AFTERNOON - Special Rapporteur on Minority Issues: Since Most Contemporary Violent Conflicts Involve Aggrieved Minorities, Strategies Should Address Directly the Root Causes of Exclusion and Injustice
The Human Rights Council this afternoon held an interactive dialogue with Fernand de Varennes, Special Rapporteur on minority issues, who said that since most contemporary violent conflicts involved aggrieved minorities, strategies to prevent conflicts involving minorities should figure prominently in international, regional and national initiatives and address directly the root causes of exclusion and injustice.
Presenting his report on conflict prevention through the protection of the human rights of minorities, Mr. de Varennes said that minorities mattered, but their presence, position and treatment had not improved in recent years, quite the opposite. He said his study addressed the common root causes of most conflicts and it was essential to deal with the grievances, real or perceived, that were usually in place before these could be instrumentalised by political forces. He also presented his report on his mission to the United States.
The United States spoke as a country concerned.
In the discussion, some speakers said that the full realisation of the human rights of persons belonging to minorities was paramount. To prevent conflicts from arising, minority groups should be brought into policy processes to allow them to express their specific views, particularly women and youth. Concern was expressed about the growth of online hate speech which often harmed minorities. Could the Special Rapporteur elaborate on his intentions to develop a new treaty on hate speech and social media? The disproportionate burdens which minority groups bore had been exacerbated during the COVID-19 pandemic. The pandemic had also led to a rise in Asian hate rhetoric. Global and regional early warning mechanisms were needed to address the root causes of violence against minorities. One speaker said that the United Nations could have played an important role to protect minorities, however, they had been blind when it came to Russian language and rhetoric. Another speaker criticised the Russian Federation for saying it was aiding minorities as a pretext for invading Ukraine. Some speakers raised concerns about minorities in a number of countries and regions.
Speaking were Finland on behalf of the Nordic-Baltic countries, European Union, Luxembourg on behalf of a group of countries, Paraguay, Lichtenstein, Sovereign Order of Malta, Nepal, Egypt, Slovenia, Malaysia, Iraq, Cuba, Ecuador, Venezuela, China, Armenia, Pakistan, Austria, Russian Federation, Cambodia, Indonesia, India, South Africa, United States, Ukraine, Organization of Islamic Cooperation, Belarus, Romania, Kyrgyzstan, Tunisia, Iran and Azerbaijan.
Also speaking were Chinese Association for International Understanding, American Civil Liberties Union, Minority Rights Group, International Lesbian and Gay Association, Stichting Global Human Rights Defense, Advocates for Human Rights, China Society for Human Rights Studies, Beijing Guangming Charity Foundation, China Association for Preservation and Development of Tibetan Culture, and Association pour la defense des droits de l’homme et des revendications democratiques/culturelles du people Azerbaidjanais-Iran “ARC”.
The United Kingdom and Lithuania spoke in right of reply.
The webcast of the Human Rights Council meetings can be found here. All meeting summaries can be found here. Documents and reports related to the Human Rights Council’s forty-ninth regular session can be found here.
The Council will meet at 9 a.m. on Wednesday, 23 March, to start its consideration of the outcomes of the Universal Periodic Review of 13 States.
Interactive Dialogue with the Special Rapporteur on Minority Issues
Documentation
The Council has before it (A/HRC/49/46) report of the Special Rapporteur on minority issues on conflict prevention through the protection of the human rights of minorities as well as a report on his mission to the United States of America.
Presentation of Reports
FERNAND DE VARENNES, Special Rapporteur on minority issues, presenting his reports on conflict prevention through the protection of the human rights of minorities, and on his mission to the United States, said that minorities mattered, but their presence, position and treatment had not improved in recent years, quite the opposite. He highlighted three aspects of his report. First, the significant lessons to be learnt in the national approaches adopted by countries such as Canada, Italy and Nepal to prevent or stop conflicts by addressing long-standing grievances of minorities. Second, the institutional global and regional initiatives which sought out the pattern of root causes and fundamental factors and principles around the prevention of conflicts. Third, the thematic study addressed the common root causes of most conflicts and it was essential to deal with the grievances, real or perceived, that were usually in place before these could be instrumentalised by political forces. Since most contemporary violent conflicts involved aggrieved minorities, strategies to prevent conflicts involving minorities should figure prominently in international, regional and national initiatives and address directly the root causes of exclusion and injustice.
In relation to his mission to the United States, Mr. De Varennes said that the United States was a nation of paradoxes when it came to human rights and minorities. He commended the significant number of positive efforts in areas of human rights. Of course, there was a political context which cast significant shadows on whether many of these would eventuate. There was a growth of right-wing nationalism which often presented minorities as threats or outsiders. Parts of the country were neither colour-blind nor kind to others with different cultures, languages or religions, and there was a dangerous drift towards exclusion of those with different colours of skin, forms or prayers, or sounds of their voices, the Special Rapporteur highlighted. Generally speaking, minorities were particularly vulnerable to the gaps and omissions of a patchwork of federal and state human rights legislation and protections first enacted in the 1960s civil rights movement. For these reasons, his report recommended, amongst others, a strategic drive for the adoption of comprehensive national human rights legislation to include the United States’ international human rights obligations, particularly on the recognition of the right to equality without discrimination on grounds such as race, colour, sex, language, religion, political or other opinion, national or social origin, property, birth or other status.
