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94. Predicting and preventing violence must not remain an academic exercise.
Post-violence analysis has helped to develop indicators and improve the
potential to raise alarms and trigger early warning mechanisms; however,
analysis conducted after violence has begun means that the action taken is often
too little and too late. The lessons of past atrocities must be put into practice
when the warning signs are clear and, even when they are not, States must
become more capable of responding to them.
95. The comprehensive implementation of minority rights, non-discrimination
and equality standards constitutes an important foundation for the prevention
of violence against minority communities and helps to establish the cond itions
for stability and harmonious relations among population groups. States should
implement fully the Declaration on the Rights of Persons Belonging to National
or Ethnic, Religious and Linguistic Minorities and other regional and
international standards.
96. Mechanisms to ensure dialogue, consultation and participation, the
fundamental principles of minority rights, should be established to assist States
in understanding the situations of minorities, their issues and concerns. Where
violence has previously taken place, such mechanisms are particularly essential,
including in post-conflict and post-violence reconciliation and peacebuilding
processes.
97. Establishing institutions for the protection of minority rights and ensuring
attention to minority rights within existing national and human rights
institutions are essential violence prevention measures. Such institutional
attention facilitates early warning and early response and the establishment of
the appropriate policy frameworks and violence prevention strategies that are
essential to the prevention of violence.
98. The Special Rapporteur considers that violence against minorities must
constitute a high priority for States, regional bodies and the international
community, as well as civil society. She notes that the seventh session of the
Forum on Minority Issues, to be held in Geneva on 25 and 26 November 2014,
will be dedicated to this issue and will provide an appropriate venue for
stakeholders, including minorities, Member States, regional bodies, United
Nations bodies and mechanisms, specialized agencies and civil society, to hold a
dialogue on the subject and produce recommendations for presentation to the
Human Rights Council.
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