From: hrcoord@igc.apc.org (Human Rights Coordinator)
Newsgroups: soc.rights.human
Subject: MINORITIES: Too late, a declaration
Date: 20 Dec 92 15:21:00 GMT
Nf-ID: #N:cdp:1476700901:000:6762
Nf-From: cdp.UUCP!hrcoord    Dec 20 07:21:00 1992


From: Human Rights Coordinator <hrcoord>
Subject: MINORITIES: Too late, a declaration

/* Written 12:03 am  Dec 20, 1992 by newsdesk@igc.apc.org in
igc:ips.englibrary */ Copyright Inter Press Service 1992, all
rights reserved.  Permission to re- print within 7 days of
original date only with permission from 'newsdesk'.

Title: MINORITIES: Too late, a declaration of minority rights

an inter press service feature

by candy gourlay

london, dec 17 (ips) -- ironically, it was yugoslavia that in 1978
produced the blueprint for its own salvation.

conscious of the tensions among its serb, croat and bosnian
populations, the former yugoslav state authored the first draft of
a united nations declaration on the rights of minorities, the
first instrument in the u.n.'s history ever to offer protection to
minorities.

but the declaration's signing this week by the u.n. general
assembly has come too late to prevent yugoslavia's disintegration
into a chaos tragically dominated by bloody ''ethnic cleansing''
to redraw borders on ethnic lines.

''the declaration has until now been resisted by several countries
who saw it as a threat to territorial integrity,'' says a
statement from the london-based minority rights group (mrg), which
has for years lobbied to raise international awareness of the
plight of minority groups.

''however, the majority of countries have recognised the need to
address minority issues before they become a threat and have
accepted the new instrument as a framework for political
dialogue.''

''i think the most important result of this whole process is the
understanding that by securing minority rights, you defuse
tensions between communities,'' says christine bloch, head of the
mrg's advocacy group.

the declaration's signing becomes all the more poignant in the
light of a wave of ethnic violence currently engulfing europe --
from neo-nazi skinheads attacking asylum seekers in germany to an
emergence of anti-semitic feeling in eastern european states.

yet resistance to the declaration was led by the very western
states now poised on the brink of a politically and militarily
expensive intervention in the conflict in former yugoslavia.

the western military alliance nato (north atlantic treaty
organisation) this week will be refining battle plans designed to
halt the spread of fighting in the troubled balkan states.

even the united nations -- through its secretary-general boutros
boutros-ghali -- is exerting pressure on the west to overcome
months of political inertia to force peace on the warring
parties.

minorities: too late, a declaration of minority rights(2)

the change of heart happened with the slow realisation among
europe's richest nations that the conflict -- so far contained
within the bounds of the newly formed states of bosnia-
hercegovina, croatia and serbia, could well spill over to the as
yet unrecognised neighboring state of macedonia, where the ethnic
albanian minority are in terror of more ''ethnic cleansing'' by
serbians.

''the worst may be still to come,'' warns jonathan eyal, the
director of studies at the royal united services institute in
london. ''if russia ultimately enforces its claim to defend its
kinsmen in former soviet republics, yugoslavia's war will seem
mere child's play.''

in a recent article for the independent newspaper, eyal criticises
the west's paralysis in the face of ethnic turbulence for
''promoting precisely what everyone sought to avoid''.

''borders are melting down and east european governments which
tried to swim against the nationalist wave -- such as hungary's
and czechoslovakia's -- are now engulfed by ethnic froth,'' eyal
writes.

''there is a way out of the dilemma. it does not require much
cash, or the creation of new institutions. all it needs is a
vision and political will, admittedly commodities in short supply
today.''

key to this vision is the state's willingness to accord special
group rights to minorities in order to safeguard their existence.

but though there is a way, there is little will among leading
european countries to enforce such safeguards.

''no, no, it is quite clear that political will does not exist in
the west to implement minority rights,'' says bloch. ''they are
aware on the one hand that something has to be done for minority
issues. on the other hand, they are very much afraid because they
see it as a threat to the whole system.''

a newly emergent eastern europe, free from the restrictive
parameters of the cold war, is well represented in the list of
sponsoring states for the new declaration on minority rights --
sponsors include the czech and slovak federal republic, greece,
hungary, poland and the russian federation.

''eastern europe is more open because they are actually facing the
problems on their own doorstep. they are aware of the problems and
they know that they will have to deal with the problems,'' says
bloch.

''so is the west, but they will only deal with them in the areas
where they see the major issues coming up. the west can see that
in creating mechanisms to preserve minority rights in eastern
europe, they will have to create the same mechanisms at home.''

minorities: too late, a declaration of minority rights(3-e)

thus the way forward has been frustratingly slow. the u.n.
declaration, drafted in 1978, is finally tabled before the general
assembly 14 years later.

the csce (conference on security and co-operation in europe) first
mentions national minorities in the helsinki final act of 1975,
but waits 17 years before appointing its first high commissioner
on national minorities -- the former dutch foreign minister max
van der stoel, appointed this week.

the u.n.'s new instrument for minority rights, as a mere
declaration, has no force as law in itself. but rights campaigners
hope that, like the u.n. declaration on human rights of 1968, the
new declaration on minority rights will be empowered by its use
and application.

''the declaration is not a legally binding document, which then
makes it a political statement rather than anything else,''
explains bloch, ''but because the (various u.n. committees) have
adopted it by consensus, we can expect unanimous approval in the
plenary session  as well -- and if everybody in the u.n. agrees to
its principles, it can be seen as legally binding.''

still, the path to full minority rights is somehow littered with
more obstacles for the west than for the east.

''you've got the united kingdom and its problem with northern
ireland; you've got germany and its migrant communities; you've
got the french and their refusal to accept that france has any
national minorities,'' says bloch. ''they are moving slowly
towards accepting minority rights, but they are not ready.''
(end/ips/hr/cg/mf/92)