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Protection of minority rights in conflict prevention 2010, para. 92
- Paragraph text
- In its work in the field the United Nations has developed some excellent practice with regard to minority issues. However, there is no mechanism for or consistent practice of ensuring that minority issues are mainstreamed across the in-country work of entities in the United Nations system, in accordance with article 9 of the Declaration, even in countries where those issues are at the core of local conflicts. At the Headquarters level, in the Department of Political Affairs and in the UNDP Bureau for Crisis Prevention and Recovery, know-how on minority rights could be enhanced to facilitate the development of policies and practices sensitive to minorities. Appropriate training programmes and resources are required for staff throughout the United Nations system, to assist in the early identification by decision makers at the highest level of tensions involving minorities.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on minority issues
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Humanitarian
- Person(s) affected
- Ethnic minorities
- Year
- 2010
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Protection of minority rights in conflict prevention 2010, para. 63
- Paragraph text
- According to a statistical assessment carried out by Minority Rights Group International, over 55 per cent of violent conflicts of a significant intensity between 2007 and 2009 had at their core violations of minority rights or tensions between communities. In a further 22 per cent of conflicts, minority issues had emerged or receded in the course of the evolution of the conflict. Those figures indicate that Governments, donors and intergovernmental organizations need to allocate significant attention and resources to minority issues as sources of conflict. However, the current picture in this regard is mixed.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on minority issues
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Humanitarian
- Person(s) affected
- Ethnic minorities
- Year
- 2010
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Protection of minority rights in conflict prevention 2010, para. 66
- Paragraph text
- As an essential tool of the early warning aspects of the mandate, the Special Adviser's office is privy to an enormous flow of information generated by sources inside and external to the United Nations system. The Special Adviser's gauge for sifting through that information flow is calibrated for precursors to genocide: an extremely important focus but one that is limited, fortunately, to a small number of situations. Clearly, therefore, there is a need for additional tools that focus on chronic abuses of minority rights at the earliest stages, to identify situations needing more upstream preventive action.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on minority issues
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Humanitarian
- Person(s) affected
- Ethnic minorities
- Year
- 2010
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Protection of minority rights in conflict prevention 2010, para. 67
- Paragraph text
- By its resolution 60/1 of 16 September 2005, the General Assembly adopted the 2005 World Summit Outcome, in which the States Members of the United Nations conceptualized a principle that is of prime importance to the protection of minorities: the responsibility to protect populations from genocide, war crimes, ethnic cleansing and crimes against humanity, more commonly known as "the responsibility to protect". This concept recognizes the duty of the international community to intervene to protect populations when their own Governments cannot or lack the will to do so. It prioritizes above all the use of appropriate diplomatic, humanitarian and other peaceful means, before legitimate force is contemplated through Chapter VII of the Charter of the United Nations.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on minority issues
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Humanitarian
- Person(s) affected
- Ethnic minorities
- Year
- 2010
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Protection of minority rights in conflict prevention 2010, para. 69
- Paragraph text
- A number of offices and agencies within the United Nations system have information assessment, early warning and conflict prevention functions. The Department of Political Affairs is the lead agency for conflict prevention and peacemaking. Within the Department, the standby team of mediation experts, an innovative unit established in March 2008, plays an important role. The team is on call to provide expertise on specific issues to United Nations initiatives to mediate in situations of conflict or potential conflict. This team has provided support and advice to peacemaking and dialogue efforts in several situations involving minorities, including Darfur, Iraq, Kenya, Kosovo, Kyrgyzstan and the Philippines. The Department has a focal point on indigenous peoples, but not one on minorities. The standby team currently includes an expert on power-sharing, but does not include a professional with more comprehensive expertise on minority rights. The Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs also has an Early Warning and Contingency Planning Section.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on minority issues
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Humanitarian
- Person(s) affected
- Ethnic minorities
- Year
- 2010
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Protection of minority rights in conflict prevention 2010, para. 74
- Paragraph text
