A/HRC/28/64
I. Introduction
1.
The mandate of the Special Rapporteur on minority issues was established by the
Commission on Human Rights in resolution 2005/79, as an Independent Expert, and
renewed by the Human Rights Council in resolutions 7/6 of 27 March 2008 and 16/6 of 24
March 2011. On 28 March 2014, the Council renewed the mandate of the Special
Rapporteur, in resolution 25/5. The current mandate holder assumed her functions on
1 August 2011. The mandate of the Special Rapporteur is, inter alia, to promote the
implementation of the Declaration on the Rights of Persons Belonging to National or
Ethnic, Religious and Linguistic Minorities, including through consultation with
Governments.
2.
The present report covers the period from January to December 2014. Chapter II
contains an overview of the Special Rapporteur’s activities during the reporting period. In
chapters III and IV, the Special Rapporteur focuses on the thematic issue of hate speech and
incitement to hatred against minorities in the media, and provides her conclusions and
recommendations in chapter V.
II. Activities of the Special Rapporteur
A.
Country visits
3.
The Special Rapporteur visited Nigeria from 17 to 28 February 2014. With over 350
ethnic groups and even more languages, harmonious and peaceful inter-ethnic relations
prevail in most of the country. However, violent intercommunal clashes have affected the
North and Middle Belt regions, with the underlying causes of the violence including
poverty, good governance deficits, impunity and polarization of ethnic and religious
characteristics. Minority communities in the Niger Delta suffer from dire environmental
degradation owing to frequent oil spills. They have been deprived of their traditional
livelihoods and face difficulties accessing basic services. Language issues include the
decline of numerous mother-tongue languages. The report on the visit is contained in
document A/HRC/28/64/Add.2.
4.
The Special Rapporteur visited Ukraine from 7 to 14 April 2014. Representatives of
communities described a history of harmonious inter-ethnic and interfaith relations and a
legislative, policy and social environment generally conducive to the protection of their
rights, including cultural and linguistic rights. Nevertheless, minority issues became highly
politicized as the situation of political and social unrest increased in 2014, particularly in
the East, creating and widening fractures along national, ethnic and linguistic lines, and
resulting in conflict. While challenges relating to minority issues include a lack of
institutional attention to minority rights, she notes that minority rights have been
inappropriately used to justify or support violent actions. The report on the visit is
contained in document A/HRC/28/64/Add.1.
5.
The Special Rapporteur thanks the Governments of Nigeria and Ukraine for their
cooperation during her visits to the respective countries, and the Governments of Botswana,
Brazil and the Russian Federation, respectively, for agreeing to visits in 2015. She also
thanks the Government of Belarus for extending an invitation to conduct an official visit.
She urges other States to which she has requested invitations to respond positively to her
requests.
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