RECOMMENDATION 1345 (1997)1 on the protection of
national minorities
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1.The protection of national minorities continues to be one of the crucial
elements of peace and security in
2.The action taken by international organisations to ensure such protection has been largely
complementary. Specific shortcomings are, however, found in each organisation, as well as in the co- ordination of
activities between them.
3. The Organisation for Security and Co-operation in
Europe (OSCE) has adopted important political declarations of intent and has
established, as an instrument of conflict prevention, the Office of High Commissioner
on National Minorities. However, its standards _ set by unanimity _ are not
legally binding.
4.The Council of
5.In this respect the Assembly greatly regrets that
the Committee of Ministers did not follow the proposals of the Assembly
included in Recommendations 1285 and 1300 (1996) when laying down the rules for
the election of the advisory committee of the framework convention for the
protection of national minorities and on the way it may seek and obtain
information, and calls upon the Committee of Ministers to reconsider its
decision.
6.Like the framework convention, the current
intergovernmental confidence-building measures in the minority field are a
follow-up to the Council of Europe's 1993 Vienna Summit. So far, only six
member states have made voluntary contributions to finance projects.
7.The Assembly very much regrets that the Committee of
Ministers has been unable to continue the work, which it had been instructed to
begin by the Vienna Summit, on a draft protocol to the European Convention on
Human Rights in the cultural field by provisions guaranteeing individual
rights, in particular for persons belonging to national minorities.
8.The European Union has made protection of minorities
a condition for economic cooperation as well as for membership. The
effectiveness of its policy is however seriously hampered by the absence of a
permanent monitoring mechanism and lack of clarity with regard to the standards
a given country is supposed to respect in this field.
9.Political declarations on the issue have further
been adopted by the United Nations General Assembly, the Inter-Parliamentary
Union, and the Central European Initiative. The Council of the Baltic Sea
States has established the Office of the Commissioner on Human Rights and
Minority Questions, with an "ombudsman"-mandate.
10.There is still insufficient political will to
accept and implement the international political and legal instruments for the
protection of minorities. Protection of minorities all too often remains an
issue of foreign, rather than domestic, policy.
11.Therefore, the Assembly recommends that the
Committee of Ministers:
i. call for further signatures and ratifications of
the Framework Convention for the Protection of National Minorities and the
European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages in order to enable these
instruments to enter into force on the occasion of the second Council of Europe
summit, to be held in Strasbourg on 10 and 11 October 1997;
ii. strongly urge member states to comply with the above-mentioned Council of
Europe instruments;
iii.pursue intergovernmental co-operation in the
field of protection of national minorities and implement activities involving
governments and civil society, designed to facilitate the full and effective
implementation of international legal standards in this field;
iv.resume its work on a draft protocol to the
European Convention on Human Rights in the cultural field by provisions
guaranteeing individual rights, in particular for persons belonging to national
minorities, in accordance with the decision taken by the heads of state and
government at the first Council of Europe summit;
v. increase its co-operation with the European Union to ensure that the results
of the Council of Europe's monitoring procedures _ of the Committee of
Ministers and of the Assembly _ are taken systematically into account by the
Union, in particular when assessing compliance with the human rights/minority
clauses in its agreements with third countries and in its examination of
requests for membership;
vi.call upon the European Union to use the expertise
available within the Council of Europe in assistance provided to applicant
countries in these fields;
vii. increase the funds available through the ordinary
budget, and call for further voluntary contributions, for the Council of
Europe's confidence-building measures aimed at preventing minority conflicts;
viii.urge member states to initiate and maintain
dialogue with representatives of national minorities.
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1. Assembly debate on