ECMI recommendations on implementation of the Framework Convention
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Date: Thu, 18 Jun 1998 10:22:38 +0300 (EET DST)
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Subject: ECMI recommendations on implementation of the Framework Convention
From: MINELRES moderator <[email protected]>
ECMI recommendations on implementation of the Framework
Convention
(From the moderator: the following posting is unusually lengthy for
the list. However, taking into account extreme importance of the
issue, I dare to send the full text to all subscribers.
Boris)
---------
ECMI Recommendations
on the Implementation of the Council of Europe Framework Convention
for the Protection of National Minorities
Flensburg, Germany, 14 June 1998
Introduction
The Council of Europe Framework Convention for the Protection of
National Minorities is the first legally binding international
instrument devoted to the rights of minorities in general. The
Convention contains mostly programme-type provisions concerning the
rights of minorities which leave the States Parties a measure of
discretion in the implementation of the objectives enshrined. Thus,
the success of the Convention will depend to a large extent on the
monitoring of the implementation of this Convention. The Convention
and its implementation mechanism should be considered as a living
instrument to be applied and developed in an open and generous
spirit for the benefit of minorities.
The Framework Convention provides that the Committee of Ministers
of the Council of Europe shall monitor the implementation of the
Convention and will be assisted in this task by an Advisory
Committee (arts. 24-26). The Advisory Committee will play an
important role in the further development of the monitoring
mechanism, as well as in the implementation of the Convention.
The "European Centre for Minority Issues" (ECMI) responded
positively to a suggestion by Professor Ole Espersen, Commissioner
of the Council of the Baltic Sea States (CBSS) on Democratic
Institutions and Human Rights, including the Rights of Persons
belonging to Minorities and member of ECMI's Advisory Council, to
hold a conference on the implementation of the Framework Convention.
The aim of this meeting was to discuss the political, legal and
financial aspects of the implementation mechanism. Experts from
international implementation committees of the UN and the Council of
Europe, other intergovernmental organisations, as well as
participants from the NGO community, academia and politics were been
invited. In addition, all members of the Advisory Committee on the
Framework Convention were invited (see attached list of participants
and programme of the conference).
In order to contribute to a fast, thorough and positive
implementation of the Framework Convention, ECMI decided to organise
an international conference "Implementing the Framework Convention
for the Protection of National Minorities". The conference took
place from 12 to 14 June 1998 at Duborg Skolen, the high school of
the Danish minority in Germany, and at the Kompagnietor Building,
the seat of ECMI, both in Flensburg, Germany. With the active help
of the participants, ECMI as the organiser of the conference has
formulated the attached recommendations which will be forwarded to:
* the members of the Committee of Ministers and members of the
Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe
* the Secretary General of the Council of Europe
* the European Commission and the members of the European
Parliament
* the participating States of the OSCE and members of the
Parliamentary Assembly of the OSCE
* the OSCE High Commissioner on National Minorities
* the member governments of the CBSS and the members of its
Parliamentary Assembly
* the Commissioner of the CBSS on Democratic Institutions and Human
Rights, including the Rights of Persons belonging to Minorities
* other sub-regional organisations
* the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights and the six
United Nations Treaty Bodies
* minority organisations
* NGOs dealing with minority issues.
ECMI Recommendations
Ratification of the Framework Convention
1. All countries of Europe should ratify or accede to the Framework
Convention for the Protection of National Minorities. The States
Parties should refrain from reservations and interpretative
declarations. In this context it should be recalled that "the
existence of minorities is a question of fact, not of law."
(Minority Schools in Albania (1935), PCIJ Ser. A/B, No. 64, 17).
Information on the Framework Convention
2.a. States and the Council of Europe as well as other
intergovernmental and non-governmental organisations should
intensify, and co-operate in, their efforts to disseminate
information on the Framework Convention, as well as on the mandate
and work of the Advisory Committee, for example through the
organisation of conferences, seminars and workshops.
2.b. In this regard, it would be desirable that the Council of
Europe prepare a handbook that would include:
* the text of the Framework Convention
* the explanatory report
* Resolution 97(10) by the Committee of Ministers
* information on reporting under the Convention
* procedures and mechanisms by which members of minorities can
address their concerns to the Advisory Committee
2.c. The Council of Europe should seek ways of having the
handbook translated into the national languages of member states and
encourage them to translate it into minority languages.
