Regional Group Analysis
This section looks at those countries that received most recommendations in their respective Regional Groups, which indicates that they have the most to do concerning minority issues according to the Member States. In the African and GRULAC region, it means minimum 5, in Asia minimum 10, in EEG minimum 20 and in WEOG minimum 15 recommendations. This section is intended to reflect the broad range of various aspects of concerns about minorities in general or certain minority groups in the given country.
Countries are highlighted in bold. Recommendations are grouped as general, specific, accepted and noted and are highlighted with underline to make it easier to have an overview of these categories. Recommendations are cited in most cases in full. If there was a list of vulnerable groups which included minorities, it is referred to as minorities
“and others” to indicate that there were other groups in concern too. It also specifies the recommending State to allow the reader to take into consideration potential geopolitical factors.
Africa
Member States in the African region received 74 recommendations in total. Most recommendations were received by Egypt (6), Namibia (5), Nigeria (8), Sudan (5) and Tanzania (6). Many countries received only one (Algeria, Angola, Benin, Burundi, Cameroon, Central African Republic, Ghana, Somalia, South Africa, Swaziland, Togo).
Egypt
Egypt received 6 recommendations, accepted 5 and noted 1.
It accepted to apply national legislation to individuals without discrimination based on their belonging to a religious minority (from Switzerland), to guarantee freedom of religion and belief to all groups and minorities, including in relevant legislation, without discrimination (from Finland), and to increase efforts to end discrimination and violence against religious minorities and prosecute those involved in incitement to religious hatred and violence (from Austria). It accepted to expedite the provision of all official documents, particularly identity documents to all members of its Baha'i community and redress laws and government practices that discriminate against members of religious minorities, and in particular urgently pass a unified law that makes construction and repair requirements equal for the places of worship of all religious groups (from the United States).
It noted to strengthen the protection of minorities and ensure an end to impunity in this context (Finland).
Namibia
Namibia received 5 recommendations, accepted 4 and noted 1.
It accepted: to adopt measures to ensure that persons who only speak non-‐official languages used widely by the population are not denied access to public services (from Austria and Spain); to ensure access to education, employment, health care and other basic services for the members of all ethnic communities, including the San and Himba communities (from Slovenia); and to strengthen measures to end discrimination, exclusion and marginalization of indigenous groups and minorities, in particular the San people (from Austria).
It noted to guarantee non-‐discrimination against persons belonging to minorities (from Spain).
Nigeria
Nigeria received 8 recommendations and accepted all.
It accepted: to end discrimination against ethnic minorities to ensure that non-‐Muslims are not subjected to Sharia law and are able to practice their own religion without hindrance (from Denmark); to expand programmes of education on religious tolerance in schools and monitor and protect the rights of religious minorities-‐promotion of the culture of religious tolerance should become the priority of the Federal, State and Local Governments (from Poland); to address the cultural and economic situation of ethnic minorities (from Germany); and to take steps to ensure an adequate political
participation of ethnic minority groups as well as measures to effectively prevent the loss of land, property and resources of ethnic minority groups through, i.e. confiscation (from Germany) and to ensure the political and social-‐economic rights of minority groups in Niger Delta, and that consultations in this regard are undertaken with these minority groups (from the Netherlands). Nigeria accepted to regulate minority and indigenous rights on the constitutional and legislative level, to establish a National Minorities Commission and to set up a national policy for the promotion and protection of minority languages (from Slovenia); to take further steps to address discrimination against minority and vulnerable groups including reviewing issues surrounding the terms indigene-‐indigenous and taking action to discourage politicians from using religious, ethnic or settler indigene division for political ends (from the United Kingdom); and that within the framework of its national Inter-‐Religious Council and the Institute for Peace
and Conflict, to continue its commendable efforts in promoting the interethnic, inter-‐
communal and inter-‐religious harmony (from Botswana).
Sudan
Sudan received 5 recommendations and accepted all.
It accepted: to incorporate robust provisions for the protection of human rights in the new Constitution, including articles on the prevention of discrimination and protection of minorities (from Canada), to draft the Constitution in an inclusive process with the participation of civil society, women and minorities, to ensure to include a catalogue of human rights, in particular the freedom of speech and assembly, and to take the multiethnic and multireligious background of their population into account (from Austria). It accepted to clearly voice its intention to guarantee the protection of ethnic and religious minorities and formalize post-‐referendum agreements on citizenship rights which will safeguard civil, political, economic, social and cultural rights on an equal footing as citizens (from Finland) and to foresee measures that would guarantee the right to the freedom of religions to groups that will become minorities after the birth of the new State, namely non-‐Muslims in Sudan (from Somalia and from Djibouti).