Statement by Country Concerned
United States , speaking as a country concerned, said the United States was committed to eradicating inequalities at home, and for this it had welcomed the Special Rapporteur to the country, and welcomed the report, which showed the challenges that were before the United States to advance equity and confront the scourges of inequality and discrimination. The Government had continued to take action in a range of areas in this regard, including through a Health Equity Task Force that addressed inequities in the health system. An office on climate change and health equity had been charged with assessing the impact of climate change on minorities. Work was being done to advance environmental justice through a robust community involvement programme that addressed environmental concerns.
Meaningful steps to combat hate crimes and racial incidents were also being taken, with the adoption of an Act to combat racial injustice. The Federal Bureau of Investigation had elevated hate crimes to its highest level of national threat priority. The Department of Justice was working to combat hate crimes and racial incidents. Work was being done to expand access to voting registration to ensure all eligible Americans could participate in democracy. The Special Rapporteur’s visit was appreciated: every democracy and every country should extend a standing invitation to all United Nations Special Procedures, whose work reinforced the fight to protect and promote human rights across the globe.
Discussion
In the ensuing discussion, some speakers said that the full realisation of the human rights of persons belonging to minorities was paramount. To prevent conflicts from arising, minority groups should be brought into policy processes to allow them to express their specific views, particularly women and youth. Concern was expressed about the growth of online hate speech which often harmed minorities. What actions were recommended for businesses to allow women and other minorities to use their voices online without threat from hate speech? Could the Special Rapporteur elaborate on his intentions to develop a new treaty on hate speech and social media? As online platforms had increased, what tangible measures had been most effective in curbing hate speech and disinformation? States must intensify their efforts to leave no one behind. It was essential to ensure that minority groups had full participation in peace building efforts. Human rights violations against minority groups were a cause of conflict around the world. States must work in an inclusive manner to reduce all forms of exclusion. All Member States were urged to cooperate with the Special Rapporteur as this was a core element of combatting atrocity crimes. United Nations forums should be safe spaces for all minority groups. The prevention of conflict involving minorities necessitated respect for minority rights.
Many speakers reaffirmed their commitment to the advancement of the rights of minorities which was being pursued on a regional and national level. The disproportionate burdens which minority groups bore had been exacerbated during the COVID-19 pandemic. Racial and ethnic minority groups in countries had been disproportionately impacted by the pandemic, suffering from high death rates and hospitalisations; they had also been hit hard economically. The pandemic had also led to a rise in Asian hate rhetoric. Global and regional early warning mechanisms were needed to address the root causes of violence against minorities. States should design and implement frameworks which recognised and supported minority languages. Could the Special Rapporteur elaborate further on his work plan? What were best practices and strategies to ensure the participation of youth and women in conflict prevention? Speakers agreed that the inclusion of minorities needed to be guaranteed in decision-making. Challenges remained, where minorities were marginalised in the enjoyment of their human rights. Hate speech and xenophobia had contributed to global violence against minority groups. There had been a lack of progress developing frameworks for minority rights, which were essential in addressing conflicts in these groups. One speaker was dismayed that a minority rights perspective had not been included and minority rights prevention strategies had not been developed by the Special Rapporteur.
One speaker said that the United Nations could have played an important role to protect minorities, however, they had been blind when it came to Russian language and rhetoric. Another speaker criticised the Russian Federation for saying it was aiding minorities as a pretext for invading Ukraine. Some speakers raised concerns about minorities in a number of countries and regions.
Concluding Remarks
FERNAND DE VARENNES, Special Rapporteur on minority issues, responding to a question on hate speech, said there would be a continuing process under his mandate on how to address this in social media, particularly targeting minorities, hopefully resulting in a series of practical guidelines. It was important for the Human Rights Council to consider initiatives such as developing a new treaty on hate speech, particularly on social media. It was up to the United Nations to take the initiative to develop a framework to address this global challenge. As had been reiterated a number of times in the report, it was time to mainstream the protection of minority rights in the initiatives of the United Nations, which was currently not the case. It was vital to mainstream a minority rights framework to address the fundamental root causes of many of the conflicts around the world. The thirtieth anniversary of the Declaration on the Rights of Minority Peoples was perhaps the ideal moment for this, and to develop a new framework to elaborate more precisely what were in practical terms the human rights of minorities in various areas.
In 1939, the MSN St Louis was refused landing by Cuba, Canada and the United States in the lead up to the Holocaust. For many, this was a death sentence. Discrimination was then widespread, indeed, prevalent, in many countries. All persons in Ukraine, including Roma and people of Middle Eastern descent, must be treated equally with regard to refugee status, regardless of the colour of their skin, religion or ethnicity along the evacuation route. The wider context must be confronted: those fleeing conflict in many other areas also should be treated with equality and humanity, and not pushed away, as though they were Jews on the St Louis, to their deaths on the shores of the Mediterranean Sea and other places.
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HRC22.041E