New Direction in the Approach of the OSCE High Commissioner on National Minorities: General Recommendations on Participation of Minorities
| Author | Hans-Joachim Heintze |
| DOI | 10.1177/092405190101900108 |
| Published date | 01 March 2001 |
| Date | 01 March 2001 |
| Subject Matter | Part C: Appendix |
Part C: Appendix
New Direction in the Approach
of
the OSCE High Commissioner
on National Minorities: General Recommendations on
Participation
of
Minorities
Hans-Joachim Heintze'
Minority protection is a topic which is - due to its importance - very much in fashion
among scholars and NGOs. The outcome
of
their activities are that many books, articles,
proposals and recommendations that it is even for experts complicated to keep well-
informed. However, the political importance and the legal value
of
the proposals and
materials is different.
Attention gain -
of
course - all initiatives which are connected with the OSCE High
Commissioner on National Minorities (HCNM). After his successes in many countries
of
the former Soviet bloc he initiated some years ago the elaboration
of
general
recommendations concerning different fields
of
minority protection.
'The
Hague
Recommendations Regarding the Education Rights
of
National Minorities' were
published in 1996 by the Foundation on Inter-Ethnic Relations. The 'Oslo
Recommendations Regarding the Linguistic Rights
of
National Minorities' followed in
1998.' He was continuing that practice he had started in 1996 in 1999 with the
'The
Lund
Recommendations on the Effective Participation
of
National Minorities in Public Life,.2
This article presents an analysis of the origin, content and value
of
the 'Lund
Recommendations'.
I The 'Lund Recommendations'
The Lund Recommendations were developed by 18experts
of
international law, political
science and sociology illustrating ways to improve participation
of
national minorities in
public life and hence strengthen domestic stability in States with minority populations as
well as international security in general.'
It
is certain that these Recommendations will not
fail to gain the attention of other experts in the field. Many
of
its authors are leading
Associate Professor
oflnternational
Law, University
of
the Ruhr Bochurn, Institute for International Law
of
Peace and
Armed
Conflict.
These Reconunendations can be found at the following website:
www.osce.org/instlhcnm/index.html.Cf
also J. Packer and G. Siemienski, 'Integration Through Education:
The
Origin and Development
of
The
Hague Reconunendation, International Journal
of
GroupRights, Vol. 4, 1996-1997, pp. 187-198 and J.
Packer and G. Siemienski,
'The
Language
of
Equity: The Origin and Development
of
the Oslo
Reconunendations Regarding the Linguistic Right
of
National Minorities', International Journal
of
Group
Rights,
Vol. 6, 1999, pp. 329-350.
The Lund Reconunendations on the Effective Participation
of
National Minorities in Public Life arc
published by the Foundation on Inter-Ethnic Relations, The Hague, 1999. References to specific passages
of
the Lund Reconunendations are noted in parentheses with Romanand Arabic numerals as well as capital
letters.
The conference in whichagreement was reached upon a final text for the Reconunendations was conducted
under
the chairmanship
of
Professor Gudmundur Alfredsson at the Raoul Wallenberg Institute
of
Human
Rights and HumanitarianLaw in Lund. Thus this document is named after that Swedish university city. The
author
of
this article was a member
of
the group
of
experts.
Netherlands Quarterly
of
Human
Rights,
Vol.
19/1,
101-112,
2001.
toNetherlands Institute
of
Human
Rights
(SIM).
Printedin the
Netherlands.
101
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