2.d. The Council of Europe should disseminate information on good
practices with regard to the protection of minorities and the
improvement of inter-ethnic relations.
2.e. The annual reports of the Advisory Committee should be made
available to the public.
Functioning of the Implementation Mechanism
3.a. The rules of procedure of the Advisory Committee should be
drawn up in such a way as to enable it to perform the task of
efficient monitoring.
3.b In order to ensure efficient and effective implementation of
the Framework Convention, governments and the Committee of Ministers
should ensure that the members of the Advisory Committee are
competent, independent and impartial, and in a position to serve
the Committee effectively. The composition of the Committee should
reflect the presence of the full range of necessary expertise in the
field of minority rights from a variety of professions and
disciplines. The States Parties should give favourable consideration
to the appointment of persons belonging to minorities to serve on
the Committee.
3.c. The Committee of Ministers should provide the Advisory
Committee with sufficient secretariat and financial support.
3.d. States Parties must respect time limits and submit adequate
reports. In cases where states fail to comply with their reporting
duties under the Convention, all necessary measures to ensure
compliance should be taken. The possibility of examining the
situation in a state in the absence of a report where it is
considerably overdue should not be ruled out.
3.e. The Committee of Ministers and the Advisory Committee should
ensure the transparency of the monitoring process.
Other sources of information for the Advisory Committee
4.a. In addition to state reports, the Advisory Committee should
receive concrete information on minority situations in different
contexts, from different independent sources (also including
references to constitutional arrangements, national legislation and
state practice, as well as reference to domestic judicial and
administrative remedies) in order to carry out its task effectively.
4.b. The Advisory Committee should focus on the protection
afforded to minorities in practice, especially at regional and local
levels. Therefore, the Advisory Committee should undertake missions
to the States Parties concerned.
4.c. The Advisory Committee should devote sufficient time to
engage in dialogue with governments, representatives of minorities
and NGOs, and organise hearings in order to facilitate this
objective.
4.d. International non-governmental organisations dealing with
minority issues should be associated with the work of the Advisory
Committee in a consistent and appropriate manner.
4.e. The Advisory Committee should benefit from information
available at the UN, Council of Europe, OSCE and CBSS organs,
bodies, institutions, and other specialised agencies.
Application and Interpretation of the Framework Convention
5.a. The relevant international obligations and commitments
constitute international minimum standards. It would be contrary to
their spirit and intent to interpret these obligations and
commitments in a restrictive manner.
5.b. The Advisory Committee may take into account in its work in
addition to international human rights treaties the provisions of,
inter alia, the UN Declaration on the Rights of Persons Belonging to
National or Ethnic, Religious or Linguistic Minorities (1992), the
Document of the Copenhagen Meeting of the Conference on the Human
Dimension of the CSCE (1990); the Hague Recommendations Regarding
the Education Rights of National Minorities (1996), and the Oslo
Recommendations Regarding the Linguistic Rights of National
Minorities (1998), as well as the recommendations of the
Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe and the OSCE High
Commissioner on National Minorities.
5.c. The Advisory Committee should also take into account standards
ensuing from bilateral agreements between the States Parties.
State Reports
6. The body of experience gained by the different treaty bodies
during their examination of state reports can be of help both for
the Advisory Committee in the examination of reports and for the
States in preparing these reports. Therefore the Advisory Committee,
as well as the States Parties should take into account the reporting
guidelines of treaty bodies.
Follow-up
7. The Committee of Ministers should adopt recommendations which
are critical of parties where there is an obvious lack of
compliance. The Advisory Committee should be closely and
systematically involved in the follow-up process regarding the
implementation of these recommendations.
