Plan International - Girls' Rights Platform - Girls' rights are human rights: Positioning girls at the heart of the international agenda

Aug 19, 2019

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Special Rapporteur on minority issues

Non-negotiated soft law

Special Procedures' report

The Special Rapporteur calls upon States to review their respective domestic legislation to ensure that it is fully in line with the Declaration on the Rights of Persons Belonging to National or Ethnic, Religious and Linguistic Minorities. She recalls the four pillars of minority rights protection that should be reflected in those laws: (a) the protection of a minority's survival by combating violence against its members and preventing genocide; (b) the protection and promotion of the cultural identity of minority groups, and their right to enjoy their collective identity and to reject forced assimilation; (c) the guarantee of the rights to non-discrimination and equality, including ending structural or systemic discrimination and the promotion of affirmative action, when required; (d) the right to effective participation of minorities in public life and in decisions that affect them. The Special Rapporteur wishes to stress that merely having non-discrimination clauses, according to which all members of the society are to be treated equally, without the aforementioned additional guarantees have often proven insufficient for effective protection of disadvantaged minorities.

2017

Aug 19, 2019

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Special Rapporteur on minority issues

Non-negotiated soft law

Special Procedures' report

The Secretary-General has laid out a three-pillar strategy for the implementation of the responsibility to protect (see A/63/677), drawn from paragraphs 138 and 139 of the 2005 World Summit Outcome. The first pillar emphasizes the primary responsibility of States to protect their populations by preventing genocide, war crimes, ethnic cleansing and crimes against humanity (atrocity crimes). The second highlights the commitment of the international community to assist States to meet their obligations and to provide necessary support and capacity-building measures when a State is unable to meet its obligation to protect populations. Under the third pillar, the international community must use appropriate diplomatic, humanitarian and other means to protect populations from these crimes but must be prepared to take additional collective action to protect populations, in accordance with the Charter of the United Nations. The three pillars are not sequential and each pillar is of equal importance. They are also mutually reinforcing: while appointing a special envoy to a country to monitor a deteriorating situation is a response on its own, it is also a preventative tool as it might help to stop the violence from escalating.

2014

Aug 19, 2019

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Special Rapporteur on minority issues

Non-negotiated soft law

Special Procedures' report

Minority victims of crimes are entitled to equal access to justice and reparation; indeed, the special needs of minorities should be taken into account in the provision of victim services and assistance. In practice however, these rights are often not respected or fulfilled.

2015

Aug 19, 2019

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Special Rapporteur on minority issues

Non-negotiated soft law

Special Procedures' report

Next year will mark the tenth anniversary of the creation of the Forum on Minority Issues, and the Special Rapporteur considers this to be an ideal opportunity to further reflect on the above-mentioned challenges and ways to better promote and achieve the goals of the Forum.

2017

Aug 19, 2019

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Special Rapporteur on minority issues

Non-negotiated soft law

Special Procedures' report

In the following paragraphs, the Special Rapporteur highlights issues that have consistently emerged during the course of her work, including country visits, which she considers as requiring greater attention by Governments, the international community and minority groups.

2017

Aug 19, 2019

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Special Rapporteur on minority issues

Non-negotiated soft law

Special Procedures' report

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.

2017

Aug 19, 2019

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Special Rapporteur on minority issues

Non-negotiated soft law

Special Procedures' report

In 2009, a survey by the Ministry of Health in Nepal found that the maternal mortality rates for Dalit women and women from the Therai and Madhesi castes were significantly higher than those for women from higher castes.

2016

Aug 19, 2019

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Special Rapporteur on minority issues

Non-negotiated soft law

Special Procedures' report

Women in lower castes present the worst health outcomes. For instance, a study in India demonstrated stark disparities between Dalit and non-Dalit women in terms of life expectancy and access to prenatal and postnatal care.

2016

Aug 19, 2019

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Special Rapporteur on minority issues

Non-negotiated soft law

Special Procedures' report

Caste-affected groups have also been identified in other countries, such as Burkina Faso, Burundi, Cameroon, Côte d'Ivoire, the Gambia, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Liberia, Madagascar, Mali and Sierra Leone.

