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The
existence of a minority is "a matter of fact, not a matter of
law" said the International Court of Justice in the interwar
period. "I know a minority when I see one" said recently the
OSCE HCNM Max van der Stoel. It is unfortunate that some states
continue to claim that minorities exist only when laws say so, and
refuse to recognize national minorities when "they see
them." Respect for the identity of any minority is the
prerequisite for a country to be considered that it respects minority
rights. We recommend that the HCNM engages in a study of the issue and
help the countries mentioned below to adjust their constitution,
legislation and/or practice so as to formally recognize the minorities
whose existence the international community anyway acknowledges,
irrespective of these countries’ positions.
As
ECRI stated, France’s "republican model" rejects
the concept of minority groups among French citizens. But "ECRI
considers that, de facto, such groups exist and that … the
rights of individuals connected with the identity of these groups of
the population of France are limited" (p. 12). France replied
that "the legal concept of ‘minority’ does not exist in
French law" (p. 26) as it is incompatible with "the
principles of the indivisibility of the nation" (p. 25) and the
related arguments were inspired by strong assimilationism. Scholars
and minority rights activists have shown that constitutional
amendments are necessary but also possible for the development of a
multicultural concept of the Republic: after all, the French
constitution is being amended frequently, including this year on other
matters.
A
similar "republican model" based on the "indivisibility
of the nation" exists in Turkey, except that that country
is obliged to recognize the Treaty of Lausanne non-Muslim minorities.
So, Turkey reject the concept of ethno-national minorities like the
Kurds, and moreover considers the non-Muslim communities as religious
minorities, even though they aspire to be ethnonational: for example,
Turkey’s Greeks cannot call themselves Greeks ("Ynanli")
but only Greek-Orthodox ("Rum").
Its
neighbor Greece, with an ideological construct of a "100%
homogeneity" to quote the Athens Journalists’ Union President
among many others, is the other OSCE country besides Turkey that
refuses to acknowledge the presence of ethno-national minorities, like
Macedonians and Turks, while recognizing only one religious minority,
the Muslims, as imposed by the Treaty of Lausanne. The latter are
denied the right to call themselves and their associations Turks and
Turkish (but allowed to call themselves and their groups Pomak or
Roma). Restrictions of the freedom of association and expression of
Macedonians and Turks have been criticized by ECRI.
Somewhat
similar is Slovenia’s position. In its 2000 recommendations
for that country UN CERD "notes that different minority groups
are provided by law differentiated protection measures in different
areas of daily life, such as political representation, access to
media, education and culture. The Committee notes that minority
groups, such as Croats, Serbs, Bosnian and Roma, do not enjoy the same
level of protection from the State party as the Italian and Hungarian
minorities. In this connection, the Committee recommends that the
State party, in accordance with article 2 of the ICERD, ensure that
persons or groups of persons belonging to other minority groups are
not discriminated against." The reason is that besides Italians
and Hungarians, the other and more numerous groups are not recognized
as minorities. It is ironic, but also indicative of its direction,
that the Stability Pact for Southeast Europe has decided to fund an
institute on minorities as a joint Greek-Slovenian venture.
Macedonia
also has a legalistic approach: it formally recognizes some minorities
–including in an interpretative declaration to the FCNM- and
provides them, at least on paper, with a large array of rights. But
other minorities, whether they are the mostly recently established
Bosniaks or the historical ethno-national "rivals"
Bulgarians, though probably more numerous than the recognized
Aromanians, are denied recognition. In recent past, Bulgarian parties
were denied registration.
Across
the border, Bulgaria "reciprocates" by recognizing a
large array of "minority groups" –that it does not like to
call minorities though- but denying to include Macedonians among them,
and as was stated here, restricting their freedoms of association and
of assembly. ECRI acknowledges the presence of an "ethnic
Macedonian identity," notes that complaints for violations of the
right to assembly won admissibility at the ECHR, and "hopes that
Bulgarian authorities will take steps to ensure that all groups in
Bulgaria effectively enjoy the right to peaceful assembly."
Finally,
Albania recognizes a Greek and a Macedonian minority, but only
in the Southern regions. Those who identify as Macedonians and Greeks
outside these minority regions are denied the minority rights granted
in the south, including minority classes at state schools. The recent
Himara election tensions were related to an effort of the Greek
minority to have its existence recognized, which was successful
insofar as even the OSCE ODIHR reported that "in Himara, …
there is a Greek-speaking minority;" it also reported Since the
Albanian delegation, in response to a previous statement in this
meeting, argued that "GHM has mixed its facts as Himara is not a
minority area," we would appreciate if they tell this meeting
whether also OSCE ODIHR had its facts mixed. Moreover, the Albanian
delegation insisted last week that "there were no irregularities
in the elections." But the OSCE ODIHR mission stated: "in
Himara, the situation was marked by some serious irregularities
ranging from intimidation of commissions members, to one case of
violence in which a ballot box was destroyed, to verified evidence of
fraud in at least three other voting centres. The authorities should
investigate fully the irregularities in accordance with the rule of
law." Reportedly, a similar recommendation came from the Council
of Europe a few days ago. We hope that, after all that, the Albanian
authorities will first investigate all these serious irregularities,
and then, in cooperation with the mainly Greek minority "Human
Rights Union Party" –a government partner- will seek ways to
grant to Greeks in Himara, as well as to Greeks and Macedonians
outside the "minority zones" the same rights given within
the latter areas.
Just
as we also urge the authorities of Bulgaria, France, Greece,
Macedonia, Slovenia, and Turkey –besides those of Albania- to
respect the identity of their minorities and grant the latter all the
rights they ask for, provided they conform to the related
international norms. EU, Council of Europe, OSCE and UN institutions
are there to provide all necessary counselling and mediation. In the
long term, this is the only way to avoid such issues become explosive,
as we have recently seen in so many countries, including some in this
list.
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