MINELRES: Minority Rights Group International - e-bulletin - March 2004

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Minority Rights Group International - e-bulletin - March 2004 
Minority Rights Group International - e-bulletin 

In this special, extended issue of MRG's e-bulletin we highlight issues
raised by participants at the 10th Session of the United Nations Working
Group on Minorities held between 1-5 March 2004 in Geneva, Switzerland.
MRG with the support of the office of the UN High Commissioner for Human
Rights, facilitated the attendance at this unique minorities forum of
twenty-five representatives of minority and indigenous communities from
eighteen countries around the world. Representatives attended a joint
MRG and UNHCHR advocacy training in advance of the Working Group to
assist them in bringing their issues before this UN human rights body.

Highlighted below are some of the issues raised by participants during
the session of the Working Group on Minorities. These reports are based
on, and link to the actual interventions made by minorities. 

In this e-bulletin: 


Africa 

Ogiek killings highlight precarious position of a Kenyan hunter-gatherer
community 
Botswana tribal coalition calls for end to 'assimilationist policies' 
Rights, representation and constitutional reform demanded by Kenya's
Muslims 
Karayu pastoralists of Ethiopia call for government to ensure cultural
survival 
Nigeria Ikwerre people describe oil and gas legacy of poverty and
pollution 

Asia 

Nepal's Dalit women face discrimination, violence and exclusion 
Minorities challenge Afghanistan's transitional government to secure
rights 
Lumad and Bangsamoro accuse Philippines government of failing minorities 
Religious minorities in Pakistan challenge constitution to protect
rights and security 
India's Dalit Christians face caste discrimination and loss of
government assistance 
West Papuan's desire autonomy and end to Indonesian military operations 

Europe 

Serbia needs electoral reform to ensure effective minority participation 
Montenegro's law on National Minorities could exclude most vulnerable 
Turkey's EU ambitions are failing to produce rights reforms for
minorities 
Russian Federation urged to review and implement anti-discrimination
laws 
Displaced Crimean Tartars struggle to reclaim land and status 

Other 

Minority Rights Group International Working Paper - Minority Rights and
Development 
Recommendations to the Working Group by MRG and minority activists 
Decisions and Recommendations of the Working Group on Minorities 2004 


News 

Ogiek killings highlight precarious position of a Kenyan hunter-gatherer
community 
Reports received on 3rd March of the killing of a number of members of
the Ogiek hunter-gatherer community in the forests of Western Kenya have
led to calls for an urgent investigation and immediate measures to avoid
further incident. Two politicians are reported to have been killed, and
some 200 Ogiek houses burnt in the Chepyuk area near Mount Elgon, along
the Ugandan border. This area was given over to the Ogiek, however they
claim that much of the land has been grabbed by more powerful tribal
groups, who are accused of carrying out the recent attacks. 

http://www.minorityrights.org/news_detail.asp?ID=215 

Botswana tribal coalition calls for end to 'assimilationist policies' 
A coalition of thirteen associations of non-Tswana speaking ethnic
groups in Botswana, including the Wayeyi tribal community, have raised
their concerns over 'assimilationist policies' which deny their
linguistic and cultural rights and leave them marginalized. Calling for
dialogue with the government, the coalition representative stated that
non-Tswana speaking groups are not recognized or consulted on decisions
affecting their lives through their chiefs, lack rights to land, and do
not have their languages used in education, the national radio and other
social domains.   

http://www.minorityrights.org/news_detail.asp?ID=217 

Rights, representation and constitutional reform demanded by Kenya's
Muslims 
Despite constituting some 30 percent of Kenya's 30 million population,
Muslims are seriously underrepresented in government and decision making
structures and are suffering multiple discrimination and exclusion as a
result. The national constitutional review process offers a 'ray of
light' for the future, but a new era of accountability, participation
and practical action is required from current and future governments in
order to bring about real and lasting change and equality. 

http://www.minorityrights.org/news_detail.asp?ID=218 

Karayu pastoralists of Ethiopia call for government to ensure cultural
survival 
Ethiopia's Karayu pastoralists have called upon the government to step
up its efforts to assist them and protect their rights in consultation
with community representatives. The Karayu have lost much of their
pastoral lands to commercial farming interests, agro-industry and for
use as nature parks and game reserves, leaving their traditional nomadic
livelihoods threatened and offering them little alternative means of
survival. Representatives have called for a share in new opportunities
and for efforts to ensure the possibility to continue traditional
practices and pastoralist lifestyles. 

