• Background
• The training workshop
• Introduction
• The expectations of the participants
• Increasing knowledge of minority-specific rights
• Evaluation
• Programme
• List of documents
• List of participants

This training workshop was one component of a larger project, the Minorities Project International, initiatied by the International Centre for Ethnic Studies (ICES), of which training is one of the key elements. The objective of the training workshop was to provide training for minorities and representatives of non-governmental organisations in the area of minority rights and minority-related human rights procedures and mechanisms with a view to enhancing the promotion, protection and fulfillment of minority-specific rights by Governments.

The objectives of the training workshop have been identified as follows:

With a view to achieving the objectives of the training, the specific components of the workshop included the following:

Introductory remarks were made by Mr. Jeevan Thiagarajah, who welcomed the participants to this training workshop and thanked the Department of Foreign Affairs of Switzerland for making this workshop possible through their generous financial support. He referred to the work of the International Centre for Ethnic Studies (ICES), in particular its support of the activities and work of the Sub-Commission Working Group on Minorities in increasing awareness of minority-specific rights and minority protection in South Asia and beyond. Mr. Thiagarajah also mentioned that this training workshop was one of the initial activities under the Minorities Project International which aimed at enhancing networking, training, and the development of advisory services at regional level. To this end, he suggested that the participants consider possible elements to be included in a toolkit on minority rights which could provide guidance to NGOs for purposes of advocacy in the area of further training for example.

Ms Cecilia Thompson, project officer of the Minorities Project International, highlighted that the training programme was very participatory in nature, drawing extensively on the skills and experience of the participants. She explained that the overall objective of the workshop, and the final exercise, was for the participants to submit information in the format of a case to one or more of the United Nations human rights procedures and mechanisms, as appropriate. Mention was made that the participants would be working in groups most of the time, by country or across countries, thereby contributing to information sharing and networking among the participants. The initial schedule and detailed annotations for the facilitators is attached in Annex A to this report, and the list of documents to annex B.

As one of the initial exercises and in order to assess the expectations of the participants, a questionnaire was distributed asking participants to list their expectations of the training workshop, the resources they could offer the other participants, the skills they hoped to gain, and how they could ensure that their organisation benefited from the skills acquired.

A majority of the participants expected to learn more about the concept of minorities, and the United Nations Instruments, including the United Nations Declaration on the rights of persons belonging to minorities, as well as from the various experiences of NGOs in other countries. Others expected to enhance their networking capacity with NGO representatives on minority issues and effectively address violations of minority rights, while some highlighted that they expected to learn about how to undertake further training in their home country.

As for resources they would share with the participants, these focused on advocacy skills, networking methods, lobbying, raising awareness about minority situations, and describing the feelings of the minorities whose rights have been violated. The skills the participants hoped to gain from this workshop ranged from their ability to develop lobbying on minority rights, provide further training to improving their campaigning skills. As for the ways by which the participants were going to ensure that their organisation benefitted from the skills they acquired, these ranged from acting as resource persons within their own organisation and exchanging information among NGOs in the region to lobbying Government officials and helping to conduct advocacy work.

As a preliminary exericse, a short presentation was made on the concept of human rights and their development wihin the framework of the United Nations. Participants then undertook group work to identify what constitutes a minority, what the characteristics of a minority are and how minorities were similar to, or different from, other groups in society. The majority of the participants identified a minority as being numerically inferior to the majority, some mentioned also that they were in a non-dominant position, and most of the participants referred to a minority being powerless and voiceless, with unequal access to fundamental rights such as equality, effective participation in all aspect of public life, economic, social and cultural rights, including work, education, and health.

This was followed by two brief presentations on what was understood as a minority within the international community. The first presentation referred to a number of definitions including the working definition of the United Nations Sub-Commission on the Promotion and Protection of Human Rights, the core criteria which distinguished a minority from another group, and the issues of self-identification and preservation of minority communities. The second brief presentation provided an overview of the development of minority rights within international human rights instruments and an insight into the reasons why the international community has not defined a minority.

