A/HRC/49/46
I. Introduction
1.
The mandate of the Special Rapporteur on minority issues was established by the
Commission on Human Rights in its resolution 2005/79 of 21 April 2005, and subsequently
extended by the Human Rights Council in successive resolutions.
2.
The current Special Rapporteur, Fernand de Varennes, was appointed by the Human
Rights Council in June 2017, and he assumed his functions on 1 August 2017. The mandate
was extended in 2020 for a three-year period by the Council in its resolution 43/8.
3.
The Special Rapporteur is honoured to be entrusted with the mandate and thanks the
Human Rights Council for its trust in him. He also wishes to thank the Office of the United
Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) for its support in the
implementation of the mandate.
II. Activities of the Special Rapporteur
4.
The Special Rapporteur wishes to draw the attention of the Human Rights Council to
the web page for the mandate, where general information is provided on the activities
associated with the mandate, including communications, press statements, public
appearances, country visits and thematic reports.1
5.
The Special Rapporteur has continued to focus on increasing the visibility and raising
awareness of minority issues – particularly those relating to his thematic priorities
(statelessness; education, language and the human rights of minorities; hate speech targeting
minorities in social media; and the prevention of ethnic conflicts) – among United Nations
institutions and Member States, and more generally among the general public and other
regional and international organizations. He has also focused on new approaches in order to
improve the accessibility of activities under the mandate, such as the Forum on Minority
Issues.
6.
This work has included two main initiatives:
(a)
In cooperation with the Tom Lantos Institute and numerous regional minority
and human rights organizations, consolidating the continued organization of regional forums
each year on the same themes as the Forum on Minority Issues;
(b)
Establishing, for the purposes of the mandate, a working definition of the
concept of a minority, and the significance and scope of the categories of minorities
recognized in United Nations instruments (national or ethnic, religious and linguistic
minorities).
7.
The Special Rapporteur has signalled as a priority in 2022 the thirtieth anniversary of
the adoption of the Declaration on the Rights of Persons Belonging to National or Ethnic,
Religious and Linguistic Minorities, expected to be marked with a high-level event during
the seventy-seventh session of the General Assembly in New York and associated activities.
The regional forums, as well as the Forum on Minority Issues, will also focus on a
retrospective of the impact of the Declaration since its adoption in 1992 and on how the
protection and implementation of the human rights of minorities can be strengthened in the
future.
A.
Country visits
8.
The Special Rapporteur looks forward to continuing dialogue with Cameroon, India,
Jordan, Kenya, Nepal, South Africa, South Sudan, the Syrian Arab Republic, Timor-Leste
and Vanuatu, to which he has made requests to visit. He is appreciative of the Governments
of Paraguay and the Russian Federation, which have indicated their willingness for the
Special Rapporteur to conduct a visit in 2022.
1
2
See www.ohchr.org/EN/Issues/Minorities/SRMinorities/Pages/SRminorityissuesIndex.aspx.