Appendix 1
Implementing the Framework Convention for the Protection of
National Minorities
An International Conference of the European Centre for Minority
Issues Duborg Skolen and Kompagnietor Building, Flensburg, Germany,
12 to 14 June 1998
List of Participants
Christa Achleitner Head of Section "Volksgruppenangelegenheiten",
Chancellory of the Republic of Austria,
Vienna, Austria
Gudmundur Alfredsson Co-Director, Raoul Wallenberg Institute of
Human Rights, Lund, Sweden
Romedi Arquint President, Federal Union of European
Nationalities, Cinuos-chel, Switzerland, and
Member of the ECMI Advisory Committee
Arie Bloed Director, Constitutional & Legal Policy
Institute, Budapest, Hungary
Bojan Brezigar Director, European Bureau for Lesser Used
Languages, and Editor-in-Chief "Primorski
Dnevnik", Trieste, Italy
Camilla Busck-Nielsen Legal Officer, Legal Department, Ministry for
Foreign Affairs, Helsinki, Finland
Farimah Daftary Research Associate, European Centre for
Minority Issues, Flensburg, Germany
Rajko Djuric President, International Romani Union, Berlin,
Germany and Member of ECMI Advisory Council
Panayote Elias Dimitras Lecturer, Central European University,
Budapest, Hungary, and Spokesperson, Greek
Helsinki Monitor & Minority Rights Group,
Athens, Greece
Mirjana Domini Member of the Advisory Committee on the
Framework Convention and Head of Research
Group at the Institution for Migration and
Ethnic Studies, Zagreb, Croatia
Smaranda Enache Co-chair, Pro Europe League, and Deputy
Chairperson of ECMI Advisory Council,
Tirgu-Mures, Romania
Eva Ersb�il Research Fellow, The Danish Centre for Human
Rights, Copenhagen, Denmark
Ole Espersen Commissioner of the Council of the Baltic Sea
States on Democratic Institutions and Human
Rights, including the Rights of Persons
belonging to Minorities, Copenhagen,
Denmark, and Member of ECMI Advisory Council
Mar�a Amor Mart�n Est�banez Centre for Socio-Legal Studies,
University of Oxford, United Kingdom
Kinga G�l Research Associate, European Centre for
Minority Issues, Flensburg, Germany
Torsten Gersfelt Executive Director for Denmark, Ireland,
Lithuania, & FYR Macedonia of the European
Bank for Reconstruction and Development,
London, United Kingdom
Hennig Gjellerord Member of Parliament, President of the
Danish Delegation to the Council of Europe,
Copenhagen, Denmark
Fran�ois Grin Department of Economics, University of
Geneva, Faculty of Economic and Social
Sciences, University of Fribourg,
Switzerland
Rainer Hofmann Member of the Advisory Committee on the
Framework Convention; Director,
Walther-Sch�cking-Institute for
International Law,
Christian-Albrechts-University Kiel,
Germany; Member of the Executive Board of
ECMI
Outi Holopainen First Secretary, Political Department,
Ministry for Foreign Affairs, Helsinki,
Finland
Frank Horn Director, Northern Institute for
Environmental and Minority Law, University
of Lapland, Rovaniemi, Finland
Alexandra Ioannidou Special consultant to the Greek Ministry of
Foreign Affairs and Member of the DH-MIN
Commission of the Council of Europe,
Athens, Greece
Priit J�rve Senior Analyst, European Centre for Minority
Issues, Flensburg, Germany
Rudko Kawczynski Member of the Board of Directors, European
Roma Rights Center, Budapest, Hungary
Eckart Klein Director, Human Rights Centre, University of
Potsdam, Germany, and Member of the UN Human
Rights Committee
Antti Korkeakivi Minorities Unit, Directorate of Human Rights,
Council of Europe, Strasbourg, France
J�rgen K�hl Director of the Museum of the Danish
Minorities in Germany "Danevirke",
Dannewerk, Germany
Marju Lauristin Member of the Advisory Committee on the
Framework Convention and Professor, Tartu
University, Estonia
Andr� Liebich Professor of International History and
Politics, Graduate Institute of
International Studies, Geneva, Switzerland
Zdenka Machnyikova Adviser to the OSCE High Commissioner on
National Minorities, The Hague, Netherlands
Peter Nelde Director, Research Centre on Multilingualism,
Brussels, Belgium
Manon Olsthoorn International Officer, Minority Rights Group
International, London, United Kingdom
Frank Orton Member of the European Commission against
Racism and Intolerance, and Former Ombudsman
against Ethnic Discrimination, Stockholm,
Sweden
Alan Phillips Member of the Advisory Committee on the
Framework Convention and Director, Minority
Rights Group, London, United Kingdom
Jozef Sivak Member of the Advisory Committee on the
Framework Convention and Researcher,
Institute of Philosophy, Slovak Academy of
Sciences, Bratislava, Slovakia
