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The only United Nations
instrument which addressed the special rights of minorities in
a separate United Nations document is the Declaration on the Rights
of Persons Belonging to National or Ethnic, Religious and Linguistic
Minorities. The text of the Declaration, while ensuring a balance
between the rights of persons belonging to minorities to maintain
and develop their own identity and characteristics and the corresponding
obligations of States, ultimately safeguards the territorial integrity
and political independence of the Nation as a whole. The principles
contained in the Declaration apply to persons belonging to minorities
in addition to the universally recognised human rights guaranteed
in other international instruments.
The Declaration grants
to persons belonging to minorities:
- Protection, by States,
of their existence and their national or ethnic, cultural, religious
and linguistic identity (art. 1);
- The right to enjoy
their own culture, to profess and practise their own religion
and to use their own language in private and in public (art.
2.1);
- The right to participate
in cultural, religious, social, economic and public life (art.2.2);
- The right to participate
in decisions which affect them on the national and regional
levels (art.2.3);
- The right to establish
and maintain own associations (art.2.4);
- The right to establish
and maintain peaceful contacts with other members of their group
and with persons belonging to other minorities, both within
their own country and across state borders (art. 2.5); and
- The freedom to exercise
their rights, individually as well as in community with other
members of their group, without discrimination (art.3).
States are to protect
and promote the rights of person belonging to minorities by taking
measures:
- To create favourable
conditions to enable them to express their characteristics and
to develop their culture, language, religion, traditions and
customs (art.4.2);
- To allow them adequate
opportunities to learn their mother tongue or to have instruction
in their mother tongue (art. 4.3);
- To encourage knowledge
of the history, traditions, language and culture of minorities
existing within their territory and ensure that members of such
minorities have adequate opportunities to gain knowledge of
the society as a whole (art.4.4);
- To allow their participation
in economic progress and development (art.4.5);
- To consider legitimate
interests of minorities in developing national policies and
programmes, and well as in planning and implementing programmes
of co-operation and assistance (art.5);
- To co-operate with
other States on questions relating to minorities, including
the exchange of information and experiences, in order to promote
mutual understanding and confidence (art.6);
- To promote respect
for the rights set forth in the Declaration (art.7);
- To fulfil the obligations
and commitments States have assumed under international treaties
and agreements to which they are parties.
Finally, the specialised
agencies and other organisations of the United Nations system
are encouraged to contribute to the realisation of the rights
set forth in the Declaration (art.9).
The General Assembly,
on the occasion of the adoption of the Declaration, called on
the international community to direct its attention to making
the standards effective through international and domestic mechanisms.
This included, in particular, the dissemination of information
on the Declaration and the promotion of understanding thereof;
appropriate mechanisms for its effective promotion and consideration
of the Declaration within the mandates of the relevant organs
and bodies of the United Nations.
Working Group on
Minorities
In 1995, a five-member
Working Group on minorities of the Sub-Commission for the Prevention
of Discrimination and the Protection of Minorities was established,
initially for a three-year period, in order to promote the rights
as set out in the Declaration on persons belonging to minorities,
and in particular to:
- review the promotion
and practical realisation of the Declaration;
- examine possible
solutions to problems involving minorities, including the promotion
of mutual understanding between and among minorities and Governments;
and
- recommend further
measures, as appropriate, for the promotion and protection of
the rights of person belonging to national or ethnic, religious
and linguistic minorities.
We recommend that the
Working Group take up the Ogiek case and challenge non-governmental
organisations, inter-governmental organisations to present the
Ogiek case to the working group. We ask this knowing well that,
as a rule, any group can present its case to the Working Group
irrespective of whether they have consultative status with the
UN Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC).
