2 1 INTRODUCTION / BRIEF HISTORY OF MINORIT Y RIGHTS INTRODUCTION 2022 marks the 30th anniversary of the adoption of the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Persons Belonging to National or Ethnic, Religious and Linguistic Minorities (UNDM), which represents the most expansive elaboration of the rights of national or ethnic, religious, and linguistic minorities at the level of the United Nations. In conjunction with the 30th Anniversary of the UNDM, the Tom Lantos Institute developed this guide on the minority rights protection regime of the United Nations. The aim of the guide, which consists of this written material, short animated video clips, and PowerPoint presentations, is to provide minority representatives, their advocates, and others working in the field of minority rights a clear and concise overview of the norms and mechanisms of the United Nations used for the protection of the human rights of minorities. This guide was released in conjunction with other events marking the 30th anniversary of the UNDM, such as the 2022 Regional Forums on Minority Issues, and the 10th Global Minority Rights Summer School. BRIEF HISTORY OF MINORITY RIGHTS The modern conception of minority rights largely developed following the end of World War I, which marked the dissolution of many of the great empires of Europe and the consolidation of new states along ethnic and/or linguistic lines. The shifting borders of Europe meant that, while many new states had formed around a common ethno-linguistic identity, significant populations were cut off from their kin-states due to the often arbitrary drawing of new borders. This, in addition to economic and industrial advancements, as well as assimilationist policies by nation-states, meant that there was increasing pressure on ethnocultural minority groups to adopt majority languages and cultures. The League of Nations was established at the 1920 Paris Peace Conference that officially ended World War I. The League of Nations was the first intergovernmental organization tasked with maintaining world peace. Given the geopolitical landscape of the time, minority issues were of primary concern for the newly established League of Nations. Protection of the rights of minorities was seen as a way to reconfigure the liberal international order and create stability and security. As a condition for membership in the League of Nations, the new, defeated and enlarged states of Central and Eastern Europe established after the fall of the Austro-Hungarian, German, Russian and Ottoman empires were obliged to adopt minority treaties that would ensure the basic rights of minority groups living on the territory of the state. LEGAL FRAMEWORK These minority treaties generally included the rights to equality and non-discrimination; the right to citizenship; the right to private and public use of one’s own language; and the right to establish minority religious, cultural, and educational institutions. While the minority treaties were limited in terms of their scope of application, as they were primarily bilateral treaties between a handful of states and the League, and did not establish any universal application of the rights contained in them, they did serve as an important step in the establishment and recognition of the rights of minorities in international law.1 With the lead up to World War II and the ensuing atrocities committed before and during the War, the protections contained in the minority treaties were mostly ignored, and the League of Nations itself was dissolved in 1946. The United Nations was established to replace the League in 1945. Over the decades of its existence, the United Nations developed a number of l instruments establishing international human rights norms, including those governing the rights of minorities. The Charter of the United Nations (1945), the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (1948), the Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide (1948), the UNESCO Convention against Discrimination in Education (1960), the International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination (1965), the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (1966), and the Convention on the Rights of the Child (1989), are of particular significance for minorities. In 1992, the United Nations General Assembly adopted the fullest elaboration of the rights of minorities with the Declaration on the Rights of Persons Belonging to National or Ethnic, Linguistic, and Religious Minorities. This instrument, as well as the relevant provisions of the aforementioned conventions, will be discussed in more detail in the next section. LEGAL FRAMEWORK Early Development of Human Rights Norms related to Minorities The early human rights instruments of the United Nations do not mention minority rights specifically, however, they do include provisions relevant to minorities, which would establish a framework for the future elaboration of the rights of minorities. For instance, Article 1 United Nations Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights, Promoting and Protecting Minority Rights: A Guide for Advocates, Geneva and New York, 2012. 3