Tanzania
Tanzania received 6 recommendations and accepted all. With one exception, they were all made regarding persons with albinism8.
It accepted to continue to work towards protecting and promoting the rights of
marginalized and vulnerable population (from Nepal). It accepted to strengthen efforts to ensure full and complete protection and the protection of the rights of all peoples with Albinism (from Namibia and Djibouti) and to consider strengthening efforts to put a halt to incidents of killings of persons with albinism (from Brazil). It accepted to launch a nationwide education and human rights awareness campaign to prevent stigmatization of persons with albinism to ensure their security and facilitate their equal access to education and employment (from Canada and Uganda).
8 While the Special Rapporteur is on the view that persons with albinism do not constitute a minority group according to the UN Declaration on the Rights of People belonging to National or Ethnic, Religious and Linguistic Minorities, given their similar experience of exclusion, marginalization and discrimination to racial minorities and that these recommendations are currently labelled under ”minorities” in the UPR-‐
Info database, the Special Rapporteur decided to include these recommendations to the analysis too.
Asia
Member States in the Asian region received 169 recommendations in total. Most were received by China (11), Iran (17), Iraq (11), Kyrgyzstan (10), Myanmar (20), Nepal (13) and Viet Nam (14).
China
China received 11 recommendations, accepted 3 and noted 8.
The ones accepted were: to adopt further measures to ensure universal access to health and education and other welfare for minority regions (from New Zealand); to continue its efforts to further ensure ethnic minorities the full range of human rights including cultural rights (from Japan); and to make more widely available to the world its
experience in combining a strong state with ethnic regional autonomy (from Sri Lanka).
It has noted the rest: to strengthen the protection of ethnic minorities' religious, civil, socio-‐economic and political rights (from Australia); to resume the dialogue in Tibet (from New Zealand); to allow ethnic minorities to fully exercise their human rights, to preserve their cultural identity and to ensure their participation in decision-‐making (from Austria); to grant greater access to Tibetan areas for OHCHR and other United Nations bodies, as well as diplomats and the international media (from the United Kingdom); to simplify requirements for official approval of religious practices in order to allow more individuals to exercise their freedom of religion and belief and to better respect the religious rights of minorities (from Italy);to guarantee all citizens of China, including its minority communities and religions, the exercise of religious freedom, freedom of belief and the freedom of worshipping in private (from Germany); to respect the fundamental rights of ethnic minorities in Xinjiang and Tibet, notably freedom of religion and movement and to protect the culture and language of national minorities, including Tibetans and Uyghurs (from Switzerland and Czech Republic).
Iran
Iran received 17 recommendations, accepted 8 and noted 9.
There were 4 accepted recommendations generally addressing the situation of
minorities, these included: to continue its policy of promoting and protecting all rights of the members of recognized religious minorities, create opportunities to preserve their identities and further ensure their political representation and promote their greater involvement in the planning and implementation of various projects aimed at providing financial assistance for their educational and cultural needs and share its good practices regarding the protection of the cultural heritage of members of traditional
minorities (from Armenia); to guarantee the protection of the civil and political rights of all, particularly dissidents and members of minority groups (from Chile); and take all measures necessary to ensure the protection of religious minorities, including
implementing the recommendations on adequate housing put forward by the Special Rapporteur after his visit in 2006 (from Denmark).
There were 4 other accepted recommendations regarding the situation of Bahá’ís in particular as well, which were: to ensure that the trials of seven Baha'is are fair and transparent and conducted in accordance with international standards, and that Iran amend all legislation that discriminates against minority groups (from Australia); to extend the rights guaranteed in Iranian legislation to all religious groups, including the Baha'i community (from Brazil); to fully respect the rights of the adherents of the Baha'i faith and to judicially prosecute those inciting hatred against them in religious
environments, the media and the Internet (from Luxembourg); and to respect freedom of religion, and assure a fair and transparent trial for members of the Baha'i faith, in full compliance with the commitments undertaken as a State party to the implementation ICCPR and other human rights instruments (from Romania).