- The mandate of the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) does not explicitly encompass conflict prevention; however, UNICEF both generates and monitors country-specific data that reveal situations of emerging conflict. Its activities focusing on the most marginalized and vulnerable women and children position it uniquely to play the kind of early prevention role with respect to minority rights that is contemplated by this report. Given that minority children are often the most disadvantaged, there is a sound basis for the engagement of UNICEF in minority issues. With a wide network of offices worldwide, UNICEF is in an important position to encourage the introduction of minority issues on Government public policy agendas, to support Government efforts and directly deliver assistance to minority children and women. The UNICEF field presence is common in conflict zones, and its focus on protection issues makes it an institution with key relevance to conflict prevention. At UNICEF headquarters, there is a cluster of professionals whose portfolios include minority rights issues.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on minority issues
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Humanitarian
- Person(s) affected
- Children
- Ethnic minorities
- Women
- Year
- 2010
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Protection of minority rights in conflict prevention 2010, para. 77
- Paragraph text
- The Special Procedures of the Human Rights Council and the treaty monitoring bodies are well placed to identify the warning signs of impending conflicts, including those affecting minorities. In October 2009, a United Nations round table on Special Procedures entitled "Early Warning and Emerging Issues" was held in New York. The Special Rapporteur on freedom of religion or belief emphasized the contribution that these mechanisms can make to a better understanding of complex situations, for example involving systemic exclusion and discrimination of certain minority groups. Other participants recommended strengthening the capacity of the Special Procedures to contribute to early warning, by ensuring that their recommendations were communicated more effectively to the United Nations field presences, by improving on follow-up to communications to States and by ensuring that data revealing patterns of severe abuses were communicated as early warnings.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on minority issues
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Humanitarian
- Person(s) affected
- Ethnic minorities
- Year
- 2010
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Protection of minority rights in conflict prevention 2010, para. 86
- Paragraph text
- Substantial steps have been taken over recent years to reposition international engagement with conflict situations from the point of reaction to a point of identification of early warnings. There is mounting evidence that one of the earliest indicators of potential violence is the chronic disregard of minority rights. Early warning systems must have the necessary expertise to be alert to such indicators. While there is already a substantial flow of information to early warning mechanisms within the United Nations system, a focus on minority rights should be strengthened.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on minority issues
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Humanitarian
- Person(s) affected
- Ethnic minorities
- Year
- 2010
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
The role of minority rights protection in promoting stability and conflict prevention 2011, para. 28
- Paragraph text
- Minorities are often the targets, rather than the perpetrators, of violence. When minority rights are violated, members of minorities may be at a greater risk of being subjected to systematic violence, even when they are bystanders to a conflict involving other parties. Such incidents can happen as a result of minorities' poverty and exclusion from political decision-making processes, or because their often remote communities, poorly served by State infrastructure, can become targets for occupation for strategic purposes or for exploitation of natural resources. Furthermore, owing to the suspicion and prejudice with which they are often viewed by both members of the majority and security forces, minorities may be targeted with impunity.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on minority issues
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Humanitarian
- Violence
- Person(s) affected
- Ethnic minorities
- Year
- 2011
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
The role of minority rights protection in promoting stability and conflict prevention 2011, para. 30
- Paragraph text
- The views of the independent expert have been developed through visits to countries in almost every region of the world, thematic reports and policy debates that she has facilitated at the Forum on Minority Issues. She has consulted widely with Governments, experts and non-governmental organizations. She has participated in seminars and forums in the field of early warning and conflict prevention. In addition, she has held consultations with numerous key actors, including the Special Adviser on the Prevention of Genocide and the Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination, including discussions relating to, inter alia, how efforts could be coordinated to identify potential threats to the existence of minorities and how to better coordinate conflict prevention work.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on minority issues
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Humanitarian
- Person(s) affected
- Ethnic minorities
- Year
- 2011
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
The role of minority rights protection in promoting stability and conflict prevention 2011, para. 33
- Paragraph text
- In his landmark report to the Millennium Assembly of the United Nations in 2000, the Secretary-General stated that in many countries at war, the condition of poverty was coupled with sharp ethnic or religious cleavages, and that almost invariably, the rights of subordinate groups were insufficiently respected, the institutions of Government were insufficiently inclusive and the allocation of society's resources favoured the dominant faction over others. He added that the solution was clear: to promote human rights, to protect minority rights and to institute political arrangements in which all groups were represented, and that every group needed to become convinced that the State belonged to all people (A/54/2000, paras. 202-203).
