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Reflections on the six-year tenure of the Special Rapporteur 2017, para. 98
- Paragraph text
- The Special Rapporteur believes that similarly, United Nations staff in all offices and entities, particularly in the field, should better reflect the national, ethnic and religious make-up of the societies in which they operate. With established, strong networks of consultation with minorities and trust-building efforts between United Nations offices and minority communities, the Organization will be better equipped to fulfil its vital role in recognizing and responding to early warning signs of intercommunal tensions and be better prepared to prevent mass atrocity crimes and genocide, of which minorities are the most frequent targets.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on minority issues
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Civil & Political Rights
- Equality & Inclusion
- Person(s) affected
- Ethnic minorities
- Year
- 2017
Paragraph
Reflections on the six-year tenure of the Special Rapporteur 2017, para. 54
- Paragraph text
- To date, the present Special Rapporteur and the previous mandate holder together sent a total of 26 communications to Member States jointly with the Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights defenders, addressing situations whereby minority rights defenders were targeted because of their work. Some of them suffered reprisals, arrest and detention, as well as expulsion, in connection with their human rights activities. The Special Rapporteur raises her deep concerns about cases of reprisals against minority rights defenders, and urges minority activists to inform her Office whenever any intimidation or reprisal occurs in connection with their work, so that appropriate action can be taken.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on minority issues
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Civil & Political Rights
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Person(s) affected
- Activists
- Ethnic minorities
- Year
- 2017
Paragraph
Reflections on the six-year tenure of the Special Rapporteur 2017, para. 97
- Paragraph text
- The Special Rapporteur is gravely concerned at the limited, or often complete lack, of a minority presence in political and public offices. She has repeatedly stressed throughout her tenure the need to ensure that minorities are included in all decision-making processes, including in municipal and government structures, law enforcement bodies, the judiciary, legislative bodies, criminal justice systems and all authorities, especially when their decisions affect minorities. Without their participation, such bodies are less able to take vital decisions for the benefit of the entire society and may be less trusted by minorities, who may be reluctant to access them, or discouraged from doing so. Moreover, good and inclusive governance, which includes minorities and measures to ensure equality, are key conflict-prevention prerequisites. Good governance includes legal, administrative and territorial arrangements that allow for peaceful and constructive group accommodation on the basis of equality in dignity and rights for all and that allows for the necessary pluralism to enable the persons belonging to the different groups to preserve and develop their identity.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on minority issues
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Civil & Political Rights
- Equality & Inclusion
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Social & Cultural Rights
- Person(s) affected
- Ethnic minorities
- Year
- 2017
Paragraph
Reflections on the six-year tenure of the Special Rapporteur 2017, para. 44
- Paragraph text
- Additionally, the Special Rapporteur has repeatedly called attention to minority groups that have been in particularly precarious legal situations owing to their lack of citizenship or the refusal of their respective countries to recognize and grant them rights as minorities. She has sent several communications to Member States where discriminatory legislative amendments, immigration reforms and other administrative decisions have placed minority communities at further risk.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on minority issues
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Civil & Political Rights
- Equality & Inclusion
- Movement
- Social & Cultural Rights
- Person(s) affected
- Ethnic minorities
- Year
- 2017
Paragraph
Reflections on the six-year tenure of the Special Rapporteur 2017, para. 59
- Paragraph text
- The Special Rapporteur is alarmed at the rise of populism, which hampers efforts to include minorities in the national psyche in their respective countries. She is concerned that even the very notion of democracy is being challenged and that there are views that are widely shared, especially on social media, that a democratically elected political leadership has the power to take any decision freely, without, and even against, minorities because minorities - usually being inferior in number - are subject to the will of the majority. The Special Rapporteur stresses that democracy requires good and inclusive governance under which legal, administrative and territorial arrangements are made to allow peaceful and constructive group accommodation on the basis of equality in dignity and rights for all and that allows for the pluralism necessary to enable persons belonging to different groups to preserve and develop their identity (see E/CN.4/Sub.2/AC.5/2005/2, Commentary, para. 13).
