1 Annex I PROPOSAL FOR A DRAFT GLOBAL CONVENTION ON THE RIGHTS OF MINORITIES Calls for stronger United Nations measures to improve the recognition and protection of the human rights of minorities in light of the deteriorating human rights situation for many minorities around the world have been consistent and frequent.1 This is particularly true specifically for the widespread and near unanimous call for a legally binding instrument. The UN Special Rapporteur on minority issues, Dr Fernand de Varennes, is therefore presenting a first attempt to formulate and present the possible shape and content of a global treaty on the rights of minorities, with contributions of many civil society actors and international organisation officials from worldwide.2 This is intended to serve as a document for reflection and possible mobilisation in light of the acknowledgment by the Secretary General at the UN General Assembly high-level event of 21 September 2022, that it is “past time we live up to the commitments made in… 1992… and that every Member State to take concrete steps to protect minorities and their identity.” This proposed draft convention is divided into three sections: (i) the main proposed draft convention; (ii) an optional protocol which provides further expanded, more detailed elaboration on the recognition and protection of the rights of minorities, and (iii) an implementation protocol on communications and reporting. The proposed draft convention and protocols are particularly inspired, amongst others, by the recommendations emanating from regional and UN Forums on minority issues since 2019, as well as from a large number of global and regional instruments from intergovernmental organisations and civil society.3 See online the regional and UN Forum recommendations at www.ohchr.org/en/special-procedures/sr-minorityissues/regional-forums-minority-issues and www.ohchr.org/en/hrc-subsidiary-bodies/minority-issues-forum 2 The Special Rapporteur wishes in particular to acknowledge the direct contributions of experts and minority representatives who gave generously of their time and insights in the content of the proposed draft, including Kwadwo APPIAGYEI-ATUA (Ghana), Associate Professor at the School of Law, University of Ghana; Veaceslav BALAN (Moldova), PhD candidate, Faculty of Law, University of Ottawa; Anna-Mária BÍRÓ (Ireland), Director of the Tom Lantos Institute; Lecia J. BROOKS (United States of America), Chief of Staff, Southern Poverty Law Center; Boriss CILEVIČS (Latvia) former chair of the Sub-Committee on the Rights of Minorities and rapporteur, Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe; Solomon DERSSO (Ethiopia), member, African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights; Rob DUNBAR (United Kingdom), Chair of Celtic Languages, Literature, History and Antiquities, University of Edinburgh; Silvio FERRARI (Italy), Life Honorary President of the International Consortium for Law and Religion Studies; Sajjad HASSAN (India), Convenor, South Asia Collective and Head of the South Asia Justice Campaign; Davyth HICKS (United Kingdom), Secretary General of the European Language Equality Network; Ali HÜSEYİNOĞLU (Greece), Associate Professor of International Relations, Vice Director of the Balkan Research Institute, Trakya University, Edirne; Dimitry KOCHENOV (Netherlands), Central European University Democracy Institute, Budapest; Elżbieta KUZBORSKAPACHA (Lithuania), Senior Legal Advisor to the OSCE High Commissioner on National Minorities; Corinne LENNOX (Canada), Co-Director, Human Rights Consortium, Institute of Commonwealth Studies, University of London; Farah MILHAR (Sri Lanka), Senior Lecturer, Center for Emergency and Development at Oxford Brookes University; Sitarah MOHAMMADI (Afghanistan), Deputy Chair, Asia Pacific Refugee Rights Network; John PACKER (Canada), Director of the Human Rights Research and Education Centre at the University of Ottawa; Kirk PERSON (United States of America), Senior Consultant, Literacy and Education, SIL International & University of Texas at Arlington; Sriprapha PETCHARAMESREE (Thailand), IHRP PhD Human Rights and Peace Studies (International Programme), Mahidol University; Mohammad SHAHABUDDIN (Bangladesh), Associate Head of School, Professor of International Law & Human Rights at the University of Birmingham; Iulius ROSTAS (ROMANIA) National School of Political Studies and Administration Bucharest; Murtaza SHAIK (United Kingdom); Sia SPILIOPOULOU ÅKERMARK (Finland), Director, Åland Peace Institute; Meena VARMA (India), Executive Director, International Dalit Solidarity Network; Loránt VINCZE (Romania), Member of the European Parliament, President of the Federal Union of European Nationalities; Rodrigo VITORINO SOUZA ALVES (Brazil), Professor, Faculty of Law, Universidade Federal de Uberlândia. 3 These sources include the Camden Principles, Rabat Plan of Action, Language Rights of Linguistic Minorities: A Practical Guide, numerous OSCE HCNM guidelines and recommendations, Framework Convention for the Protection of National Minorities, Council of Europe’s protocol on minority rights, European Charter on Regional or Minority Languages. Commonwealth of Independent States’ Convention on Ensuring the Rights of Persons Belonging to National Minorities, the Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, UN Declaration on the Rights of Persons Belonging to National or 1