as a necessary step to design and implement effective violence preventive measures.
She explained why deficits in democracy and lack of good and inclusive governance
create the conditions under which violence may take place. She warned about the lack
of minorities represented in government positions, law enforcement and justice bodies
as factors leading to ignoring minority voices, concerns and early warning signs of
violence. She expressed particular concern regarding hate speech and incitement to
ethnic or religious hatred, including in the media and social media, as a factor
contributing to start and/or fuel violence against minorities. She then suggested key
measures necessary to adequately prevent violence, including full compliance with
international standards for equality, non-discrimination and minority rights, as well as
good and inclusive governance and dedicated institutional attention to minority issues.
She further focused on required protective measures and immediate security responses
when violence has broken-out, including the role of adequate, well equipped and
trained law enforcement personnel. She recalled Member States’ commitment to the
“Responsibility to Protect” principle, recalling that the State carries the primary
responsibility for protecting populations from atrocity crimes and that the international
and regional organizations have a significant role to play in assisting States to prevent
and respond to violence. In this context, she stated that the United Nations must do
better in its preventive role and response when violence breaks out. She emphasized
the vital role of civil society and minorities themselves in any initiative aimed at
countering violence and/or its recurrence, including in post-conflict scenarios. Lastly,
she called on all relevant stakeholders to intensify their efforts to adequately prevent
and stop violence against minorities wherever it exists and invited all participants to
elaborate further on the draft recommendations so that they can make a real
contribution to this purpose.
Statement by the Chair of the seventh session of the Forum on Minority Issues, Mr
Patrick Thornberry
Mr Thornberry extended a warm welcome to all participants and recalled that the essence
of the Forum resides in the opportunity to engage the widest range of stakeholders
capable of making constructive contributions to the topical issues at hand. He gave an
historical overview of how minorities and questions regarding their treatment have
entered the human rights language and how minority rights have continued to function
within the larger human rights framework to become a specific major concern of the
United Nations, nowadays expressed through dedicated instruments connected to the
multitude of human rights standards, instruments and procedures. He underlined that the
reasons for attention on minorities are not simply conceptual or abstract, but eminently
practical: because of their non-dominant situation, minorities are exposed to human rights
violations and different forms of oppression ranging from hate speech up to genocide. He
stressed that minorities evidence the diversity of the world’s cultures and languages and
invited to recognise the richness of experience that comes along diversity.
The Chair explained the rationale that informed the agenda of the Forum and invited
participants to develop and improve the content of the draft recommendations. He
described the format of the discussions and encouraged all participants to show respect
for others’ views while inviting them to exercise decorum.
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