Declaration on the
Rights of Persons Belonging to National or Ethnic, Religious and
Linguistic Minorities
(Adopted by General Assembly resolution 47/135 of 18 December
1992)
The General Assembly,
Reaffirming
that one of the basic aims of the United Nations, as proclaimed
in the Charter, is to promote and encourage respect for human
rights and for fundamental freedoms for all, without distinction
as to race, sex, language or religion,
Reaffirming
faith in fundamental human rights, in the dignity and worth of
the human person, in the equal rights of men and women and of
nations large and small,
Desiring to
promote the realization of the principles contained in the Charter,
the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, the Convention on the
Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide, the International
Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination,
the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, the
International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights,
the Declaration on the Elimination of All Forms of Intolerance
and of Discrimination Based on Religion or Belief, and the Convention
on the Rights of the Child, as well as other relevant international
instruments that have been adopted at the universal or regional
level and those concluded between individual States Members of
the United Nations,
Inspired by
the provisions of article 27 of the International Covenant on
Civil and Political Rights concerning the rights of persons belonging
to ethnic, religious or linguistic minorities,
Considering
that the promotion and protection of the rights of persons belonging
to national or ethnic, religious and linguistic minorities contribute
to the political and social stability of States in which they
live,
Emphasising
that the constant promotion and realization of the rights of persons
belonging to national or ethnic, religious and linguistic minorities,
as an integral part of the development of society as a whole and
within a democratic framework based on the rule of law, would
contribute to the strengthening of friendship and co-operation
among peoples and States,
Considering
that the United Nations has an important role to play regarding
the protection of minorities,
Bearing in mind
the work done so far within the United Nations system, in particular
by the Commission on Human Rights, the Sub-Commission on Prevention
of Discrimination and Protection of Minorities and the bodies
established pursuant to the International Covenants on Human Rights
and other relevant international human rights instruments in promoting
and protecting the rights of persons belonging to national or
ethnic, religious and linguistic minorities,
Taking into
account the important work which is done by intergovernmental
and non-governmental organizations in protecting minorities and
in promoting and protecting the rights of persons belonging to
national or ethnic, religious and linguistic minorities,
Recognizing
the need to ensure even more effective implementation of international
human rights instruments with regard to the rights of persons
belonging to national or ethnic, religious and linguistic minorities,
Proclaims this
Declaration on the Rights of Persons Belonging to National or
Ethnic, Religious and Linguistic Minorities:
Article
1
1. 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.
2. States shall adopt
appropriate legislative and other measures to achieve those ends.
Article
2
1. Persons belonging
to national or ethnic, religious and linguistic minorities (hereinafter
referred to as persons belonging to minorities) have the right
to enjoy their own culture, to profess and practice their own
religion, and to use their own language, in private and in public,
freely and without interference or any form of discrimination.
2. Persons belonging
to minorities have the right to participate effectively in cultural,
religious, social, economic and public life.
3. Persons belonging
to minorities have the right to participate effectively in decisions
on the national and, where appropriate, regional level concerning
the minority to which they belong or the regions in which they
live, in a manner not incompatible with national legislation.
4. Persons belonging
to minorities have the right to establish and maintain their own
associations.
5. Persons belonging
to minorities have the right to establish and maintain, without
any discrimination, free and peaceful contacts with other members
of their group and with persons belonging to other minorities,
as well as contacts across frontiers with citizens of other States
to whom they are related by national or ethnic, religious or linguistic
ties.
Article
3
1. Persons belonging
to minorities may exercise their rights, including those set forth
in the present Declaration, individually as well as community
with other members of their group, without any discrimination.
2. No disadvantage
shall result for any person belonging to a minority as the consequence
of the exercise or non-exercise of the rights set forth in the
present Declaration.
Article
4
1. States shall take
measures where required 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.
2. States shall take
measures to create favourable conditions to enable persons belonging
to minorities to express their characteristics and to develop
their culture, language, religion, traditions and customs, except
where specific practices are in violation of national law and
contrary to international standards.
3. States should take
appropriate measures so that, wherever possible, persons belonging
to minorities may have adequate opportunities to learn their mother
tongue or to have instruction in their mother tongue.
4. States should, where
appropriate, take measures in the field of education, in order
to encourage knowledge of the history, traditions. language and
culture of the minorities existing within their territory. Persons
belonging to minorities should have adequate opportunities to
gain knowledge of the society as a whole.
5. States should consider
appropriate measures so that persons belonging to minorities may
participate fully in the economic progress and development in
their country.
Article
5
1. National policies
and programmes shall be planned and implemented with due regard
for the legitimate interests of persons belonging to minorities.
2. Programmes of co-operation
and assistance among States should be planned and implemented
with due regard for the legitimate interests of persons belonging
to minorities.
Article
6
States should cooperate
on questions relating to persons belonging to minorities, inter
alia, exchanging information and experiences, in order to promote
mutual understanding and confidence.
Article
7
States should cooperate
in order to promote respect for the rights set forth in the present
Declaration.
Article
8
1. Nothing in the present
Declaration shall prevent the fulfilment of international obligations
of States in relation to persons belonging to minorities. In particular,
States shall fulfil in good faith the obligations and commitments
they have assumed under international treaties and agreements
to which they are parties.
2. The exercise of
the rights set forth in the present Declaration shall not prejudice
the enjoyment by all persons of universally recognized human rights
and fundamental freedoms.
3. Measures taken by
States to ensure the effective enjoyment of the rights set forth
in the present Declaration shall not prima facie, be considered
contrary to the principle of equality contained in the Universal
Declaration of Human Rights.
4. Nothing in the present
Declaration may be construed as permitting any activity contrary
to the purposes and principles of the United Nations, including
sovereign equality, territorial integrity and political independence
of States.
Article
9
The specialized agencies
and other organizations of the United Nations system shall contribute
to the full realization of the rights and principles set forth
in the present Declaration, within their respective fields of
competence. MORE>>
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