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on minority issues
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Civil & Political Rights
- Equality & Inclusion
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Person(s) affected
- Ethnic minorities
- Year
- 2017
Paragraph
Reflections on the six-year tenure of the Special Rapporteur 2017, para. 94
- Paragraph text
- The Special Rapporteur is concerned that minorities are often disproportionately affected by statelessness as a result of discriminatory nationality and citizenship legislation that may deny citizenship for some ethnic, linguistic, racial or religious groups or deprive them of citizenship. Today, at least 10 million people around the world are denied a nationality and, although there are no disaggregated data, estimates indicate that many, if not most, of them belong to minority communities. Therefore, she welcomes current United Nations efforts, including the I Belong campaign to end statelessness of the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, and urges Member States to pledge their full support and cooperation so statelessness can be ended and so that it will not be a further source of stigmatization and discrimination against minorities.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on minority issues
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Civil & Political Rights
- Equality & Inclusion
- Movement
- Person(s) affected
- Ethnic minorities
- Year
- 2017
Paragraph
Reflections on the six-year tenure of the Special Rapporteur 2017, para. 70
- Paragraph text
- The Special Rapporteur has been particularly alarmed by the limited, or often complete lack, of minority presence in political and public offices. She has repeatedly stressed throughout her tenure the need to ensure that minorities are included in all decision-making processes, including in municipal and government structures, law enforcement bodies, the judiciary, legislative bodies, criminal justice systems and all authorities, especially when their decisions affect minorities. Without their participation, such bodies are less able to make vital decisions in a way that benefits the entire society, and they will also be less trusted by minorities, who might be reluctant to access them, or discouraged from doing so.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on minority issues
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Civil & Political Rights
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Social & Cultural Rights
- Person(s) affected
- Ethnic minorities
- Year
- 2017
Paragraph
Reflections on the six-year tenure of the Special Rapporteur 2017, para. 72
- Paragraph text
- As the Special Rapporteur has repeatedly stated in her thematic and country visit reports, it is crucial for States to be aware of the composition of their population, including who the minority groups are, in order to obtain an accurate picture of the number, geographical distribution, identity and socioeconomic status of minority groups. Collection and statistical analysis of disaggregated data on minorities are essential tools for designing and monitoring adequate policies and targeted plans for minorities. In the process of collection and analysis of disaggregated data, provisions should be made to safeguard against discrimination, stigmatization and any misuse of sensitive information, in accordance with international standards of personal data protection and privacy.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on minority issues
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Civil & Political Rights
- Equality & Inclusion
- Social & Cultural Rights
- Person(s) affected
- Ethnic minorities
- Year
- 2017
Paragraph
Reflections on the six-year tenure of the Special Rapporteur 2017, para. 42
- Paragraph text
- The Special Rapporteur welcomed the work of her predecessor relating to the rights and status of members of minorities in all regions that find themselves denied or deprived of citizenship, and has continued to raise awareness on these specific communities.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on minority issues
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Civil & Political Rights
- Equality & Inclusion
- Social & Cultural Rights
- Person(s) affected
- Ethnic minorities
- Year
- 2017
Paragraph
Minorities in situations of humanitarian crises 2016, para. 30
- Paragraph text
- The Declaration on the Rights of Persons Belonging to National or Ethnic, Religious and Linguistic Minorities adopted by the General Assembly by its resolution 47/135 on 18 December 1992, is the overarching normative framework protecting the rights of minorities. The Declaration establishes that States "shall protect the existence and the national or ethnic, cultural, religious and linguistic identity of minorities within their respective territories and shall encourage conditions for the promotion of that identity" (resolution 47/135, annex, art. 1, para. 1).