Iran has noted the rest, which were all about to eliminate discrimination, harassment, repression or intolerance against minorities (from Czech Republic, Israel, France, Germany, Mexico, Slovenia, Luxembourg, Canada, Austria), 6 of them referred to the Bahá’ís in particular as well.
Kyrgyzstan
Kyrgyzstan received 10 recommendations and accepted all.
It accepted: to establish a national preventive mechanism that would constitutionally-‐
institutionally guarantee the rights of all people, particularly the rights of minorities (from Afghanistan, China, Tajikistan); to ensure full respect for minority rights in the new Constitution (Austria); and to review compliance of national legislation with ICCPR provisions (from Czech Republic). It has also accepted; to include minority communities in the process of constitution-‐making and the formulation of the Electoral Code; to take inclusive and longer-‐term measures with respect to linguistic policy, education and participation in decision-‐making for minorities; to publicly condemn and investigate anti-‐minority attacks by authorities and bring the perpetrators to justice; and to draw upon the expertise of the regional organizations (from Norway). It accepted to continue its efforts to preserve the nation's ethnic diversity and promote its cultural heritage (from Pakistan).
Myanmar
Myanmar received 20 recommendations, accepted 6 and noted 14.
The accepted ones included: to continue cooperation with human rights mechanisms and the international community in promoting and safeguarding the rights of
multiethnic people in Myanmar (from Laos); to ensure that ethnic and religious minorities are granted fundamental rights and end discrimination against persons belonging to these minorities (from Slovenia); to continue its efforts to engage with various ethnic groups and address their humanitarian and socio-‐economic needs as an integral part of its democratization and reconciliation process (from Thailand); to ensure that ethnic minorities are granted fundamental rights and are enabled to enjoy their culture, religion and their language freely and without any form of discrimination (Poland); and to solve long-‐standing conflicts between the Government and ethnic groups in a peaceful manner (from Czech Republic). It accepted to further strengthen the promotion and protection of the human rights of the Myanmar people and the ethnic groups in Northern Rakhine State (from Bangladesh).
The ones noted were recommendations to take appropriate measures and immediate steps to end de facto and de jure discrimination, violence, forced assimilation,
persecution (from Pakistan, Austria, Italy, France, United States) and to investigate and punish all cases of intimidation, harassment, persecution, torture and forced
disappearance against minorities (from Uruguay). Some recommendations addressed certain minority groups or territories: to ensure full protection of civilians in conflict areas and to prevent such conflicts in the future by the creation of a democratic environment (from Czech Republic), to exert more efforts to promote and protect the rights of Muslim minorities (from Jordan); to modify the Citizenship Law of 1982 to ensure all minorities equal rights as citizens and remove all restrictions imposed on the Muslim minority in Rakhine State (from Switzerland); to impede the access to
humanitarian aid in the regions where persecuted and discriminated ethnic minorities live (from France); to grant full citizenship rights to Rohingyas and end sexual violence committed against ethnic minority women (from the United States); and to allow access for international organizations to ethnic minority areas (Norway).
Three noted recommendations referred to political participation: to end harassment, religious discrimination, arbitrary arrest, torture, and imprisonment of peaceful political activities by ethnic minorities (from Sweden); to allow full participation by all ethnic and democratic groups, including the National League for Democracy and Aung San Suu Kyi, in the political life of the country, allowing the start of a genuine process of national reconciliation (from the United Kingdom); and to ensure the free participation of representatives of all political parties, including the National League of Democracy as well as other non parliamentary political parties, representatives of ethnic groups and other relevant stakeholders across society in an inclusive political process (from the Czech Republic).
Nepal
Nepal received 13 recommendations and accepted all.
Generally it accepted: to ensure full participation of ethnic groups and castes in the Constitution-‐making process, in particular in the Constituent Assembly (from Poland); to do all that is necessary to accelerate the drawing up of the various legal texts to reaffirm and reinforce the equality between all ethnic, cultural and linguistic components of Nepali society (from Algeria); to take more effective measures to increase the involvement of the indigenous peoples, minorities and vulnerable groups in the civil service, law enforcement agencies and local authorities (from Malaysia); and to take further steps to eliminate discrimination against vulnerable or marginalized groups, including on the basis of gender or caste, by enacting laws to criminalize all forms of discrimination (from the United Kingdom).
