HCNM keynote speech Geneva, 24 November 2015 Policing in multi-ethnic societies Ladies and gentlemen, The OSCE High Commissioner on National Minorities is a conflict prevention agency that detects – at the earliest possible stage - relations between or among population groups either within or across the borders of the 57 OSCE participating states that can lead to actual conflict. When we detect such a situation, we attempt to resolve it or at least mediate between the parties by means of quiet diplomacy and confidentiality. This work has led us to publish a number of thematic recommendations and guidelines over the more than 20 years of the institution’s existence. These publications describe our key concepts. I will in the next minutes describe one of these, related to minorities within the criminal justice system.

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