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on minority issues
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Civil & Political Rights
- Equality & Inclusion
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Social & Cultural Rights
- Person(s) affected
- Ethnic minorities
- Year
- 2016
Paragraph
Minorities in situations of humanitarian crises 2016, para. 31
- Paragraph text
- In its commentary on the Declaration (see E/CN.4/Sub.2/AC.5/2005/2, para. 24), the Working Group on Minorities stated that the protection of the existence of minorities included their physical existence, their continued existence on the territories on which they lived and their continued access to the material resources required to continue their existence on those territories, and that they should neither be physically excluded from the territory nor excluded from access to the resources required for their livelihood.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on minority issues
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Civil & Political Rights
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Social & Cultural Rights
- Person(s) affected
- Ethnic minorities
- Year
- 2016
Paragraph
Minorities in situations of humanitarian crises 2016, para. 68
- Paragraph text
- In some cases, when conflict erupts, minorities may have their property confiscated. In her report on the visit to Ukraine, the Special Rapporteur referred, among other concerns, to the loss of property by those displaced from the Autonomous Republic of Crimea, including reports of property seizure (see A/HRC/28/64/Add.1, paras. 48 and 62). Furthermore, where minorities flee or are expelled from their lands owing to conflicts or crises, and new communities have settled there, it may be particularly challenging for minorities to reclaim those lands. This difficulty can be compounded where minorities lack documentation to prove ownership rights (see A/HRC/22/49/Add.1), and in particular where ownership was established through customary law.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on minority issues
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Civil & Political Rights
- Movement
- Social & Cultural Rights
- Person(s) affected
- Ethnic minorities
- Persons on the move
- Year
- 2016
Paragraph
Minorities in situations of humanitarian crises 2016, para. 67
- Paragraph text
- The issue of housing, land and property during crises and their aftermath can have important implications for minorities. Often clearly linked to the question of documentation, minorities often do not have official papers to prove their land rights. Moreover, land may have a particular meaning for minority communities, as some groups may have a particular attachment to their land or as their whole culture may rely on land. Therefore in the aftermath of crises, addressing the issue of security of tenure is essential when addressing the challenges facing displaced minorities.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on minority issues
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Civil & Political Rights
- Social & Cultural Rights
- Person(s) affected
- Ethnic minorities
- Persons on the move
- Year
- 2016
Paragraph
Minorities and discrimination based on caste and analogous systems of inherited status 2016, para. 61
- Paragraph text
- Due to caste prejudice or deference shown to perpetrators from higher castes, law enforcement officers may refuse to register and/or investigate cases brought by individuals from lower castes. In some instances, these officers perceive caste-based discrimination as a social issue to be solved within the community rather than a crime. Refusal to register such cases as criminal offences is justified as preserving "social harmony".
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on minority issues
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Civil & Political Rights
- Equality & Inclusion
- Person(s) affected
- Ethnic minorities
- Year
- 2016
Paragraph
Minorities and discrimination based on caste and analogous systems of inherited status 2016, para. 47
- Paragraph text
- The Declaration on the Rights of Persons Belonging to National or Ethnic, Religious and Linguistic Minorities requires States to take measures to ensure "that persons belonging to minorities may exercise fully and effectively all their human rights and fundamental freedoms without any discrimination and in full equality before the law" (art. 4 (1)).
