27 4.4 Minority Languages and Identity What should be done? A person’s own identity, in the form of one’s own name or surname in a minority language, must be respected, recognized and used by the state authorities. Where practicable, the use of minority languages on street signs and topographical designations should also be added, particularly where they have historical significance or where minorities are concentrated. Why it should be done Central to the rights of minorities are the promotion and protection of identity. This is also deeply significant in relation to a private life and dignity. For many individuals, one of the most important markers of their identity is their own name in their own language. As language is central to human nature, culture and social identity, respect for the linguistic form of a person’s name must therefore not only be tolerated, but protected and respected.46 Respect for identity – and the obligation to protect and respect it – goes beyond the individual and should extend to the areas where minorities live. On what legally binding and other basis? • Arts 17, 24, 26 and 27, International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (United Nations) • Art. 5, International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination (United Nations) • Arts 2 + 7, Convention on the Rights of the Child (United Nations) • Art. 10, European Convention on Human Rights (Council of Europe) • Art. 11, Framework Convention for the Protection of National Minorities (Council of Europe) • Art. 10, European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages (Council of Europe) • Art. 2, Declaration on the Rights of Persons Belonging to National or Ethnic, Religious and Linguistic Minorities (United Nations) • Rec. 13, Guidance Note of the UN Secretary-General on Racial Discrimination and the Protection of Minorities (2013) • Recs. 1-3, Oslo Recommendations Regarding the Linguistic Rights of National Minorities (OSCE) How it should be done For individuals, most countries automatically and systematically recognize their right to have and use their own names and surnames, in their own language, and the corresponding obligation of authorities to respect this right. This must be provided for in legislation, setting out in a transparent procedure that individuals may use their own names in contacts with the authorities, and that authorities must also use this name in their own activities. There must also be legislation in place permitting, simply and without undue costs, the reversion to a minority’s own name if this was forcibly changed by the authorities in the past because of assimilationist or similar policies. 46 Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR), Minority Rights: International Standards and Guidance for Implementation (OHCHR: Geneva, 2010), p. 8.