The objective of the training was to provide representatives of NGOs with an opportunity to know their rights, claim their rights and draw the attention of the international community to violations. To this end, the participants were split into five groups and each group was requested to identify the minority rights contained in one of five international human rights instruments. These included the Convention against Genocide, the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, the Convention on the Rights of the Child, and the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination. The participants identified not only minority rights but a whole host of other rights which affected minorities in one way or another. A discussed followed on the pertinence of minority-specific rights, their scope, content and application to particular situations.

In order to apply the above exercise to concrete situations, the participants undertook another group exercise to identify the key problems in the area of minority rights in their country, the major factors which cause violations of minority rights and the identification of the perpetrators of violations. The participants then discussed the findings of the groups and drew comparisons across countries.

A presentation was then made on the mehtods of fact-finding and the collection of information. A number of NGO representatives shared their own experiences in the area of fact-finding and identified some of the difficulties they were facing in their own countries. This was followed by the analysis of a case from India with a view to identifying the violations of minority rights, listing the perpetrators of the violations, identifying the State obligations which applied, and the possible sources of information regarding the case concerned. Participants took part in a discussion on ways by which fact-finding could most effectively be undertaken and the most useful type of information to be collected.

Use of, and access to, the United Nations human rights mechanisms and procedures

A number of presentations were made on the relevant United Nations human rights pocedures and mechanisms. These included in particular the confidential 1503 procedure, the Optional Protocol to the Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, the work of the relevant special rapporteurs and the mandate and methods of work of the Committees overseeing implementation of the international human rights instruments. With a view to applying the information, participants worked in groups to draw up a case study on the basis of their own country situation, to be submitted to the 1503 procedure. The case study was then presented to a team which represented the said United Nations procedure and which proceeded to request additional information or clarification regarding the case, and deciding on its admissibility.

The last day was focused on the presentation of a case on the basis of the minority situation in the country of the participants with a view to submitting information to one or more of the United Nations human rights mechanisms and procedures, as relevant. This was done in the format of team work, with a country team submitting the case and different teams representing the various procedures.

Feedback was sought from the participants in the form of a questionnaire distributed at the end of each day. The results of the evaluation forms were then shared on the last day with all the participants and discussed. Generally, the participants were very positive about the training workshop. Most of them felt that they had learnt about minority rights contained in international human rights instruments, and particularly about the United Nations mechanisms and procedures. The majority expressed their appreciation for the participatory approach of the workshop, although others felt that they would have preferred information to be provided in a lecture-style format. In addition, a number of participants felt that the workshop had provided them with an opportunity to enhance networking with other NGOs from the region and to learn about the work and activities of others.

Some participants also made constructive suggestions as to how the training workshop could be improved for future sessions. These included the provision of more materials to be sent to the participants in advance of the workshop, better explanation as to what was expected from them and more interaction between the facilitators and the participants. Some difficulty was also experienced as a result of different levels of knowledge and experience of the participants. Some were already familiar with human rights and related mechanisms, while for others this was a new subject. Regrettably, there was insufficient time to meet the third objective of the training workshop, that is, the follow-up and application of the concluding observations and recommendations adopted by the various human rights procedures and mechanisms. This could be the focus of a follow-up or further training workshop in the region.

A number of participants expressed the hope that they would provide further training once back in their home country. A number of them mentioned the need to focus on particular issues that were of relevance to their own country. To this end, they suggested that seminars on particular topics be organised. Many felt that a toolkit on minority rights would prove useful in further undertaking their own work at country level and welcomed the idea of a training manual on minority rights which would provide some clear explanations as to how to use the human rights mechanisms and procedures and provide guidance on advocacy and dissemination.

ANNEX A

Programme

Friday 20 April, 2001

• 9.00 - 9.30 Opening address
  Introduction to the training workshop (overview of the three days)
• 9.30 - 10.30 MODULE 1 GETTING TO KNOW THE GROUP

  Activity 1 who are the participants?
  Activity 2 what are the expectations of the participants?