Jeroen Schokkenbroek Head of Section, Minorities Unit, Directorate
of Human Rights, Council of Europe,
Strasbourg, France
Bent S�rensen Professor, Vice-Chairman of the UN Committee
Against Torture, and Co-opted Member to the
International Rehabilitation Council for
Torture Victims, Copenhagen, Denmark
Frank Steketee Minorities Unit, Directorate of Human Rights,
Council of Europe, Strasbourg, France
Trevor Stevens Secretary of the European Committee for the
Prevention of Torture and Inhuman or
Degrading Treatment or Punishment, Council of
Europe, Strasbourg, France
Sven T�gil Professor, University of Lund, Sweden
Cecilia Thompson Secretary, Working Group on Minorities,
Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human
Rights, Geneva, Switzerland
Patrick Thornberry Professor of International Law, Keele
University, United Kingdom, and Member of
ECMI Advisory Council
Marianne Tidick Vice-Chairperson of the Executive Board of
the European Centre for Minority Issues,
Flensburg, Germany
Sylvia Tr�bing-Butzmann "Landesverband Schleswig-Holstein Deutscher
Sinti und Roma", Kiel, Germany
Stefan Troebst Director, European Centre for Minority
Issues, Flensburg, Germany
Boris Tsilevich Deputy of Riga City Council, Chief Programmer,
Center for Educational and Social Research
"Baltic Insight", Riga, Latvia
Fernand de Varennes Director, Asia-Pacific Centre for Human Rights
and the Prevention of Ethnic Conflict, Perth,
Australia
Matthias Weckerling Head of Section, Federal Ministry of Justice,
Bonn, Germany
Matth�us Weiss Chairman, "Landesverband Schleswig-Holstein
Deutscher Sinti und Roma", Kiel, Germany
Appendix 2
Implementing the Framework Convention for the Protection of
National Minorities
An International Conference of the European Centre for Minority
Issues Duborg Skolen and Kompagnietor Building, Flensburg, Germany,
12 to 14 June 1998
Programme
Friday, 12 June
20:00 Dinner at Restaurant Eckener Haus
After Dinner Speech by Alan Phillips, Minority Rights Group,
London, United Kingdom
Saturday, 13 June
Duborg Skolen, Festivity Hall
09:30 - 11:30 Opening Session
Chair: Rainer Hofmann, Walther-Sch�cking-Institute for
International Law, Kiel, Germany
Greetings by Peter Rautenberg, Chairman of the City Council of
Flensburg
09:45 Keynote speech: "How to make the best use of the
Framework Convention?"
Ole Espersen, Commissioner of the Council of the Baltic Sea States
on Democratic Institutions and Human Rights, including the Rights
of Persons belonging to Minorities, Copenhagen, Denmark
10:45 Introduction
Patrick Thornberry, Department of International Law,
Keele University, United Kingdom
Discussion
14:00 - 15:30 Problems of Implementation: The Experience of Others I
Moderator: Arie Bloed, Constitutional & Legal Policy Institute,
Budapest, Hungary
14:00 The Human Rights Committee of the United Nations
Eckart Klein, MenschenRechtsZentrum, University of Potsdam, Germany
Discussion
14:30 The European Committee for the Prevention of Torture
of the Council of Europe
Trevor Stevens, Council of Europe, Strasbourg, France
Discussion
15:00 The Committee Against Torture of the United Nations
Bent S�rensen, International Rehabilitation Council for Torture
Victims, Copenhagen, Denmark
Discussion
16:00 - 17:30 Problems of Implementation: The Experience of Others II
Moderator: Bojan Brezigar, European Bureau for Lesser Used Languages,
Trieste, Italy
16:00 The Working Group on Minorities of the United Nations
Cecilia Thompson, Secretary, Working Group on Minorities, Office of
the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, Geneva, Switzerland
Discussion
16:30 The European Commission against Racism and
Intolerance of the Council of Europe
Frank Orton, Former Ombudsman against Ethnic Discrimination,
Stockholm, Sweden
Discussion
19:30 Dinner at Restaurant Fakkelgaarden, Kollund, Denmark
After Dinner Speech by J�rgen K�hl, Danevirke Museum, Dannewerk,
Germany: "From Conflict to Co-existence: Majorities and Minorities
in the Danish-German Border Region"
Sunday, 14 June
European Centre for Minority Issues, Kompagnietor Building, Naval
Court Room
10:00 - 12:00 Recommendations
Moderator: Patrick Thornberry
Discussion on a set of recommendations
ECMI is a foundation co-financed by the Kingdom of Denmark, the
Federal Republic of Germany and the State Schleswig-Holstein. For
the period 1996-1998 ECMI has received a grant from the European
Commission under Operational Program Interreg II - "S�nderjylland/
Landesteil Schleswig".
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