate danger posed by ISIL must be a
high priority of the Government. However, she highlighted that the challenges faced by
many minority groups did not begin with ISIL and would not end with its defeat. She
expressed her belief that long-standing societal discrimination and marginalization of ethnic
and religious groups must be more comprehensively acknowledged and confronted and a
clear message must be sent to all of the country’s diverse communities that they do have a
future in Iraq.
1
See www.ohchr.org/EN/Issues/Minorities/SRMinorities/Pages/SRminorityissuesIndex.aspx.
3