A/HRC/55/51
and Transfer of Anti-Personnel Mines and on Their Destruction and the Rome Statute of the
International Criminal Court. With such a perspective in mind, the Special Rapporteur
pledges his readiness to discuss strategies to develop a stronger legal framework for minority
rights and to recommence treaty drafting as a priority if the opportunity arises during the
tenure of his mandate. However, and unfortunately, the appetence of the international
community to adopt new multilateral treaties is not as strong today as it was in the 1990s.
For the time being, the Special Rapporteur notes that drafting, negotiating and adopting a
treaty has to be done with States as the main partners. Therefore, except if a strong demand
were to arise in response to the present paragraph from a significant number of States
representing different regional groups in the Human Rights Council, the Special Rapporteur
will not invest time and effort on the preparation of a global convention on the rights of
minorities. He proposes to pursue another path to mainstream minority issues in the agenda
of the United Nations.
46.
New tools and practices have emerged, favouring new dynamics in the international
community, such as: Agenda 21, a plan of action adopted by the United Nations Conference
on Environment and Development; the Millennium Development Goals; and the
2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development.33 As noted by the former Special Rapporteur34
and other academics,35 minority issues are not explicitly addressed as such in the Sustainable
Development Goals. The term of office of the current Special Rapporteur will come to an
end in 2029. By then, the post-2030 agenda drafting process will be well advanced.
Therefore, the Special Rapporteur will make strenuous efforts to ensure that minority issues
are included in the post-2030 agenda.
47.
The third priority of the Special Rapporteur will be to consolidate the forums in which
minority voices are heard. Three objectives will be pursued in that respect. First, the regional
minority forums, an initiative launched by the previous Special Rapporteur, appear an
excellent means to voice the concerns of minorities; the continuation of such an initiative
raises great expectations. Such regional forums ensure the participation of persons belonging
to minorities who, for different reasons, find it difficult – if not impossible – to attend the
Geneva-based Forum on Minority Issues. It gives such persons and their representative
organizations access to an interactive platform to share their experiences on minority issues
and their need for support. The Special Rapporteur is therefore committed to continue
developing such regional forums. A link between the debates of the regional forums and
those of the Forum on Minority Issues will also be developed. However, given the financial
and other restraints, organizing a regional forum every year in every region seems beyond
the capacity of the mandate. Ideally, the organization of two regional forums a year, on a
rotating basis (so each regional forum would take place every two or (more likely) three
years), should allow the Special Rapporteur to participate in each regional forum. Naturally,
some financial resources will be necessary to organize such regional forums and the Special
Rapporteur will be actively looking for voluntary contributions to the mandate in order to be
able to implement such a programme. The country in which the regional forum is organized
will also be called upon to contribute, financially or in-kind, to the organizational costs of the
regional forum.
48.
Moreover, taking into consideration the success of the Forum on Minority Issues, the
Special Rapporteur calls for a one-day extension of its duration. That will mean three days
instead of two; this proposal is a tentative response to the level of frustration observed as
regards the very scarce time allocated to interventions – both to those of minority advocates
as well as to those of States. The situation calls for measures to be taken and such a modest
proposal is a necessary step.
49.
Fourth, the Special Rapporteur will try, as far as possible, to coordinate and cooperate
with other human rights mechanisms that are relevant to the protection of persons belonging
to minorities. As pointed out by the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights
during the presentation of his annual report to the Human Rights Council in 2022, the
33
34
35
12
For the significance and relevance for the international community of such tools, see Halil Göksan,
“Towards global law of sustainable development: learning from the Sustainable Development Goals”,
PhD dissertation, University of Geneva, 2020.
See A/76/162.
See, for example, Inga T. Winkler and Carmel Williams, eds., The Sustainable Development Goals and
Human Rights: A Critical Early Review (London, Routledge, 2018).
GE.24-00944