0.5.4. Recommendation 1134 on the rights of minorities, of 1990

http://stars.coe.fr/

“General observations on minorities
There are many kinds of minorities in Europe. They have certain characteristics which may be ethnic, linguistic, religious or other which distinguish them from the majority in a given area or country.
Minorities greatly contribute to the pluriformity and cultural variety in Council of Europe member states, which have frequently adopted specific legislation with the interests of certain minorities in mind.
Yet one cannot deny that certain very difficult and serious problems continue to exist within the Europe of the Twenty-three.
Respect for the rights of minorities and persons belonging to them is an essential factor for peace, justice, stability and democracy.
The revival of minority languages and cultures is a sign of the richness and vitality of European civilisations.
With the change towards democracy in Central and Eastern European states, grave minority problems also come to light in these countries. These problems have been ignored and neglected for many years by authoritarian rule.
It is obvious that the Council of Europe must have the interests of minorities at heart — one of the main assignments given to this organisation being the maintenance and further realisation of human rights and fundamental freedoms. Minorities is one of the major subjects for co-operation and consultation with the countries of Central and Eastern Europe.
Among the work at present going on in the Council of Europe in the field of minorities one may list :
the drafting of a European charter of regional and minority languages ;
the work of the Commission for Democracy through Law.
Adequate legal protection of minorities requires certain minimum standards.
Basic principles on the rights of minorities
The Assembly therefore considers the following principles on the rights of minorities as a minimum :
every citizen must have equal access to the courts and be afforded the rights safeguarded by the European Convention on Human Rights including the right of individual petition set forth in Article 25 ;
introduction of a general non-discrimination clause in the European Convention on Human Rights ;
the special situation of a given minority may justify special measures in its favour ;
minorities shall be allowed to have free and unimpeded peaceful contacts with citizens of other states with which they share a common origin or heritage, without, however, infringing the principle of the territorial integrity of states.
National minorities
In respect of national minorities - that is to say, separate or distinct groups, well defined and established on the territory of a state, the members of which are nationals of that state and have certain religious, linguistic, cultural or other characteristics which distinguish them from the majority of the population - the following principles should apply :
national minorities shall have the right to be recognised as such by the states in which they live ;
national minorities shall have the right to maintain and develop their culture ;
national minorities shall have the right to maintain their own educational, religious and cultural institutions. For this purpose, they shall also have the right to solicit voluntary financial and other contributions including public assistance ;
national minorities shall have the right to participate fully in decision-making about matters which affect the preservation and development of their identity and in the implementation of those decisions ;
every person belonging to a national minority is required to comply with the obligations resulting from his citizenship or residence in a European state.
Linguistic minorities
Furthermore, in respect of linguistic minorities, the Assembly adopts the following two principles :
persons belonging to a linguistic minority shall have access to adequate types and levels of public education in their mother tongue ;
linguistic minorities shall have the right to obtain, provide, possess, reproduce, distribute and exchange information in their mother tongue regardless of frontiers.
Obligations for the states
As far as the European states are concerned they should :
commit themselves to guarantee the protection as well as the possibility of the effective exercise of the rights of national minorities and persons belonging to them ;
take all the necessary legislative, administrative, judicial and other measures to create favourable conditions to enable minorities to express their identity, to develop their education, culture, language, traditions and customs ;
take the necessary measures, on the one hand, to eliminate prejudices and foster mutual knowledge and understanding in a climate of tolerance and mutual respect among persons belonging and persons not belonging to minorities, and, on the other, to develop active, solidarity-based civic participation by all nationals of European states and their genuine integration into joint citizenship ;
abstain from pursuing policies aimed at forced assimilation of national minorities, from taking administrative measures affecting the composition of the population in areas inhabited by national minorities, and from compelling such minorities to remain confined in geographical and cultural ‘‘ghettos'' ;
fully implement the provision of Article 27 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights which reads as follows :
‘‘In those states in which ethnic, religious or linguistic minorities exist, persons belonging to such minorities shall not be denied the right, in community with the other members of their group, to enjoy their own culture, to profess and practise their own religion, or to use their own language.''
The Assembly reaffirms the need for the full implementation of the commitments contained in the Helsinki Final Act, the Madrid concluding document and the Vienna concluding document concerning national minorities as well as the one adopted in Copenhagen in June 1990.
In addition, it draws attention to the obligations contained in the international instruments relating to national, ethnic, religious and linguistic minorities, by which the states participating in the CSCE process are bound.
Given its experience in the field of human rights, the parliamentary and intergovernmental work it has carried out concerning minorities, and its current work, the Council of Europe is the appropriate organisation for the elaboration of a legal instrument in this field.
Recommendation to the Committee of Ministers
The Assembly therefore recommends that the Committee of Ministers draw up a Protocol to the European Convention on Human Rights or a special Council of Europe convention to protect the rights of minorities in the light of the principles stated above.
[1] Assembly debate on 1 October 1990 (14th Sitting) (see Doc. 6294, report of the Committee on Legal Affairs and Human Rights, Rapporteur : Mr Brincat ; and Doc. 6302, opinion of the Political Affairs Committee, Rapporteur : Mr Baumel).
Text adopted by the Assembly on 1 October 1990 (14th Sitting).”
Recommendation 1177 (1992)1 on the rights of minorities.
Eng http://stars.coe.fr/index_e.htm