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on minority issues
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Civil & Political Rights
- Equality & Inclusion
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Social & Cultural Rights
- Person(s) affected
- Ethnic minorities
- Year
- 2016
Paragraph
Minorities in the criminal justice system 2015, para. 65
- Paragraph text
- Minority victims may be reluctant to report the crime to police, owing to a history of negative experiences with the authorities, lack of faith in the justice system, or lack of knowledge of their rights or lack of practical information such as on where and how to make a complaint. They may fear that bringing themselves to the attention of the authorities will generate more suspicion and result in persecution of themselves, their family or their community. They may have a fear of reprisals from the perpetrators of the crime owing to a lack of confidence that authorities will protect them, pursue the investigation or take the perpetrators into custody. Some may fear deportation, particularly if they do not have recognized legal status in the country.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on minority issues
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Civil & Political Rights
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Person(s) affected
- Ethnic minorities
- Families
- Year
- 2015
Paragraph
Minorities in the criminal justice system 2015, para. 43
- Paragraph text
- From a minority rights perspective, every individual should also have the right, whether as accused or as witness, to use his or her native language in criminal proceedings, even if capable of communicating in a majority language. This is important both for the protection and promotion of identity and to ensure effective and informed participation. In Slovenia, for instance, some municipalities with a significant concentration of Italian- and Hungarian-speaking minorities permit the use of these languages in court proceedings.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on minority issues
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Civil & Political Rights
- Equality & Inclusion
- Social & Cultural Rights
- Person(s) affected
- Ethnic minorities
- Year
- 2015
Paragraph
Minorities in the criminal justice system 2015, para. 15
- Paragraph text
- Human rights standards also affirm that members of minorities must have equal access to training and service as law enforcement officials, including within the police, prosecution, judiciary and legal profession.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on minority issues
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Civil & Political Rights
- Equality & Inclusion
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Person(s) affected
- Ethnic minorities
- Year
- 2015
Paragraph
Minorities in the criminal justice system 2015, para. 58
- Paragraph text
- International instruments recognize the right of all prisoners to communicate with and receive visits from the outside world, including family, friends and lawyers. As affirmed by the Standard Minimum Rules for the Treatment of Prisoners (Mandela Rules): "The treatment of prisoners should emphasize not their exclusion from the community, but their continuing part in it." These rights may have additional significance for members of minorities, for whom access to outside religious representatives or cultural groups may be as important as access to family and lawyers. Such contact may also be important with respect to the State's obligation to protect and promote the minority identity. The requirement that there be an attempt to place each prisoner in a facility near his or her home takes on particular importance for minority prisoners in the case where a particular minority is geographically concentrated.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on minority issues
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Civil & Political Rights
- Equality & Inclusion
- Social & Cultural Rights
- Person(s) affected
- Ethnic minorities
- Families
- Year
- 2015
Paragraph
Hate speech and incitement to hatred against minorities in the media 2015, para. 43
- Paragraph text
- The Declaration on the Rights of Persons Belonging to National or Ethnic, Religious and Linguistic Minorities establishes that "States shall protect the existence and the national or ethnic, cultural, religious and linguistic identity of minorities within their respective territories and shall encourage conditions for the promotion of that identity" and requires that States adopt appropriate legislative and other measures to achieve those ends (art. 1). The Declaration also emphasizes that persons belonging to minorities "have the right to enjoy their own culture, to profess and practise their own religion, and to use their language, in private and in public, freely and without interference or any form of discrimination" (art. 2.1). The commentary on the Declaration encourages States to adopt laws protecting against acts or incitement to acts which physically threaten the existence of groups or threaten their identity.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on minority issues
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Civil & Political Rights
- Equality & Inclusion
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Social & Cultural Rights
- Person(s) affected
- Ethnic minorities
- Year
- 2015
Paragraph
Hate speech and incitement to hatred against minorities in the media 2015, para. 65
- Paragraph text
- Pluralistic media is key to providing independent and objective information as it incorporates diverse viewpoints. Media diversity not only refers to the existence of varied media outlets but to the access to mass media by minority groups, as well as to the existence of a plurality of viewpoints within media outlets. Underrepresentation of minorities in the media means that their voices and influence are absent to counter negative expressions. Minorities face numerous challenges both in their access to and representation in the media.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on minority issues
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Civil & Political Rights
- Equality & Inclusion
- Social & Cultural Rights
- Person(s) affected
- Ethnic minorities
- Year
- 2015
Paragraph
Minorities in the criminal justice system 2015, para. 25
- Paragraph text
