Mr. Hoque emphasised that violence and atrocity crimes against minority, which often
turn into genocidal attacks, have deep rooted historical, social, economic and cultural
causes and stressed the importance that all stakeholders take them in due account. He
stressed the importance of culture, education, and memory in managing diversity and
preventing atrocities. He emphasised that the protection of minorities’ rights often creates
situations where communities live together but separately. He stressed that this is a
problem which needs to be addressed in order to protect diversity. Moreover, he focused
on the fact that communities have multiple identities and many aspects bind and bring
them together. To demonstrate this point he used the example of India. He underlined that
in post-conflict societies, memory has played an important role in upholding truth and
human suffering, which has strengthened the call for justice. He stressed the importance of
documentation of abuses and how preservation and presentation of the memory can
strengthen the process of healing broken societies. He stressed that it is vital we give
collective memory-builders a role to play in ensuring transitional justice and overcoming
the legacy of past violence.
Religious leader and Co-founder and President of the “Women Without Walls
Initiative”, Nigeria, Ms. Pastor Esther Ibanga
Pastor Ibanga started by comparing two definitions of the term “minority group”. She then
focused on an overview of the situation in Nigeria. She discussed the violence and atrocity
crimes targeted against minorities, especially in the Middle Nelt region of Nigeria. She
argued that this has continued largely because of a weak and faulty judicial system and has
resulted in a failure to hold perpetrators of atrocity crimes accountable, thus encouraging
impunity. She emphasised the work of her non-governmental organisation. The
organisation’s activities during the past few years include advocacy, organising peace
rallies, developmental projects, training mothers to detect signs of radicalization in their
sons, community policing, and mediation and reconciliation measures. She concluded by
asking the UN to intervene in preventing and addressing atrocity crimes and human rights
violations against minorities in Nigeria.
Aman Biradari Campaign, India, Mr Sajjad Hassan, Senior Fellow
Following an overview of the challenges faced in India, Mr. Hassan stressed the
importance of constructive engagement between state actors and civil society, including
those working for minority rights. He recommended three measures: enabling civil society
to monitor, track and document the effectiveness of relevant laws and programmes for
minorities; promoting networks and alliances of minorities; and building the capacity of
minority community groups. He discussed socio-economic deprivation and discrimination
and recommended measures to address them, including the adoption of laws guaranteeing
equal treatment and equal life chances to all citizens and the creation of greater awareness
about relevant laws among minority group. Finally, he recommended States to set targets
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