History has transformed the continent of Europe into a mosaic of peoples, who differ according to language, culture, customs and traditions, and religious practice.
The mixing and overlapping of these peoples is such that it is impossible to define their geographical boundaries fully and exclusively. The national frontiers which emerged from two world wars did not achieve this. Nor will those of the future, whatever form they take.
In a democratic state there can be no second-class citizens : citizenship is the same for all. The first and last guarantee of this equality of rights and duties lies in scrupulous respect for human rights on the part of states and in the ratification by them of the European Convention on Human Rights.
Within this common citizenship, however, citizens who share specific characteristics (cultural, linguistic, religious, etc.) with others may wish to be granted and guaranteed the possibility of expressing them.
It is these groups sharing such specific features within a state that the international community has called ‘‘minorities'', since the first world war, without that term denoting any inferiority whatever in this or that field.
There have now been a very large number of petitions and declarations of principle by governmental and international authorities advocating the recognition, protection and indeed promotion of the rights of ‘‘minorities'', whether these be national, ethnic and cultural, linguistic or religious.
There have been more and more colloquies and conferences of every kind. The extreme diversity of situations has now been properly recorded, described and analysed, as have the very great variety of problems raised and the difficulties, both legal and political, involved in solving them.
All of this is no longer enough. These analyses and these conclusions that nothing can be done are no longer acceptable. There is an urgent need for international decisions and commitments which can be rapidly implemented in the area concerned. Peace, democracy, freedoms and respect for human rights in Europe are at stake.
It is this sense of urgency and this desire to come up with practical proposals which were the impetus for the colloquy held in Paris, at the Senate, on 13 and 14 November 1991, at the initiative of the Assembly's Committee on Legal Affairs and Human Rights. This colloquy was intended to be different from many of its predecessors, as its purpose was to suggest to the Council of Europe constructive action which could be put into effect rapidly.
The colloquy reviewed the work being done by the various European and international bodies, particularly the Council of Europe, the EEC, the CSCE and the United Nations. It examined the proposal for a Framework Convention for the protection of national minorities, drawn up by the European Commission for Democracy through Law, the draft European charter of regional and minority languages, currently before the Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe, and the proposal for a European council of national, ethnic, religious, cultural and linguistic minorities, presented by the International Federation of Human Rights.
The different intergovernmental organs of the Council of Europe will soon be required to give their opinions to the Committee of Ministers, so as to enable the latter to conclude its work on the draft European charter of regional and minority languages. The Assembly is aware of certain weaknesses already noted in this draft. However, as it does not wish to delay matters, the Assembly recommends that the Committee of Ministers conclude its work as quickly as possible and that it do its utmost to ensure the rapid implementation of the charter.
The Assembly has taken note of the terms of reference given to the Steering Committee for Human Rights by the Committee of Ministers. Under those terms of reference, consideration is to be given to the proposal for a Framework Convention for the protection of national minorities. However, although it contains an excellent definition of the rights to be guaranteed, the proposed convention appears to be deficient on the question of supervisory machinery. Therefore, the Assembly considers it preferable and urgent to elaborate an additional protocol to the European Convention on Human Rights and it welcomes the fact that the Austrian minister submitted the draft of such a protocol to his colleagues at the meeting of the Committee of Ministers on 26 November 1991.
In addition, although this can in no way substitute for a legal instrument, the Assembly recommends the drawing up and rapid adoption by the Committee of Ministers of a declaration setting out the basic principles relating to the rights of minorities, on which there is already international consensus.
The Assembly considers that such a declaration should serve as a basic reference against which applications for membership of the Council of Europe can be judged and which would underpin the positions adopted by the Council of Europe and the activities of the mediating body proposed below.
The Assembly recalls that it has already adopted a similar declaration in its Recommendation 1134 (1990). This recommendation, possibly supplemented by further work undertaken by other international bodies, in particular the CSCE, the EEC and the European Commission for Democracy through Law (the Venice Commission), should serve as a basis for the Committee of Ministers' declaration recommended by the Assembly.
In its Order No. 456 (1990), the Assembly decided to play a mediating and conciliating role in conflicts involving minorities whenever it was asked to do so. In order to strengthen this Council of Europe role, the Assembly recommends that the Committee of Ministers give the Council a suitable mediation instrument, associating the highest competent authorities at international and national level. This body would have power to do three things :
To observe and record : this would involve constant monitoring of changes in the situation of minorities in all the European states ;
To advise and forestall : it would also have the task of taking timely action to help states and minorities to define the rules governing their relations before open conflict developed ;
To discuss and mediate : in cases of open conflict, it would be expected to draw on its international backing and own achievements in making on-the-spot efforts to reconcile the parties to the dispute and to find lasting and peaceful solutions to the problems which oppose them.
In view of the extreme urgency of the proposed measures, the Assembly requests the Committee of Ministers to implement this recommendation before1 October 1992.

[1] Assembly debate on 4 February 1992 (21st Sitting) (see Doc. 6556, report of the Committee on Legal Affairs and Human Rights, Rapporteurs : MM. Brincat and Worms ; Doc. 6562, opinion of the Committee on Culture and Education, Rapporteur : Mr de Puig ; and Doc. 6558, opinion of the Committee on Migration, Refugees and Demography, Rapporteur : Mr Cucó).
Text adopted by the Assembly on 5 February 1992 (23rd Sitting).”