http://www.minorityrights.org/news_detail.asp?ID=237 

Nigeria's Ikwerre people describe oil and gas legacy of poverty and
pollution 
Representatives of Nigeria's Ikwerre indigenous community of the Niger
Delta region have described primitive conditions and poverty faced by
the community, whose lands and environment have been polluted by years
of oil and gas exploitation. Far from ushering in an age of prosperity,
damage to the Ikwerre lands, discrimination and failure to compensate or
assist the community, has left them in a 'nightmarish' situation in
which many live on an income below one dollar a day. The Ikwerre have
called upon the government to live up to its responsibilities and
protect their rights.    

http://www.minorityrights.org/news_detail.asp?ID=219 

Nepal's Dalit women face discrimination, violence and exclusion 
The practice of 'untouchability' remains widespread in Nepal despite
constitutional guarantees banning discrimination on the basis of race,
religion or sex, and penalties of up to one year in prison for those
found to be practicing it. Dalit women face numerous forms of social and
economic exclusion, and have been threatened with violence and social
exclusion for wishing to marry higher caste men. Dalit women have been
killed following accusations of witchcraft against them and sexual
exploitation of some Dalit women by higher castes continues.

http://www.minorityrights.org/news_detail.asp?ID=220 

Minorities challenge Afghanistan's transitional government to secure
rights 
The situation of numerous minorities in Afghanistan has little improved
following the collapse of the Taliban regime and the implementation of
the Bonn Agreements for transitional administration in Afghanistan.
These are the conclusions of the Afghan Professional Alliance for
Minority Rights, which highlighted a history of minority rights
violation against minorities including Hindus and Shia Muslims under
years of warlords and oppressive regimes, the legacy of which continues
to this day.   

http://www.minorityrights.org/news_detail.asp?ID=221 

Lumad and Bangsamoro accuse Philippines government of failing minorities 
The government of the Philippines has been questioned over its policies
in education and land rights and the negative effects on indigenous
Lumad and Bangsamoro Muslim communities struggling to maintain
traditional ways of life, culture and religious practices. Failure to
recognize and assist 'alternative' yet culturally appropriate learning
systems, for example, has been blamed for contributing to a process of
cultural assimilation. Globalization and corporate interests were
highlighted as amongst the threats to the land rights of the Lumad and
the causes of their poverty.  

http://www.minorityrights.org/news_detail.asp?ID=227 

Religious minorities in Pakistan challenge constitution to protect
rights and security 
Provisions within Pakistan's constitution to ensure religious freedoms
and safeguards to religious minorities have been undermined by laws and
policies which give preferential treatment to the majority religious
group, and by apathy on the part of successive governments. Continued
incidents of violence against religious minority groups, attacks and
destruction of their places of worship and killing and rape of members
of minority communities, are a matter of grave concern according to
religious minority representatives who have called for an Independent
body to address the situation.

http://www.minorityrights.org/news_detail.asp?ID=224 

India's Dalit Christians face caste discrimination and loss of
government assistance 
Dalits in India who have converted to Christianity not only continue to
face caste discrimination, they also lose privileges accorded by the
government to Hindu Dalits. Representatives of Christian Dalits claim
that the removal of such rights, including the ability to qualify for
government and public sector jobs under a quota system, is
discriminatory since despite exercising their rights to change religion,
they continue to face the same exclusion and social and economic
segregation as other Dalits. 

http://www.minorityrights.org/news_detail.asp?ID=230 

West Papuans desire autonomy and end to Indonesian military operations 
Serious human rights violations against West Papuans are continuing to
take place 35 years after a controversial 'Act of Free Choice', which
integrated West Papua into Indonesia in 1969. New Indonesian plans to
split West Papua into three provinces have been met with alarm by West
Papuans who have not been consulted and fear increased military presence
and command in the region. West Papuans claim widespread violations by
Indonesian armed forces in order to coerce, intimidate and silence the
Papuan people.   