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on minority issues
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Humanitarian
- Poverty
- Person(s) affected
- Ethnic minorities
- Year
- 2011
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
The role of minority rights protection in promoting stability and conflict prevention 2011, para. 39
- Paragraph text
- The Carnegie Commission on Preventing Deadly Conflict concluded that time and again in the twentieth century, attempts at suppression of ethnic, cultural or religious differences had led to bloodshed, and in case after case, the accommodation of diversity within appropriate constitutional forms had helped to prevent bloodshed. The Bureau for Crisis Prevention and Recovery of the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) has conducted research showing that the likelihood of conflict increases with rising group inequality. The Minorities at Risk Project at the University of Maryland monitors indicators for political discrimination, cultural and economic exclusion and persecution on 283 minority groups around the world, and has found a significant link between conflict and those forms of denial of rights.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on minority issues
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Humanitarian
- Person(s) affected
- Ethnic minorities
- Year
- 2011
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
The role of minority rights protection in promoting stability and conflict prevention 2011, para. 40
- Paragraph text
- Minority rights violations are often among the root causes of conflicts that have long gestation periods, root causes grounded in grievances that may bubble under the surface for years, or even decades, before violent conflict breaks out. Incorporating minority rights indicators into early warning systems would enable an earlier identification of potential conflicts. Other more technical early warning indicators, such as small arms flows and movements of displaced peoples, tend to reflect a situation that is already rapidly spiraling into violence. By the time those indicators trigger attention, grievances may have festered for decades, perhaps generations - generations of lost opportunities to heal rifts, avert conflict and build a cohesive society.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on minority issues
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Humanitarian
- Person(s) affected
- Ethnic minorities
- Persons on the move
- Year
- 2011
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
The role of minority rights protection in promoting stability and conflict prevention 2011, para. 51
- Paragraph text
- Respecting the right of minorities to political participation at times of peace contributes to harmonious societies and opens non-violent avenues for the grievances of minorities to be addressed. When violent conflict does occur in diverse societies, applying a minority rights-based approach to consultations regarding peace agreements will require that all communities affected by the conflict, including those that are not active parties to it, be able to participate in the settlement process. That approach should counteract a tendency common in many conflict situations, whereby Governments, and the international community, focus predominately on addressing the demands of communities that are linked to armed movements, which may result in peace agreements that guarantee rights for some communities at the expense of others.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on minority issues
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Humanitarian
- Person(s) affected
- Ethnic minorities
- Year
- 2011
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
The role of minority rights protection in promoting stability and conflict prevention 2011, para. 65
- Paragraph text
- According to a statistical assessment carried out by Minority Rights Group International, over 55 per cent of violent conflicts of a significant intensity between 2007 and 2009 had at their core violations of minority rights or tensions between communities. In a further 22 per cent of conflicts, minority issues had emerged or receded in the course of the evolution of the conflict. Those figures indicate that Governments, donors and intergovernmental organizations need to allocate significant attention and resources to minority issues as sources of conflict. However, the current picture in this regard is mixed.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on minority issues
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Humanitarian
- Person(s) affected
- Ethnic minorities
- Year
- 2011
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
The role of minority rights protection in promoting stability and conflict prevention 2011, para. 68
- Paragraph text
- In the 2005 World Summit Outcome, States Members of the United Nations conceptualized a principle that is of prime importance to the protection of minorities: the responsibility to protect populations from genocide, war crimes, ethnic cleansing and crimes against humanity - "the responsibility to protect". This concept recognizes the duty of the international community to intervene to protect populations when their own Governments cannot or lack the will to do so. It prioritizes above all the use of appropriate diplomatic, humanitarian and other peaceful means, before legitimate force is contemplated. The focus of the institutional mechanisms that are being developed to implement the concept of the responsibility to protect will be limited to specific crimes. A broader focus on minority rights protections as a tool for protection from conflict will need to be the task of other mechanisms.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on minority issues
