A/74/160 12. The largest number of communications (27) dealt with cases pertaining to ethnic minorities, 20 communication concerned religious minorities and 4 communications addressed issues pertaining to the rights of linguistic minoritie s. They addressed human rights violations such as persecution and violence against persons belonging to minorities, as well as against minority human rights defenders, arbitrary detention and torture, restrictions and limitations on religious freedoms and the discriminatory application of blasphemy laws, excessive use of force by law enforcement, forced evictions, discrimination in the area of education and the impact of development projects and of business activities on the human rights of minorities. F. Awareness-raising and other activities 13. On 27 February 2019, the Special Rapporteur gave a public seminar on the United Nations special procedures and his mandate at the invitation of the Centre for Comparative and Public Law of the University of Hong Kong. 14. On 2 March 2019, he addressed a conference on bilingual education as a minority issue, organized in Komotini, Greece, by the Western Thrace Minority University Graduates Association, the Culture and Education Foundation of the Western Thrace Minority, the Federation of Western Thrace Turks in Europe and the Federal Union of European Nationalities. The conference focused on bilingualism for the Muslim minority in Greece and drew comparisons with approaches and practices from other parts of the world. On 18 March 2019, he was invited by the High Commission of Canada in Cameroon to participate in a panel on the occasion of the “Semaine de la Francophonie” and the “Journée internationale de la Francophonie”, in Yaoundé. The Special Rapporteur’s presentation focused on the implementation of the human rights of linguistic minorities as a contributing factor in achieving peace and stability. On 21 March 2019, the Special Rapporteur gave the keynote address on the evolution and status of minorities in international human rights law at the international conference commemorating the centennial anniversary of the State of Lebanon entitled “The communities of the State of Lebanon (1920–2020): reflections and perspectives”, organized by the Holy Spirit University of Kaslik and hosted by the Research Centre on Minorities in the Middle East in Jounieh, Lebanon. 15. On 2 April 2019, he participated as a guest speaker in a conference on “Human and minority rights in the European Union’s neighbourhood”, held at the European Parliament in Brussels, at the invitation of the its Committee on Culture and Education. He addressed the importance of acknowledging that minority rights were human rights, particularly when many minorities around the world were increasingly vulnerable and confronted by populist nationalism that could take the form of mounting intolerance, exclusion and discrimination. On 8 and 9 April 2019, he participated in and addressed a two-day workshop on inclusive education and the rights of linguistic minorities, organized by the Alliance of Iraqi Minorities, the Norwegian Centre for Holocaust and Minority Studies and its Minority Rights Network in Erbil, Iraq. The Special Rapporteur made opening remarks on the importance of recognizing the link between the human rights of minorities and the use of their languages in education. He also made a presentation on his mandate and on United Nations special procedures in general. 16. On 3 May 2019, he was a guest, along with the Coimisinéir Teanga (Language Commissioner) of Ireland, Rónán Ó Domhnaill, at a public seminar on “Education, the rights of linguistic minorities and the Irish Language: an international human rights perspective”, held at the National University of Ireland-Galway’s Irish Centre for Human Rights. On 6 and 7 May 2019, the Special Rapporteur convened the European Regional Forum on Education, Language and the Human Rights of Minorities at the European Parliament in Brussels. Some 170 participants from States, 6/19 19-11967