- the issue of lack of awareness of certain minority communities of their rights.
Ms Rita Izsák-Ndiaye, the United Nations Special Rapporteur on Minority Issues,
provided some concluding remarks, noting the prejudice and racism that are often the
underlying root causes that prevent criminal justice systems from effectively
guaranteeing the rights of minorities. Much needs to be done to improve policies and
regulations, to reach out to minorities with scholarships and affirmative action programs
to ultimately increase their representativeness in the criminal justice agencies, to collect
disaggregated data and study patterns of discrimination, and to encourage an objective
portrayal of minorities in the media. The Special Rapporteur highlighted the importance
of education from an early age about tolerance and respect between communities, to
create societies with a culture of listening and talking to each other, and ensuring that fear
does not distort our vision and leave us trapped in simplified narratives and
generalizations. It is vital to rebuild everyone’s trust and faith in each other and in
institutions.
Mr Joshua Castellino, Chairperson of the eighth session of the Forum on Minority
Issues, concluded the session. He acknowledged the many voices that have expressed the
challenges they face within the criminal justice system, often deploring how forces of law
have failed to protect their dignity and their worth, and have indeed sometimes been
complicit in the root causes of the suffering of such communities. He welcomed the
contribution of experts and noted the importance of implementation of existing standards
around the world. He also noted the voice of Member States, which have offered insights
from their practice, and their support for more robust and inclusive criminal justice
systems. He hoped the Forum would generate positive outcomes, starting with acceptance
by stakeholders and society of the need for change that includes all segments of a State’s
population. He also suggested that collaborative solutions to achieve this change might be
more likely to work than isolated ones.
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