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Humanitarian
- Person(s) affected
- Ethnic minorities
- Year
- 2011
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
The role of minority rights protection in promoting stability and conflict prevention 2011, para. 69
- Paragraph text
- Several United Nations offices and agencies have information assessment, early warning and conflict prevention functions. The Department of Political Affairs is the lead agency for conflict prevention and peacemaking. Within the Department, the standby team of mediation experts, an innovative unit established in March 2008, plays an important role. The team is on call to provide expertise on specific issues to United Nations initiatives to mediate in situations of conflict or potential conflict. This team has provided support and advice to peacemaking and dialogue efforts in several situations involving minorities, including Darfur, Iraq, Kenya, Kosovo, Kyrgyzstan and the Philippines. The Department has a focal point on indigenous peoples, but not one on minorities. The standby team also does not include a professional with comprehensive expertise on minority rights.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on minority issues
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Humanitarian
- Person(s) affected
- Ethnic minorities
- Year
- 2011
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
The role of minority rights protection in promoting stability and conflict prevention 2011, para. 73
- Paragraph text
- UNICEF both generates and monitors country-specific data that may reveal situations of emerging conflict. Its activities focusing on the most marginalized and vulnerable women and children position it uniquely to play an early prevention role with respect to minority rights. Given that minority children are often the most disadvantaged, there is a sound basis for the engagement of UNICEF in minority issues. With a wide network of offices worldwide, UNICEF is in an important position to encourage the introduction of minority issues on Government public policy agendas, to support Government efforts and directly deliver assistance to minority children and women. The UNICEF field presence is common in conflict zones, and its focus on protection issues makes it an institution with key relevance to conflict prevention. At UNICEF headquarters, there is a cluster of professionals whose portfolios include minority rights issues.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on minority issues
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Humanitarian
- Person(s) affected
- Children
- Ethnic minorities
- Women
- Year
- 2011
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
The role of minority rights protection in promoting stability and conflict prevention 2011, para. 75
- Paragraph text
- The special procedures of the Human Rights Council, including the independent expert on minority issues, and the treaty monitoring bodies are well placed to identify the warning signs of impending conflicts, including those affecting minorities. In October 2009, a United Nations round table on special procedures entitled "Early Warning and Emerging Issues" was held in New York. Participants emphasized the contribution that these mechanisms can make to a better understanding of complex situations, for example involving systemic exclusion and discrimination of certain minority groups. Participants recommended strengthening the capacity of the special procedures to contribute to early warning, including by ensuring that their recommendations were communicated more effectively to the United Nations field presences, and ensuring that data revealing patterns of severe abuses were communicated as early warnings.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on minority issues
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Humanitarian
- Person(s) affected
- Ethnic minorities
- Year
- 2011
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
The role of minority rights protection in promoting stability and conflict prevention 2011, para. 80
- Paragraph text
- Substantial steps have been taken over recent years to reposition international engagement with conflict situations from the point of reaction to a point of identification of early warnings. There is mounting evidence that one of the earliest indicators of potential violence is the chronic disregard of minority rights. Early warning systems must have the necessary expertise to be alert to such indicators. While there is already a substantial flow of information to early warning mechanisms within the United Nations system, a focus on minority rights should be strengthened.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on minority issues
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Humanitarian
- Person(s) affected
- Ethnic minorities
- Year
- 2011
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
The role of minority rights protection in promoting stability and conflict prevention 2011, para. 84
- Paragraph text
- Despite some excellent practices in the field, there is no mechanism for or consistent practice of ensuring that minority issues are mainstreamed across the in-country work of entities in the United Nations system, in accordance with article 9 of the 1992 Declaration on Minorities, even in countries where those issues are at the core of local conflicts. At the Headquarters level, in the Department of Political Affairs and in the UNDP Bureau for Crisis Prevention and Recovery, know-how on minority rights could be enhanced to facilitate the development of policies and practices sensitive to minorities. Appropriate training programmes and resources are required for staff throughout the United Nations system, to assist in the early identification by decision makers at the highest level of tensions involving minorities.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on minority issues
