Minority Protection in South Asia

The global framework for minority protection was initially drawn from international instruments of human rights law, and is currently most succinctly articulated in the U. N. Declaration on the Rights of Persons Belonging to National Ethnic, Religious and Linguistic Minorities. This Declaration on Minorities is inadequate regarding issues of self-determination and regional autonomy for minorities, but by utilising the framework it does provide, this project will strive to achieve a dual development objective.

This project was initiated with three broad objectives. Firstly, that a detailed examination of experiences, achievements and shortfalls of minority/majority arrangements in the region will provide valuable input to the further deliberations of the United Nations Working Group on Minorities. Secondly, to link the efforts of civil society and regional governments to develop clarity on minority rights and obligations as well as to promote understanding between ethnic groups that are engaging in, or could engage in, confrontational politics. Finally, a critical mass of empirical experience will emerge from this exercise that could constitute an appropriate basis for further exploration on the viability of establishing some form of advisory services at the regional, national and/or local levels.

At the level of cooperation with the U. N. Working Group on Minorities, the ICES project intends to meet two objectives, Each is informed by the United Nations Declaration on Minorities and the mandate of the U. N. Working Group on Minorities, but the project is designed also to operate independently of the United Nations processes as that will enable it to address concerns more effectively and pro-actively at the national and regional levels.

The following steps were completed during the year 1999/2000

Phase I

Preparatory Meeting: A meeting was held in January with representatives from India, Nepal, Pakistan and Sri Lanka in Delhi to clarify the intellectual and policy assumptions and objectives of the project and to develop the terms of reference for country-specific studies in preparation for national workshops.

Identification of National Focal Points: The national focal points for co-ordination in country activities in India, Pakistan, Nepal, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka have been identified and contractual agreements set in place to undertake activities as specified in the project.

Commissioning of Country Studies: Country studies through country papers have been commissioned. The respective country-paper writers are:
Sri Lanka: Dr. Jayadeva Uyangoda, Bangladesh: Dr. Amena Mohsin, Pakistan: Mr. Ahmed Saleem, Nepal: Dr. Mahendra Lawoti, India: Dr. Bishnu Mohapatra

Working Group on Minorities

The fifth session on the Working Group on Minorities took place in Geneva on the 25th-31st May 1999. The International Centre for Ethnic Studies, which has consultative status [Category ll/Special status] with the ECOSOC/UN, attended the sessions and made interventions regarding the Working Group on Minorities. A working paper written by ICES titled "The future role of the Working Group" was circulated and discussed after presentation. During this period, two other activities were organised by ICES. The first was the third ICES Lecture on Minority Rights held in Geneva on the 25th May 1999.

Ms Radhika Coomaraswamy, U.N. Special Rapporteur on Violence against Women, gave the lecture on 'A Question of Honour: Women, Ethnicity and Armed Conflict'. The High Commissioner for Human Rights, Ms Mary Robinson, presided over the lecture.

The second activity was an informal meeting that was organized between South Asian NGO's and representatives from South Asian embassies held at the Palais de Nations to open up a dialogue on minority issues. Representatives from the Sri Lankan, Indian, Pakistani, Bangladesh, and Nepalese embassies met with NGO representatives from the Dalits, Kashmiri, Sikh, and other minority communities in an informal setting to discuss minority issues.

Also at the sixth session of the UN Working Group on Minorities ICES was
represented and made interventions. This was held on 22-26 May 2000 in Geneva. For the fourth consecutive time ICES organised it's Minority Rights Lecture for 2000 on May 22. It was given by Prof. Yash Ghai, Sir Y K Pao Professor of Public Law at the University of Hong Kong on "Constitutions for Divided Societies". On May 27, 2000 ICES organised a meeting on "Strengthening Regional Institutional support for the Working Group on Minorities" which was chaired by Asbjorn Eide, Chairman of the UN Working Group on Minorities.

Institutional link up: The ICES and the office of the Working Groups on Minorities and Indigenous populations organised a seminar on Minorities and Indigenous Peoples in Africa from May 13-15 in Arusha, Tanzania. This report was tabled at the fifth session of the UN Working on Minorities which was held from 21-26 May, Geneva, Switzerland.

Facilitating a meeting of lead agencies in Africa, Asia, Americas and Europe to endeavour to set up a global initiative which links a network of agencies on a common agenda to further minority rights. A meeting of prospective partner institutions was held on May 2000 in Geneva.

National Workshops:

The Sri Lanka Workshop was held on 14th August, 1999 at Sri Lanka Foundation Institute. Dr. Jayadeva Uyangoda, Senior Lecturer, Dept. of History and Political Science, University of Colombo presented the country paper on 'Sri Lanka: The Question of Minority Rights'. A follow-up discussion was held on 6th November 1999. on the following themes:
The Bangladesh Workshop was held on 13th November 1999 in Dhaka and the country paper, presented by Dr. Amena Mohsin, Lecturer, Dept. of International Relations, Dhaka University, was on 'The Question of Minority Rights Protection in Bangladesh'.

The Nepal Workshop was held on 17th September 2000 in Kathmandu and the country paper was presented by Mahendra Lawoti "Domination and Exclusion: Continued Marginalisation of Minorities in Democratic Nepal".
Setting up Regional Advisory boards.

The initial steps in this direction are found in the commissioning of country-paper writers. The ultimate objective would be achieved after all the workshops are held and, as in the Sri Lankan experience, further discussions on country-specific themes are concluded. This endeavour should also be looked at in the larger context of (F) above, which would attempt to enlarge this process to encompass other continents across the globe.

Six papers were commissioned as part of the Sri Lanka Review Meeting. They are on Identity by Radhika Coomaraswamy, Religion & Culture by K. Sivathamby, Language by S. Sivathasan, Education by Divakalala, Human Rights and Non-Discrimination Jeevan Thiagarajah and on Politics by P. Saravanamuttu.