Minority Rights The Key To Conflict Prevention

This report, Minority Rights: The Key to Conflict Prevention, cogently argues that an understanding of minority rights is essential for anyone dealing with conflict prevention and resolution. The report’s authors, Clive Baldwin, Chris Chapman and Zoë Gray, demonstrate the strong links between minority rights violations and the outbreak of major conflicts, drawing on research carried out in China, India, Iraq, Kosovo, Nicaragua, the Philippines and Sudan, among other states. MRG’s report shows how minority rights violations are often warning signs of an approaching conflict. This new report looks at five themes: minority identity, the ability of minorities to participate in political and economic life, land/property rights and justice issues. Using case studies and providing practical advice, the authors show why ignoring early warning signs in any of these areas could lead to a build up of tensions and ultimately, violent conflict. The international community’s record on minority rights and conflict prevention is examined and found wanting. The report concludes with a checklist and a series of recommendations aimed at international bodies working on conflict prevention and resolution.

This new report looks at five themes: minority identity, the ability of minorities to participate in political and economic life, land/property rights and justice issues. Using case studies and providing practical advice, the authors show why ignoring early warning signs in any of these areas could lead to a build up of tensions and ultimately, violent conflict.

This publication is the first version of the World Directory of Minorities and Indigenous Peoples, published in 1997. The full Directory is now available and continually updated on our website. The large majority of violent conflicts in the world today are conflicts within states, with groups polarized across ethnic and religious divides and not across borders. Ethnic, religious and linguistic minorities are often among the poorest of the poor, suffer discrimination and are frequently the victims of human rights abuses. Time and time again in the past, the United Nations system, governments and even non-governmental organizations (NGOs) working in the field of ‘conflict prevention’ have failed to promote the human rights of minorities or to take early action to promote cooperation between communities. Early action may have prevented the loss of millions of lives in many countries, ranging from Rwanda to the former Yugoslavia, and from Sri Lanka to Guatemala. It is also significant that the Nobel Peace Prize was awarded to the Dalai Lama in 1989 and to Jose´ Ramos-Horta and Bishop Carlos Belo in1996 as a result of their peaceful campaigns to promote the rights of their people. The situation of minorities is, then, a matter of major concern, and it is essential that accurate, objective and up-to-date information is made available. This Directory contributes to that process. It is difficult to assess accurately what proportion of the world’s population identify themselves as belonging to minority communities. Conservative estimates place this above 10 per cent, and some suggest that more than 20 per cent of the world’s population belongs to several thousand different minority groups and subgroups. National statistics are often skewed for political reasons, and there is no universally accepted definition of ‘minorities’. The word has different interpretations in different societies throughout the world, while the United Nations General Assembly has not sought to reach a definition beyond that implied in the title of the UN Declaration on the Rights of Persons belonging to National or Ethnic, Religious and Linguistic Minorities adopted in December 1992. Minority Rights Group focuses its work on non-dominant ethnic, religious and linguistic communities, whether or not they are numerical minorities. The concept thus relates to any self-identified community that is marginalized, without power, unable to take decisions over its destiny and often experiencing high levels of illiteracy, under-education and overt or covert discrimination. The basic rights of such communities need protection and promotion. There is, however, a danger of generalizing about minorities and forgetting the complexity of their social composition, including the rural poor, urban migrants, older people, women and children. These groups may be considered as doubly vulnerable. What makes their situation particularly problematic is that there is often a deliberate political policy on the part of majorities and states not to give due regard to the legitimate interests of minorities, while members of minorities see their identity as central to their social and economic situation. They are often excluded from political power and decision-making in the development process, without equal opportunities to secure a better quality of life. One further danger may lie in regarding ethnicities as fixed, rather than as the potentially fluid phenomena that they often are. ‘Situational ethnicity’ does occur, and individuals and groups do modify their self-identifications depending on circumstances. Please note that the terminology in the fields of minority rights and indigenous peoples’ rights has changed over time. MRG strives to reflect these changes as well as respect the right to self-identification on the part of minorities and indigenous peoples. At the same time, after over 50 years’ work, we know that our archive is of considerable interest to activists and researchers. Therefore, we make available as much of our back catalogue as possible, while being aware that the language used may not reflect current thinking on these issues.

This title was first published in 2003. Meticulously documenting Intra-state violence and the responses to it from a global perspective, this volume deals with a core element of future global governance within its historical and sociological context. It provides a striking analysis of the prevention of violence and resolving conflict, elaborating on the role that key regional and international organizations (e.g. UN, OSCE, COE, OAU-AU and OSA) have or should have in the prevention of violence and terrorism, as well as in the protection of human and minority rights. The work is an invaluable addition to the collections of scholars and students in the fields of peace and conflict research, international relations, sociology, ethnic studies, international law and development research.

Language Policy and Conflict Prevention analyses the components of a balanced language policy with a view to reducing conflict potential. It draws upon contributions from experts working for the OSCE HCNM, Council of Europe, UN as well as leading academics.

"The present guide offers information related to norms and mechanisms developed to protect the rights of persons belonging to national, ethnic, religious or linguistic minorities. It includes detailed information about procedures and forums in which minority issues may be raised to minorities and by also covering selected specialized agencies and regional mechanisms, the present Guide complements information contained in Working with the United Nations Human Rights Programme: A Handbook for Civil Society"--Introduction.

The book offers a comprehensive analysis of the issues concerning national minorities in the context of inter-State relations, by respecting the rights of persons belonging to minorities, maintaining interethnic harmony and strengthening good neighbourly relations.

Quiet Diplomacy in Action is the first comprehensive account of the work of Max van der Stoel as High Commissioner on National Minorities for the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE). Because Van der Stoel worked discreetly, until now very little has been written about his activities. This book takes the reader behind the scenes to explain why the post of High Commissioner was created, what his mandate is, how he worked in practice, and what recurrent themes and issues he encountered. Quiet Diplomacy in Action also gives a detailed summary of the High Commissioner's activities in the more than fifteen countries that he was involved with between 1993 and 2001. Major documents relating to national minorities in the OSCE context are included in an annex. As Michael Ignatieff writes in the Foreword: `Everyone talks about conflict prevention. One of the few senior figures that actually does it is the OSCE High Commissioner on National Minorities'. This book, written in co-operation with Mr. Van der Stoel, gives a unique insight into conflict prevention, minority rights, and the challenge of resolving inter-ethnic tensions. It should be considered a primary resource for all those interested in these subjects.