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Humanitarian
- Person(s) affected
- Ethnic minorities
- Year
- 2011
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
The role and activities of national institutional mechanisms in promoting and protecting minority rights 2012, para. 37
- Paragraph text
- The prevention of mass atrocities, intergroup tensions and conflict, including when owing to violations of minority rights, is an important impetus for institutionalizing attention to minority issues, particularly where tensions or conflict exists or has previously occurred. The former Secretary-General, Kofi Annan, remarked that "[W]e must protect especially the rights of minorities, since they are genocide's most frequent targets". The General Assembly in the preamble to the Declaration considered "that the promotion and protection of the rights of persons belonging to … minorities contribute to the political and social stability of States in which they live". This statement was echoed by Heads of State and Government in paragraph 130 of the 2005 World Summit Outcome, where they also committed themselves to the responsibility to protect populations from genocide, war crimes and ethnic cleansing (paras. 138 and 139), the importance of which is emphasized by the Independent Expert in relation to minorities at risk.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on minority issues
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Humanitarian
- Person(s) affected
- Ethnic minorities
- Year
- 2012
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
The role and activities of national institutional mechanisms in promoting and protecting minority rights 2012, para. 39
- Paragraph text
- National institutions with minority rights expertise can facilitate arbitration, dialogue, national debate and activities to prevent and find solutions to ethnic or religion-based tensions. Independent bodies are particularly important when a minority group considers the Government to be the cause of its grievances or to be unresponsive to them, or in situations where an independent intermediary is needed to overcome lack of trust between conflicting groups. Under her mandate, the Independent Expert has noted that sustainable peace is highly dependent on the participation of all population groups in peace negotiations and resulting State institutional arrangements.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on minority issues
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Civil & Political Rights
- Humanitarian
- Person(s) affected
- Ethnic minorities
- Year
- 2012
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Priorities for the work of the Independent Expert and the twentieth anniversary of the Declaration on the Rights of Persons Belonging to National or Ethnic, Religious and Linguistic Minorities 2012, para. 47
- Paragraph text
- Network members would be an important source of information and expertise for the work of the independent expert and help to create awareness of the mandate across different regions and contribute systematically to the work of the mandate. A caucus would strengthen opportunities to share good practices and positive initiatives, improve information sharing by the United Nations to minorities relating to United Nations activities and events relevant to minorities, provide enhanced channels of communication regarding the provision of information relating to violations of the rights of minorities, and allow for joint initiatives. Reflecting on the need for effective early warning mechanisms to alert the international community to situations of concern involving minorities, the independent expert believes that the establishment of a global caucus could enhance efforts in this respect and improve timely provision of information on deteriorating situations.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on minority issues
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Humanitarian
- Person(s) affected
- Ethnic minorities
- Year
- 2012
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Minority rights-based approaches to the protection and promotion of the rights of religious minorities 2013, para. 80
- Paragraph text
- Protection of the security of religious minorities requires numerous positive actions on the part of States, particularly in situations of ongoing conflict or in which tensions are heightened or historic conflicts or grievances have occurred. Such actions include active engagement with religious minorities, full understanding of their situations and security concerns, the monitoring of non-State actors that might incite religious intolerance or violence, and the establishment of relevant oversight procedures and training programmes. In situations of conflicts involving religious minorities in which emergency laws, military courts or special security arrangements are in place, it is particularly necessary to ensure that the rights of religious minorities are protected in the context of those special security or emergency measures.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on minority issues
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Humanitarian
- Social & Cultural Rights
- Person(s) affected
- Ethnic minorities
- Year
- 2013
