GREEK HELSINKI MONITOR (GHM)
MINORITY RIGHTS GROUP - GREECE (MRG-G)
Address: P.O. Box 60820, 15304 Glyka Nera
Telephone: (+3) 010.347.22.59. Fax: (+3) 010.601.87.60.
e-mail: office@greekhelsinki.gr website: www.greekhelsinki.gr
TOPIC: GHM CONTRIBUTION TO THE COUNCIL OF EUROPE’S NINTH MEETING OF GOVERNMENT OFFICES FOR NATIONAL MINORITIES,
IN VILNIUS (LITHUANIA) 25-26 APRIL 2002
Greek Helsinki Monitor (GHM) was one of the few NGOs invited to participate in the Council of Europe (CoE)’s Ninth Meeting of Government Offices for National Minorities, held in Vilnius, Lithuania, between 25-26 April 2002, and co-organized by the Lithuanian Presidency of the CoE. GHM represented there the Center of Documentation and Information on Minorities in Europe – Southeast Europe (CEDIME-SE), that had also participated in the similar Seventh and Eight Meetings (held in Riga, Latvia, in June 2000 and Strasbourg, France, in May 2001). This year, GHM represented as well the International Helsinki Federation (IHF).
It is recalled here that GHM and Minority Rights Group-Greece (MRG-G) have been actively involved in minority rights research and advocacy in the Balkans through their joint CEDIME-SE. CEDIME-SE, moreover, is a founding member of the Consortium of Minority Resources (COMIR), which has a European scope.
In the Vilnius meeting, GHM contributed with presentations in all three panel discussions: on recent developments in minority rights; on the Framework Convention on National Minorities (FCNM) and the related monitoring; and on minorities’ political participation and general anti-discrimination practices in CoE member countries. The respective contributions follow.
Recent developments in minority rights
GHM distributed at the meeting the joint GHM-MRG-G Statement to the 2001 OSCE Implementation Meeting’s Working Session on “National Minorities” (21 September 2001) on “Southern Balkans: A ‘Macedoine’ of Minority Problems” [http://www.greekhelsinki.gr/bhr/english/organizations/ghm/ghm_osce_21_09_01.doc] and the accompanying Written Recommendations submitted to the OSCE [http://www.greekhelsinki.gr/bhr/english/organizations/ghm/ghm_osce_rec_21_09_01.doc]. These documents reflected concerns about non-recognition (or, more exactly, non-acknowledgment of existence) of minorities in Albania, Bulgaria, Greece, Macedonia and Turkey; and about restrictions –in some of these countries- to the freedom of association and peaceful assembly.
In its oral presentation, GHM updated this document with more recent developments. It highlighted a more positive attitude towards Macedonians in Bulgaria and Bulgarians in Macedonia, as, in 2002, minority organizations were able to register and public activities were held without traditional police interference. It was also positive that a Greek appeals court overturned the guilty verdict against an Aromanian activist in the end of 2001, with a judgment that explicitly recognized the presence of minority languages in Greece, which, in turn, made possible the long overdue establishment of a Greek Member State Committee of the European Bureau for Lesser-Used Languages (EBLUL).
On the other hand, GHM regretted that Albania abolished the Ministry of Minorities that it had created earlier in 2001; and that a Greek appeals court confirmed the dissolution of a Turkish minority association (the “Turkish Union of Xanthi”).
At the same time, GHM welcomed the Opinion on Cyprus by CoE’s Advisory Committee (AC) on FCNM, which indicates that Cyprus should consider that members of officially recognized religious minorities prefer to be considered not merely as a religious group but as an ethnic one (the Maronites); or to be known with a name that better reflects their religious identity (Roman Catholics rather than “Latins” as they are officially called). Moreover, Cyprus should consider ways to abolish the constitutional obligation for these –and all other- minorities to declare their once and for all adherence either the Greek-Cypriot or the Turkish-Cypriot community. Finally, GHM is concerned that the Roma were not covered by the AC’s opinion, despite their long-standing presence and possibly their larger number than that of the other minorities, while their plight became widely known internationally since early 2001.
Furthermore, GHM stated that most national and international NGOs that work on minority rights would like to urge the governments of Andorra, Belgium, France, Georgia, Greece, Iceland, Latvia, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Portugal, and Turkey, to swiftly ratify and without reservations or restrictive declarations the FCNM; and the governments of all other countries to urge the aforementioned countries as well. Only then, throughout Europe, all minorities will enjoy the same rights and all states will be subjected to the same monitoring of the implementation of these rights. Currently, there is discrimination against some minorities that do not enjoy these rights, but also against most states which are subjected to the monitoring, from which few states escape. Along the same line, all states are urged to proceed with a swift ratification of Protocol 12 to the European Convention on Human Rights (currently ratified only by Georgia): only then, the declared commitment of the CoE states to combat discrimination in all its forms will be confirmed. Finally, all states that have been encouraged by the AC FCNM, ECRI, UN CERD, etc. to extend recognition to minorities not currently acknowledged as such are strongly requested to implement these recommendations.
Monitoring of the FCNM
GHM has suggested that the CoE adopts the practice of the UN Treaty Bodies to make public the questionnaires sent to the member states by the AC FCNM and the states’ answers to them. The current practice is to publish only the state reports, the AC’s opinions, the states’ comments on the opinions, and the Council of Minister’s recommendations. With the publication of the documents exchanged between the AC and the states, transparency will be increased, as well as the states’ minority policies, the final opinions and the recommendations will be better understood.
GHM was heartened by the fact that, when probed to react to this suggestion, no state delegation present seemed to oppose it, after Hungary took the lead to agree with it, followed by Croatia. GHM expects that the appropriate CoE bodies will soon formally approve the release of this “correspondence,” at least for the states whose review has been completed.
Participation and anti-discrimination
GHM suggested that, in the on-going CoE Integrated Project on “Making Democratic Institutions Work,” presented in the meeting, particular attention is given to the fact that Roma and other “weak” minorities (without kin-state or other protection) are usually much more underrepresented than “stronger” minorities; specific projects should be addressed to empower these groups, as only when they will be proportionally represented, there will be real effective participation of minorities. Moreover, GHM stressed that the usual index of participation, based on elected officials, could be misleading: when minorities command numerous voters, their members may be sought as candidates to draw these votes; while, at the same time, minorities may be much less represented in the boards, if not the members, of local party leaderships, professional and cultural associations, etc. The CoE’s projects was therefore urge to help gather a wide variety of date to more accurately map out real participation of minorities. GHM’s recommendation was adopted, and the project’s manager suggested that, on such a topic, PACE and CLRAE may have an important role to play.
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