The rest addressed the situation of Dalits in particular too: to continue promoting the work of the National Commissions for Women and for Dalit, through the reinforcement of resources that allows them to work in an efficient manner and to effectively realize their mandate (from Bolivia and Slovenia); to improve food safety of vulnerable groups, particularly Dalits, Muslims and others (from Hungary); to ensure that all girls, Dalit children and children belonging to ethnic minorities have equal access to quality education (from Finland); to take the necessary legal and policy measures to end discrimination, including of women, children and Dalits (from the Netherlands); to review and adopt relevant legislation and policies, including bills related to caste-‐based discrimination, the Women's Commission, the Dalit Commission, to ensure full
compliance with international human rights standards (from Norway); to formulate effective strategies and programmes in order to provide employment and income-‐
generating opportunities for the population, in particular, the rural population, Dalits and ethnic minorities (from Malaysia); and to pay special attention to helping Dalit children, girls, and children belonging to ethnic minorities to complete their education cycle, and to ensure their employment opportunities after education in order to enable them to claim their rights and work as agents of change for their communities (from Finland).
Viet Nam
Viet Nam received 14 recommendations, accepted 13 and noted 1.
It accepted general recommendations such as: to give priority and pay special attention to the problems faced by different minority groups, in particular their student
communities (from Pakistan); to continue to help ethnic groups to increase awareness
of their rights and responsibilities so that they can improve their living conditions and better enjoy their rights (from China); to continue to pay special attention to the disadvantaged sections of the society, in particular ethnic minorities and persons with disabilities, so as to ensure their fuller participation in the socio-‐political life of the country (from India); and to continue to make further efforts to advance the human rights of socially vulnerable people, including ethnic minorities and others (from Japan).
The other accepted recommendations referred to educational, health, economic, cultural or language rights in particular: to adopt various measures for prevention and early diagnosis of transmissible diseases and pandemics, notably HIV-‐AIDS, by giving priority to vulnerable groups, particularly national minorities and others (from Benin); to take supplementary measures to support access of minority children to education by helping them maintain and develop their traditions and languages (from Morocco); to further increase the use of ethnic languages in schools and the mass media (from the Philippines); to continue its efforts in poverty reduction paying particular attention, inter alia, to vulnerable groups such as ethnic minorities and others (from Azerbaijan);
to continue to take measures to provide education and health care, especially in
mountainous areas and for ethnic minorities and with their involvement (from Cuba); to continue its efforts to preserve the languages and culture of ethnic minorities (from India and Nepal); to continue efforts to inform the wider society about the laws
concerned and about the rights of women in general, and widely use the mass media to raise awareness of gender equality and publish the appropriate documents in ethnic minority language (from the Russian Federation); and to continue the momentum on the provision of quality goods and services, especially in education and health and in the disadvantaged areas that are difficult to access and those with a high preponderance of minorities (from Zimbabwe).
The only recommendation noted was to take further measures to prevent violence and discrimination against ethnic minorities (from Sweden).
Eastern European Group
Most recommendations were received by the Eastern European Group (368). Countries that received most recommendations were the following: Bulgaria (28), Croatia (29), Georgia (21), Hungary (38), Lithuania (20), and Slovakia (50).
Bulgaria
Bulgaria received 28 recommendations, accepted 23 and noted 5.
Accepted general recommendations were: to adopt and implement firmly all necessary measures to improve and ensure respect of the rights of people belonging to minorities (from Switzerland); to redouble efforts for the effective implementation of criminal provisions relating to acts of ethnic discrimination against persons belonging to minority groups (from Mexico); to take more resolute action to prevent and punish perpetrators of racially motivated acts and propaganda that targeted ethnic minorities and foreigners (from Malaysia); to develop effective measures to overcome continuing discriminatory patterns against ethnic minorities and others through education and training (from Spain); to evaluate the need for tuition in a special school on the basis of the child's personal characteristics, not on his or her ethnicity (from Finland); and to fully respect all international obligations by accepting the legally binding United Nations documents and by respecting the decisions of the other United Nations bodies and other
organizations at the national level in regard to minority rights (from Macedonia FYR).
One specific recommendation was on religious minorities: to take necessary measures to ensure that local authorities respect the religious freedom of minority religious groups and treat all religious groups equally (from the United States). Another specific recommendation was to promote the identity of the Armenian minority by further
One specific recommendation was on religious minorities: to take necessary measures to ensure that local authorities respect the religious freedom of minority religious groups and treat all religious groups equally (from the United States). Another specific recommendation was to promote the identity of the Armenian minority by further