Intervention of the APFF at the Forum on Minority Issues of the UN Human Rights Council Ge ne va, 25-26 Nove mbe r 2014 Madam President, The Association for the Promotion of French Culture in Flanders (APFF) would like to underline the fact that the only goals of its intervention are the respect of cultural rights and the minority status for the French-speaking minority in Flanders and that it has no political agenda. In the nineties, violent demonstrations took place in Flanders, in Ghent specifically, at conferences of Exploration du Monde which were organised in French. The purpose of the Flamingant extremists of the TAK (Taal Aktie Komitee) and the VVB (Vlaamse Volksbeweging) was, as they wrote, to « put a k nife to the throat of Exploration du Monde and to demand its withdrawal from Flanders ». During the demonstrations, resounding to the chants of « Franse ratten, rol uw matten ! » (French-speaking rats, get out !), several people were thrown to the ground and suffered injuries from glass shards. The date that will remain in everyone's mind is that of the 18 of October 1994. Over 250 extremists came with four ambulances and swore that they would not leave until they were full of victims. As Exploration du Monde was no longer able to ensure the safety of its staff and spectators, it had no option but to withdraw from Flanders. These events seriously upset the 310,000 francophones living in Flanders and, as a result, the number of cultural activities organised in French was significantly reduced, all the more so as the Flemish authorities seized the Arbitration Court to prohibit the French-speaking Community of Belgium from continuing to subsidise activities organised in French on Flemish soil. At the same time, Flanders announced that it would not financially support francophone associations. What is the situation twenty years on, as : 1) The Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe, in Recommendation 1492 (2001) listed Belgium among the countries that « have significant minorities which must be protected, and whose rights are not officially recognised » ; 2) In Resolution 1301 (2002), following the Nabholz report, the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe recognised the existence of a French-speaking minority in Flanders and recommended that Belgium ratify « without further delay » the Framework Convention for the Protection of National Minorities ; 3) During its Universal Periodic Review (UPR) of 2011, the United Nations recommended that Belgium ratify the Framework Convention for the Protection of National Minorities and sign the Charter on Regional or Minority Languages. It must be noted that nothing has changed. Belgium has still not ratified the Framework Convention of the Council of Europe for the Protection of National Minorities. This is all the more disturbing, if not unacceptable, that Belgium is chairing the Council of Europe for six months and claims to have placed human rights at the heart of its action. It is also worth noting that Belgium's position in relation to the UN recommendations on minorities is not clear. The truth is that Flanders will not acknowledge the French-speaking minority on its territory. It also stated once again in black and white, in its latest government agreement, that it will not ratify the Framework Convention for the Protection of National Minorities. In these circumstances, it comes as no surprise that Flamingant extremists continue to harass the francophones in Flanders as soon as they make a move, whether it be in the Flemish periphery of Brussels, in Renais/Ronse or in the Fourons/Voeren. This could one day lead to a tragedy. José Happart, a former unappointed1 bourgmestre, recently told the press : « I sometimes think , look ing back at the pictures, that we were luck y that there were no casualties in the Fourons/Voeren ». (continued overleaf)The leader of the Flemish nationalists, Bart De Wever – winner of the last elections with 31.88 % of the votes – will not diffuse the situation. Already in 2008, he declared : « There is not French-speak ing minority in Flanders, only immigrants who have to adapt ». His separatist party, the N-VA, is currently in the majority in the Federal Government and has never made any secret of its total opposition to any positive step towards the protection of national minorities in Belgium.