Southern Poverty Law Center, Senior Advisor to the President; and Mr. Hani Anouti, Affiliated Professor in Middle Eastern Politics at Institut Barcelona d’Estudis Internacionals. Ms. Nouha Grine addressed the situation of the Amazighs in Tunisia and noted that they are one of the most socially and economically marginalized groups whose language has not been recognized by the government, without which it is not possible to talk about the exercise of freedoms or social inclusion. Ms. Grine, while noting that there is no clear and agreed-upon definition in international law of the term ‘minority’, praised the added value of Declaration on the Rights of Persons Belonging to National or Ethnic, Religious and Linguistic Minorities, the annual UN Forum on Minority Issues, and the Minority Fellowship Programme of the High Commissioner for Human Rights. At the same time, she pointed out that the participation of minorities at the Forum remains difficult due to the lack of funds to this effect. Ms. Grine recommended the recognition of the Amazigh language and identity in Tunisia, the need for a legally binding treaty on minority rights with an associated monitoring mechanism, the establishment of a fund to enable minority representatives to participate in and to use the human rights mechanisms of the UN system, the establishment of a permanent forum concerned with minority issues related to economic development, environment, education, health and human rights. She also recommended the development of a fellowship programme for minorities by investing a group of experts in the work of the UN offices regarding the promotion and protection of minority rights and the continuation of regional forums and their integration into the work of the UN regional offices in co-operation with the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights.16 Ms. Lecia Brooks presented the mission of the Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC) to be a catalyst for racial justice in the South and beyond, working in partnership with communities to dismantle white supremacy, strengthen intersectional movements, and advance the human rights of all people. With respect to the topic of this thematic panel, she focused on positive examples, good practices and approaches the SPLC and its partners are utilizing to reduce the impact of hate and extremism on U.S. democracy. Ms. Brooks noted that political violence has had a long history in the United States and today targets minorities, abortion providers, and federal agents. She introduced a new SPLC initiative, called “Exposing Extremism in Elections”, that provides information about extremist-tied candidates, new or incumbent, running for public office at local, state and federal levels, as well as detailed information about the candidate, their election status and any apparent ties they have to extremist groups and/or ideologies, which is then further analyzed by SPLC’s Intelligence Project to describe the quality of the candidate’s association with extremism. Ms. Brook emphasized the importance of prevention and pre-radicalization, with which SPLC can spot warning signs and intervene earlier by supporting grassroots partners with tools and resources to empower Black and Brown people and make communities more resilient. She concluded by saying that good data and a powerful narrative for systemic change will empower a multiracial movement to push for systemic remedies through policy change, legislation and structural reforms.17 Mr. Hani Anouti presented the case study of Lebanon as a model for minority protection, inclusion, utmost freedom, fair, equal and proportional representations based on a power sharing agreement on one hand and the historical coexistence among these groups on the other. More specifically, he pointed to the composition at the political level, where the political system guarantees the equal and proportional representations of sects based on equal division between Muslims and Christians (power sharing), the economic level where there is no discrimination against any sect, all sects have their own businesses at national level and operate freely (without advantage given to one sect over another in laws, practices, or traditions) and the religious and cultural levels, where all sects can freely practice their faith 16 17 The integral version of the statement of Ms. Nouha Grine can be consulted here. The integral version of the statement of Ms. Lecia Brooks can be consulted here. 10