- United Nations human rights mechanisms are regularly informed of the subjection of minorities to excessive use of force by police, torture or other ill treatment in detention, and the lack of prompt and impartial investigations of such
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on minority issues
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Civil & Political Rights
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Person(s) affected
- Ethnic minorities
- Year
- 2015
Paragraph
Minorities in the criminal justice system 2015, para. 35
- Paragraph text
- Minorities facing judicial proceedings may experience particular obstacles to realizing their rights to equality before the law, non-discrimination and a fair trial.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on minority issues
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Civil & Political Rights
- Equality & Inclusion
- Person(s) affected
- Ethnic minorities
- Year
- 2015
Paragraph
Minorities in the criminal justice system 2015, para. 61
- Paragraph text
- Independent authorities and expert bodies should be mandated to supervise and monitor pretrial and prison facilities, with expertise on discrimination and the situation of minority prisoners and adequate representation of minorities within the body's membership.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on minority issues
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Civil & Political Rights
- Equality & Inclusion
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Person(s) affected
- Ethnic minorities
- Year
- 2015
Paragraph
Minorities in the criminal justice system 2015, para. 93
- Paragraph text
- States should collect comprehensive and disaggregated data with regard to the involvement of persons belonging to national or ethnic, religious and linguistic minorities in all aspects of the criminal justice system. Anonymous statistics should be accessible for analysis by government, academic, civil society and regional and international organizations, for the purpose of enabling them to design measures for eliminating discrimination and increasing effective participation in the entire administration of justice. Data should be collected on the basis of individual self-identification and consent (wherever possible) and use should respect the need for personal data and privacy protection, including through anonymization and time limits on retention.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on minority issues
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Civil & Political Rights
- Equality & Inclusion
- Person(s) affected
- Ethnic minorities
- Year
- 2015
Paragraph
Minorities in the criminal justice system 2015, para. 34
- Paragraph text
- Judicial guarantees, as provided in article 9 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, must be fully respected with regard to any member of a minority group, including: the right to be informed in a language that he or she understands of the reason for arrest and any charges; the right to be promptly brought before a judge; the right to trial within a reasonable time; and the right to challenge the lawfulness of detention. Too often, the authorities are less diligent in respecting these guarantees when the person is a member of a minority.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on minority issues
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Civil & Political Rights
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Person(s) affected
- Ethnic minorities
- Year
- 2015
Paragraph
Minorities in the criminal justice system 2015, para. 101
- Paragraph text
- Places of detention should be subject to unannounced visits by independent bodies which include adequate representation of minorities.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on minority issues
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Civil & Political Rights
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Person(s) affected
- Ethnic minorities
- Year
- 2015
Paragraph
Minorities in the criminal justice system 2015, para. 105
- Paragraph text
- Discrimination against minorities in jury selection procedures should be explicitly prohibited.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on minority issues
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Civil & Political Rights
- Equality & Inclusion
- Person(s) affected
- Ethnic minorities
- Year
- 2015
Paragraph
Hate speech and incitement to hatred against minorities in the media 2015, para. 59
- Paragraph text
- As underscored by the Special Rapporteur on the promotion and protection of the right to freedom of opinion and expression (A/66/290), it is necessary to differentiate between illegal expression, which States are required to prohibit under international law, and expression considered harmful, offensive, objectionable or undesirable, but which States are neither required to prohibit or criminalize. It is important to differentiate between three types of expression: (a) expression constituting an offence under international law that can be prosecuted criminally; (b) expression not criminally punishable but that may justify a restriction and a civil suit; (c) expression that does not give rise to criminal or civil sanctions but still raise concerns in terms of tolerance, civility and respect for others. Negative or stereotyped characterizations of minority groups may fall under any of those three categories.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on minority issues
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Civil & Political Rights
- Equality & Inclusion
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Person(s) affected
- Ethnic minorities
- Year
- 2015
Paragraph
Minorities in the criminal justice system 2015, para. 90
- Paragraph text
- Members of a minority are less likely to engage with, or participate as actors within, criminal justice institutions as long as the members of that minority face active discrimination within the system, whether as accused, victims or witnesses. This being the case, non-minority officials and representatives must also act on their own initiative to address discrimination in the administration of justice, and to transform negative feedback cycles of distrust into positive feedback cycles of progress.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on minority issues
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Civil & Political Rights
- Equality & Inclusion
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Person(s) affected
- Ethnic minorities
- Year
- 2015
Paragraph