2016

Aug 19, 2019

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Special Rapporteur on minority issues

Non-negotiated soft law

Special Procedures' report

Owing to multiple and intersecting forms of discrimination, specific challenges face minority women and girls affected by humanitarian crises. According to the General Recommendation on women in conflict prevention, conflict and post-conflict situations of the Committee for the Elimination of Discrimination against Women (see CEDAW/C/GC/30, para. 36), during and after conflict specific groups of women, including, inter alia, internally displaced and refugee women, women of diverse caste, ethnic, national or religious identities, or of other minorities, are at a particular risk of violence, especially sexual violence. These groups of women "are often attacked as symbolic representatives of their community". The Committee has further noted that stateless women and girls face heightened risk of abuse during conflict, owing to, among other factors, their minority status (ibid, para. 60). Minority women may be particularly at risk of sexual and gender-based violence and other forms of violence, including slavery and trafficking. The Special Rapporteur was deeply troubled and saddened when she listened to the testimonies of Yezidi women in Iraq of sexual and gender-based violence committed against them by Daesh, which acts must be fully investigated and their perpetrators prosecuted.

2016

Aug 19, 2019

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Special Rapporteur on minority issues

Non-negotiated soft law

Special Procedures' report

The Special Rapporteur observes that there are often underlying attitudes that contribute to the lack of focus on empowerment of Roma communities and organizations. They can be outright discriminatory attitudes, such as when decision-making authorities adopt the paternalistic attitude that they are better equipped to make decisions on behalf of Roma. However, there are also more subtle forms of bias, including the tendency to focus on Roma as passive victims of discrimination, which may have the effect of perpetuating erroneous assumptions about their inability to contribute to society. This in turn hampers the shift from a perception of Roma as primarily passive victims of discrimination to an acknowledgment of their role as active agents of transformation who can participate in policy decisions that affect them. The Special Rapporteur notes that effective, meaningful participation must be a transformative process that becomes an inclusive experience, facilitating Roma involvement, empowerment and active citizenship. Such a participatory approach must also guarantee that those whose voices are rarely heard are empowered, including Roma women and young people.

2015

Aug 19, 2019

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Special Rapporteur on minority issues

Non-negotiated soft law

Special Procedures' report

The Special Rapporteur also remains concerned by the failure of public authorities to protect Roma from violent attacks. That includes the lack of systematic intervention and condemnation by public figures when political and public discourse perpetuates racist and extreme views about Roma, and the failure of law enforcement authorities to protect Roma from the perpetrators of crimes against them. For example, a violent police crackdown on a Roma community in Slovakia in 2013 was condemned by a number of special procedures mandate holders, the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, and the country's Ombudswoman. Nevertheless, the Minister of the Interior of Slovakia publically labelled the Roma victims of that intervention as criminals, and investigation into the police misconduct has been slow, with no charges brought against the police to date. Such failures by authorities to protect Roma adequately and to distance themselves from all manifestations of anti-Gypsyism not only promote a climate of distrust, dissuading Roma from reporting violent crimes against them to authorities, but also create an atmosphere of impunity and may encourage further acts of violence against Roma.

2015

Aug 19, 2019

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Special Rapporteur on minority issues

Non-negotiated soft law

Special Procedures' report

The International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights prohibits "any propaganda for war" as well as "any advocacy of national, racial or religious hatred that constitutes incitement to discrimination, hostility or violence" (art. 20).

2015

Aug 19, 2019

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Special Rapporteur on minority issues

Non-negotiated soft law

Special Procedures' report

The Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights should consider producing guidelines on integration with diversity in policing, thereby resuming the process initiated under the former Working Group on Minorities.

2015

Aug 19, 2019

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Special Rapporteur on minority issues

Non-negotiated soft law

Special Procedures' report

States should ascertain whether minorities are subjected to harsher penalties in sentencing or execution of sentence, identify any role that direct or indirect discrimination plays in this regard, and take measures to eliminate it.

2015