Item 3: Legal and institutional framework: the human rights of minorities and conflict prevention Participants were invited to identify and discuss key factors that can help international and regional human rights law to be used as a powerful tool to prevent violent conflicts. Participants were called on to examine how referring to and utilizing the body of standards and jurisprudence concerning the protection of minorities under international law can prevent escalation into conflict. Participants were expected to develop a common understanding of the role of the protection of the human rights of minorities in preventing conflicts, and discuss legal, institutional and policy challenges to address long-standing grievances that may lead to tensions and possible conflicts. Presentations on the topic under discussion were made by the following panellists: Mr. Mohammad Shahabuddin, Chair in International Law & Human Rights, Birmingham Law School, University of Birmingham; Ms. Amina Amharech, President of the Association Acal El Hajeb, Founding Member of the Amazigh community network AZUL; and Mr. Arno Kompatscher, Governor, Province of Bolzano-South Tyrol, Italy. Mr. Mohammad Shahabuddin, Chair in International Law & Human Rights, Birmingham Law School, University of Birmingham referred to a 2019 global study called ‘Peoples under Threat’ which found that of the 115 countries that the study ranked by level of threat, all but 43 faced conflicts involving claims to self-determination. He explained that the traditional human rights framework, primarily focused on individual rights, is not always equipped to address and accommodate these demands for self-determination, even within the territorial confines of the existing state. The study also found that all but a handful of the countries were postcolonial states. Mr. Shahabuddin stated that all Peace Accords, in the aftermath of violent ethnic conflicts, are premised upon a series of political arrangements, including power-sharing, democracy, federalism, and so on. These measures are the direct outcome of prolonged violent conflicts and are driven by pragmatic needs, while numerous studies suggest that incorporation of these measures beforehand can prevent the likelihood of those violent conflicts. He recommended a more robust and sincere engagement with group rights by re-imagining the dominant liberal individualist framework of human rights. He also recommended that, when it comes to legal and institutional frameworks for minority protection, the unique position and conditions of postcolonial states and minorities therein must be acknowledged. Mr. Shahabuddin highlighted that minorities are routinely victims of developmental activities, in the name of economic growth, and that economic development leads to 9