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Minority rights-based approaches to the protection and promotion of the rights of religious minorities 2013, para. 81
- Paragraph text
- Information received from all regions regrettably reveals the far greater risks faced by religious minorities both in times of peace and during conflict and post-conflict contexts. Such persons may be individually targeted or face insecurity primarily during community activities. At the level of the group, violations include forced displacement and cultural cleansing of towns, villages and other territory from "impure" and "dehumanized" religious "others". In a world of increasing sectarianism, vigilance regarding the vulnerability of minorities within minorities and intra-religious or interdenominational tensions is also necessary.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on minority issues
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Humanitarian
- Movement
- Social & Cultural Rights
- Person(s) affected
- Ethnic minorities
- Year
- 2013
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Minority rights-based approaches to the protection and promotion of the rights of religious minorities 2013, para. 85
- Paragraph text
- The Minority Rights Group International has documented the impact of conflict and instability on religious minorities in Iraq, including Muslim minorities, Baha'is, Christians, Armenians, Chaldo-Assyrians, Faili Kurds, Palestinians, Jews, Sabean Mandaeans, Turkmen, Yazidis and others. The Group states that minorities in Iraq have continued to be targeted on the grounds of their religion or ethnicity since the United States-led invasion and fall of Saddam Hussein in 2003. They have suffered from killings, kidnappings, torture, harassment, forced conversions and the destruction of homes and property. Women have been subjected to rape and forced to wear hijab. Persecution, human rights violations and targeted attacks have led to vast numbers of internally displaced persons and a mass exodus of some religious communities to neighbouring countries where they continue to experience challenges as religious minorities.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on minority issues
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Humanitarian
- Violence
- Person(s) affected
- Ethnic minorities
- Persons on the move
- Women
- Year
- 2013
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Preventing and addressing violence and atrocities against minorities 2014, para. 76
- Paragraph text
- Regional organizations can have a significant role in preventing and responding to violence, including by engaging with States in a preventative, fact-finding or conflict-mediation capacity. Some regional organizations have practical tools dedicated to minority issues based on strong regional standards. The OSCE High Commissioner on National Minorities is devoted to conflict prevention and early warning of situations that pose a threat to minority communities. Strengthening the attention paid to minority issues by other regional bodies, including the African Commission on Human and Peoples' Rights and the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, which currently lack dedicated mechanisms to monitor the situation of minorities, is vital to regional-based violence prevention initiatives.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on minority issues
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Humanitarian
- Violence
- Person(s) affected
- Ethnic minorities
- Year
- 2014
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Preventing and addressing violence and atrocities against minorities 2014, para. 78
- Paragraph text
- The responsibility to protect is a concept of great significance in the protection of disadvantaged minorities from violence. The political will to prevent violence and protect vulnerable communities is an essential prerequisite. In some situations of violence, Governments lack the capacity to end it and must be assisted to do so; however, history demonstrates the central role that States have played in coordinating mass atrocities against minorities. The State, with its frequent domination by a single ethnic or religious group, control over security resources, national media, infrastructure and institutions, can be an efficient perpetrator of violence. Recent evidence also demonstrates that the State as perpetrator is not a matter of history but a modern-day reality.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on minority issues
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Humanitarian
- Violence
- Person(s) affected
- Ethnic minorities
- Year
- 2014
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Preventing and addressing violence and atrocities against minorities 2014, para. 6
- Paragraph text
- During her 2006 visit to Ethiopia, the former Independent Expert on minority issues was informed that, in December 2003, 424 ethnic Anuak had been killed in Gambella by members of other ethnic groups (A/HRC/4/9/Add.3). Contributing factors included the relocation to the region of highlanders, and a porous border with troubled Southern Sudan. Heavily armed Sudan People's Liberation Army fighters had entered the region and the influx of refugees resulted in conflicts and a breakdown of traditional land-sharing and conflict resolution arrangements. Despite warnings signs, authorities failed to avert the violence. Conflicts over land use continue in the region.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on minority issues
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Humanitarian
- Violence
- Person(s) affected
- Ethnic minorities
- Persons on the move
- Year
- 2014
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph