Legal assistance should be made available to prisoners in a language they understand, and preferably in their language. All prisoners, including minority prisoners, should be allowed to observe the tenets of their religion, including dietary requirements. Their culture and, where relevant, their language should not be belittled, and they should be allowed to communicate with their families in their language. Symbols that are offensive to minorities and can provoke tensions with other groups should be eliminated (see Recommendation 3). Special vocational programmes should be designed for minority prisoners, including minority women, to support their rehabilitation and enhance their self-sufficiency. Care should be taken to make sure that minority prisoners are incarcerated in facilities and prison areas where they will not be at risk because of their status as minorities, and close to their communities. Consideration should be given to allow minority prisoners to serve their sentence in areas where national minorities are concentrated geographically. 10. States should, as a matter of urgency, provide effective redress to persons belonging to national minorities who have suffered serious human rights violations as a result of inter-ethnic conflict. Communal conflicts have a deep and long-lasting impact on how the State is perceived by minority communities, on relations between minority communities and the majority and on the individuals affected by the conflict. Separation between the majority and minority communities, often a by-product of inter-ethnic conflict, divides societies and creates an environment where negative stereotypes and competing narratives can develop. Claims and grievances left over from the conflict, including with regard to actions by State institutions, can leave minority communities feeling wronged, marginalized and systematically discriminated against. Human rights violations committed against individuals, including persons belonging to national minorities, often invite retaliation and further violence. If these tensions and crimes are left unaddressed, they are likely to foster resentment on the part of victims, entrench divisions between communities and lead to another cycle of conflict, violence and possibly mass atrocities. Societies that have experienced conflict and serious human rights violations involving national minorities need to find ways to deal with the past so they can build a future in which all communities, including national minorities, can coexist peacefully. States should therefore and as a matter of urgency provide redress to victims and, where The Graz Recommendations on Access to Justice and National Minorities 37