http://www.minorityrights.org/news_detail.asp?ID=235 

Serbia needs electoral reform to ensure effective minority participation 
Without electoral reform to help ensure minority representation in
Serbia's parliament, minorities will continue to have little say in
decisions and the formulation of policies that affect them. A threshold
of 5 percent of the vote for each party elected to parliament
effectively excludes representatives of minorities from taking seats, as
was demonstrated in the 28 December 2003 elections. Despite progressive
policies and legislation to protect national minorities in Serbia,
critics claim that maintaining this electoral system creates a major
barrier to full and effective minority participation.  

http://www.minorityrights.org/news_detail.asp?ID=229 

Montenegro Law on National Minorities could exclude most vulnerable 
The draft law on Montenegro's National Minorities has caused serious
concern amongst representatives of minority groups who suggest that it
is flawed and could result in some communities, such as the Roma, being
excluded from protection under its provisions. According to them, the
law as it stands will fail to consider issues affecting internally
displaced persons including members of Roma and Askhaleia Egyptian
minorities from Kosovo who have settled in Montenegro, potentially
failing the most vulnerable.

http://www.minorityrights.org/news_detail.asp?ID=223 

Turkey's EU ambitions are failing to produce rights reforms for
minorities 
Kurdish and Armenian minorities in Turkey have criticized the government
for failing to implement policy on human and minority rights, aimed at
helping to secure Turkey's early entry into the European Union. Reports
of continuing activity against the Kurdish community including military
raids on villages and the forced displacement of villagers in 2003 have
led community representatives to question the government's commitments
to progressive policy reforms.   

http://www.minorityrights.org/news_detail.asp?ID=234 

Russian Federation urged to review and implement anti-discrimination
laws 
In 2003 not a single court case based on issues of discrimination was
won in the Russian Federation, a fact which has led some minority rights
advocates to suggest that existing laws and judicial procedures are
ineffective and inadequate. According to representatives of minority
rights organizations, discrimination against groups such as the Roma is
commonplace and reforms to domestic laws are necessary in order to bring
them into line with ant-discrimination provisions which exist under
international laws, to which the Russian Federation is a party. 

http://www.minorityrights.org/news_detail.asp?ID=231 

Displaced Crimean Tartars struggle to reclaim land and status 
Forcibly displaced by Stalin to central Asia and remote areas of Russia,
Crimean Tartars were only allowed to return to Crimea under Perestroyka
in 1989, some 45 years later. Yet now the Tartars face another
challenge, to regain their ancestral lands from which they were deported
and to which they have a strong and undiminished relationship as
indigenous and minority communities. According to community
representatives, 1,000,000 hectares of land once belonged to the Tartars
but only 70,000 hectares has to date been returned to them.    

http://www.minorityrights.org/news_detail.asp?ID=232 

Additional interventions can be found on the UNHCHR website at
http://www.unhchr.ch/minorities 
The news pieces above are based on interventions delivered by minorities
to the UN Working Group on Minorities, and do not necessarily reflect
the views and opinions of Minority Rights Group International. 

MRG Working Paper - An Examination of Approaches by International
Development Agencies to Minority Issues in Development. International
development agencies have not given sufficient attention to the
situation of minorities. Some good progress has been made by several
development agencies towards considering indigenous peoples in
development policy and programming. This success makes more striking the
discrepancy between attention to indigenous peoples and to other ethnic,
religious and linguistic minorities. This paper considers the issues and
offers both a strong argument about why minority issues should be
considered and recommendations for building capacity for engagement with
minority issues.

http://www.unhchr.ch/minorities/documents/2004-WP5.doc 

Recommendations to the Working Group by MRG and minority activists 
On the tenth anniversary of the WGM, MRG and other minority participants
address the successes of the Working Group and consider ways to improve
its work in future, especially as a forum for constructive debate
between minorities and governments.
http://www.unhchr.ch/minorities/statements10/JOINTNGO4..doc

Decisions and Recommendations of the Working Group on Minorities 2004 
On the basis of the discussions held during the tenth session, the
Working Group agreed on its decisions and recommendations for further
action, which you will find by clicking on the link below. 

http://www.minorityrights.org/International/int_stat_detail.asp?ID=81 

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