Implementation Meeting on Human Dimension Issues, Warsaw, 26 October - 6 November 1998

1 October 1999

Mr Moderator,

The year 1999 offers a unique opportunity to make long-term gains for human rights. A fresh approach is needed, one that involves a much greater sensitivity to participation and civil society, involving an individual and a collective dimension.

There is a new confidence among states with the new governments in Bulgaria, Czech Republic, Latvia, Romania and Slovakia beginning to celebrate ethnic diversity and initiating measures to combat prejudice. The new governments in Britain, Germany, Norway, Netherlands and Sweden, inter alia, are all re-emphasizing human rights, and there is an opportunity to turn this goodwill into specific actions. But actions and not just words are needed.

On 10 December we will celebrate the 50th anniversary of the signing of the Universal Declaration on Human Rights, whose first article states:

‘All persons are born free and equal in dignity and rights. They are endowed with reason and conscience and should act towards one another in a spirit of brotherhood.’

Are these just beautiful words and sentiments? Can we with honesty say that Roma in any country of Europe are equal in dignity and rights?

Soon we will be celebrating the tenth year of the Copenhagen Human Dimension Meeting (1990) where it was agreed by consensus that:

‘The participating states will protect the ethnic, cultural, linguistic and religious identity of national minorities on their territory and create conditions for the promotion of that identity.’

In 1992, MRG, the Danish Centre for Human Rights, the International Helsinki Federation and the European Council on Refugees and Exiles held a conference at the European Parliament in Brussels. At this meeting it was noted on Kosova that:

‘While some feel that a return to autonomy is the best solution it seems unlikely ... that either side will accept this. The alternatives appear to be either independence guaranteed by international force or a seemingly inevitable bloodbath.’

We have all seen that predicted bloodbath vividly on television and the hundreds of thousands of people who have been displaced, many of whom are living in desperation today. With such huge numbers, and with many victims of collective persecution and with many victims of genocide, it is easy to forget the human tragedy that each person represents. They have not been protected and the OSCE must be determined to protect them in the future.

As we all know, an agreement has been reached with ‘high level meetings’. In the process there is a great danger of reinforcing the position of the instigators of violence, while undermining civil society - which must be the main hope for reconciliation. Today President Milosevic is more powerful than ever, while still denying effective protection and participation.

Fortunately Kosova is an exception to the rule: the rule of law, the rule of international standards and the rule of democratic pluralist society in Europe. There are positive developments that the new movement for human rights in Europe can build upon.

The new Council of Europe Framework Convention for the Protection of National Minorities has come into effect this year; it represents a new approach with legal and programmatic approaches and real opportunities to ensure full compliance. It has challenging provisions on education and language, while Article 15, which refers to the ‘effective participation’ of national minorities, is particularly important. MRG will say more on this later in the meeting.

We welcome the statement of Austria, on behalf of the European Union, referring to the Copenhagen Agreement of 1993 on accession to the European Union. Full compliance is essential and resources are needed urgently to support constructive new approaches towards minorities in applicant states. This is currently a neglected area. At the Council of Europe the President of the Advisory Committee on the Framework Convention on National Minorities announced last week that it is clearly under-resourced and understaffed.

Resources are needed in many domains if the human dimension is to be properly addressed, not just a matter of fine language. It is crucial that the enlarged Europe finds funds to support both local initiatives to support minority access to media, parallel cultural and education provisions, alongside resources for capacity building and the training of minority members to promote effective equality. These are investments. MRG recommends that governments, particularly those of the European Union, need to look much more seriously at developing and funding a strategic plan that is well-resourced to support and celebrate a multi-ethnic Europe.

In the longer term there is a need to break down some of the artificial definitional divisions between national minorities, Roma and ethnic minorities. There are many similarities between them. The long-term trends of increasing mobility of people, the rapid growth in communications and economic globalization may help bring communities together.

We need to look beyond inter-community violent conflict in Europe to how to manage social conflict and racial discrimination in a Europe that will inevitably become more and more multi-ethnic. All communities and all individuals will demand to be treated as born free and equal in dignity and rights. Now is the time to anticipate this by providing resources to strengthen participative institutions and encouraging the involvement of young and old, women and men in a vibrant civil society.