UN Commission on Human Rights 54th session, March 1998
1 October 1999
Mr Chairman, Madam Chairman,
After 50 years Article 1 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights still encapsulates the heart of human rights today. All human beings are born free and equal in dignity and rights. You will know that it continues:
They are endowed with reason and conscience and should act towards one another in a spirit of brotherhood.
This should reflect the way in which "we the peoples of the United Nations" work together to human rights concerns. It should reflect our approach at the United Nations, but does it? At the commission and within the United Nations do we act with "reason and conscience"? Or do we act with reason and self interest? Does our conscience recognize that (as we hustle and bustle around these meetings) the voices of the poorest and most vulnerable, often ethnic minorities and indigenous communities, are rarely heard in the United Nations?
After 50 years what can we learn to make the UN Commission more effective in bringing dignity and rights to the marginalized, to minorities? In Minority Rights Group Internationals work during 30 of these 50 years we have found that effective dialogue can make a significant difference. In this presentation, we will put forward four simple proposals to promote dialogue between communities.
First we would like to give some examples of why more action is needed. Today and every day since the start of the commission, we have seen the tensions in Kosova growing, yet the latent injustice has existed for decades. Four years ago MRG co-sponsored a conference at the European Parliament warning of the dangers of a war around Kosova. We also urged early action to prevent the conflict in Former Yugoslavia, before the first bullet was fired. Our studies underlined human rights abuses and anticipated the long lasting conflict in Sri Lanka, the dangers of greater violence in Kurdish areas, in Burundi and in Chechnya.
Today almost 90 per cent of violent conflicts are between different communities and the large majority of refugees under the mandate of UNHCR are from minority communities.
First we would like to give some examples of why more action is needed. Today and every day since the start of the commission, we have seen the tensions in Kosova growing, yet the latent injustice has existed for decades. Four years ago MRG co-sponsored a conference at the European Parliament warning of the dangers of a war around Kosova. We also urged early action to prevent the conflict in Former Yugoslavia, before the first bullet was fired. Our studies underlined human rights abuses and anticipated the long lasting conflict in Sri Lanka, the dangers of greater violence in Kurdish areas, in Burundi and in Chechnya.
Today almost 90 per cent of violent conflicts are between different communities and the large majority of refugees under the mandate of UNHCR are from minority communities.
It gives us no satisfaction that MRG and others have given many early warnings and identified inequalities and indignities. There is no lack of information and analysis, but there clearly is a lack of dialogue and action with conscience to honour the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.
The fiftieth anniversary is a good time for all of us to reflect on what lessons can be learnt from the failure to prevent the attacks on ethnic minority communities and to ensure that all human beings are treated as equal in dignity and rights. Human rights issues are, of course, much wider than those areas where there is a danger of violent conflict.
A recent MRG report on the Roma in Europe shows that their treatment is often a disgrace, children are rarely born free - they are often imprisoned by acute poverty - and it is an exception for them to be treated as equals in dignity and rights. On occasions some have sought asylum in Western Europe and North America, where their claims should be judged on their merits. It is unacceptable for those involved in protecting human rights to passively watch the way that governments and the media have often treated them with inequality and indignity. This is but one example of the many reports that the commission has received over the years on the denial of the human rights of minorities.
The purpose of this intervention is to encourage four modest and constructive responses by the UN based on some examples MRG has seen of good practice.
Mr Chairman, Madam Chairman, the proposals are:
1.The High Commissioner on Human Rights should be supported in her effort to promote closer cooperation between the different human rights organs within the United Nations and with other regional bodies, such as the OSCE. The High Commissioner should be encouraged to publicize examples of good practice on inter-community relations, making these available to technical assistance programmes and the Working Group on Minorities. There are, for example, good practices on promoting the rights and dignity of the Roma people.
2.Minority and indigenous groups should be involved in the early planning and implementation of world conferences and in particular the World Conference on Racism. MRG would like to commend the excellent way in which the UNESCO Institute for Education in Hamburg involved minority and indigenous communities in the World Conference on Adult Education. With the generous support of the Danish government there was a dynamic and constructive debate on ethnic minority issues and a good representation of their issues in the programme of action which was agreed.
3.Every effort should be made to encourage formal and informal dialogue and debate between experts, governments and minorities on inter-community issues. A voluntary fund should be established to enable minorities to come and participate in debates at the commission, at the sub-commission, but particularly at the Working Group on Minorities. Training and support will also be necessary to ensure that appropriate interventions are made and the best possible links are established.
4.The UN Working Group on Minorities should be given a permanent mandate. It should review the work of UN agencies and bodies to see how far they are following the instructions of the General Assembly and implementing the UN Declaration on the rights of ... Minorities.
Mr Chairman, Madam Chairman,
The effective implementation of these measures will cost little apart from taxing our reason and conscience and would take four constructive steps towards ensuring that "All human beings are born free and equal in dignity and rights."