The Working Group on Minorities: In Memoriam

Abstract: As the overall United Nations (UN) machinery embarks on its continuous road of reformation, more particularly as it relates to reforming its Human Rights System, this Thesis sets out to critically examine the effect of this process on one aspect of the latter System: international minority rights. And even more specifically in this regard, the primary focus is on the now-abolished (or as some say ''replaced'') Working Group on Minorities (WGM). Ever since the adoption of the first single instrument on minority rights, that is, the Declaration on the Rights of Persons Belonging to National or Ethnic, Religious and Linguistic Minorities (the ''Declaration'') in 1992, the establishment of the WGM in 1995 became the first and only minority rights focal point of the UN. The WGM had worked tirelessly in executing its specific mandate, more specifically to promote the implementation of the Declaration for a total of twelve (12) years. However during this period it has suffered, first a reduction of its mandate, and eventually total abolition. This Thesis is therefore a ''eulogy'' to the WGM. It sets out first to emphasize the importance of recognizing the rights of minorities and consequently according due and adequate protection to such rights. This study then proceeds to review the life and times of the WGM by offering a critical evaluation of its strengths, achievements and weaknesses. Moreover, the jurisprudence, considered during the tenure of the WGM, of four (4) treaty bodies are examined for any indication of whether or not, and to what extent, the rights of the Declaration and by extension the work of the WGM have/has been endorsed and promoted. Complementing this is also an examination of the latest reports of three (3) Special Rapporteurs with a similar view. Then later, as the UN Human Rights reform progresses, the mandate and work of the recently established Independent Expert on Minority Issues (IEMI) come into focus. The intention here is to examine its impact and relationship to the work of the WGM. This Thesis concludes by introducing the WGM's ''replacement'', the Forum on Minority Issues (Forum). The discussion proceeds along the line of examining the mandate of the new Forum and attempting to highlight possible setbacks, against the background of the WGM. The primary aim of this discourse is to offer encouragement and possible lessons to the Forum, from the experiences of the WGM. Quite noteworthy, as a golden thread throughout the Thesis, is that as much as it may seem that the international community is placing additional effort to promote and protect the rights of minorities, it is a sad paradox that the opposite may be true: the international community does not care sufficiently about the rights of minorities. It is contended herein that the very fact that there is just a ''Declaration'' and not a ''Convention'' on the rights of minorities should lead one to serious ponderings. Furthermore, the WGM was strategically placed at the very bottom of the hierarchy of the UN Human Rights machinery, and this was an inherent restriction to its effectiveness and efficiency. And as if that is not sufficient a revelation, the new Forum has no voice of its own: it seems to be a mere tool for the IEMI to execute his/her mandate. However, despite the foregoing, one should not lose hope. Maybe this is just the beginning of the creation of a strong international legal regime for the promotion and protection of international minority rights. Certainly, a strong system is one that has built on its failures and shortcomings. One could only therefore hope that the current regime on international minority rights is the foundation of a long and arduous process that would end with the dream ''strong system''.