• 10.30 - 10.45 BREAK
• 10.45 - 11.30 MODULE 2 WHAT CONSTITUTES A MINORITY?

  Activity 1 Presentation and discussion
  Activity 2 Working groups: what minorities exist in your country?
  Activity 3 presentation and discussion in plenary of findings under activity 2

• 11.30- 12.30 MODULE 3 MINORITY RIGHTS CONTAINED IN INTERNATIONAL HUMAN RIGHTS INSTRUMENTS
  
  Activity 1 Presentation and discussion

• 12.30 - 2.00 LUNCH
• 2.00 - 3.30 Module 3 Cont'd
  
  Activity 2 Working groups: discussion of the key minority issues in your country

• 3.30 - 4.00 Activity 3 Presentation of working group findings in plenary and discussion of the key minority issues at national and regional levels

• 4.00 - 4.15 BREAK
• 4.15 - 5.30 Module 3 cont'd

  Activity 4 Presentation and discussion: the scope and content of minority rights, and the extent of Government obligations

• 5.30 - 6.00 Reflection and evaluation
  Information for the next day

Saturday 21 April, 2001

• 9.00 - 10.30 MODULE 4 FACT-FINDING AND THE COLLECTION OF INFORMATION
  
  Activity 1 Presentation and discussion

• 10.30 - 10.45 BREAK
• 10.45 - 11. 45

  Activity 2 Working groups: on the basis of three case studies drawn from three country situations, the participants will: identify the violations of minority rights, the State obligations which apply, and gather the necessary information to submit a case.

• 11.45 - 12.15

  Activity 3 Presentation and discussion in plenary of findings under activity 2.

• 12.30 - 2.00 LUNCH

• 2.00 - 3.30 MODULE 5 USE OF, AND ACCESS TO, THE UNITED NATIONS HUMAN RIGHTS PROCEDURES AND MECHANISMS

  Activity 1 Presentation and discussion: the relevant United Nations treaty monitoring bodies
  Activity 2 Presentation and discussion: the complaints procedures
  Activity 3 Presentation and discussion: the Special Rapporteurs of the United Nations

• 3.30 - 3.45 BREAK

• 3.45 - 4.15 Module 5 cont'd

  Activity 4 Presentation and discussion: the United Nations Sub-Commission Working Group on Minorities

• 4.15. - 4.45 Reflection and evaluation
  Information and preparation for the next day

Sunday 22 April, 2001

• 9.00 - 10.30 MODULE 6 SUBMISSION OF A CASE TO THE INTERNATIONAL MECHANISMS AND PROCEDURES

  Activity 1 Working groups: participants identify and gather the information on the situation of minority rights in their own country with a view to submitting it, as applicable, to all of the mechanisms presented and discussed under module 5.

• 10.30 - 10.45 BREAK

• 10.45 - 12.15

  Activity 2 working groups cont'd

• 12.30 - 2.00 LUNCH

• 2.00 - 3.30 Presentation and discussion of the findings of the working groups in plenary

• 3.30 - 3.45 BREAK

• 3.45 - 4.45 MODULE 7 FOLLOW-UP
  
  Activity 1 Summary, conclusions and recommendations of the workshop
  Activity 2 Suggestions for follow-up (with a specific focus on the provision of advisory services)

• 4.45 - 5.15 MODULE 8 EVALUATION AND CLOSING

  Activity 1 Participants will complete a brief questionnaire
  Activity 2 Closing remarks

MODULE 1 GETTING TO KNOW THE GROUP

Activity 1 Who are the participants?
A questionnaire with all the questions below has been sent to all the participants. A number of them have completed these, the others are requested to complete these on arrival.

In addition, the participants are requested to answer questions 1, 2 and 5 in accordance with the procedures described below. For this purpose they will split according to numbering .

Description:

In part A you will interview another participant of the group.
In part B you will introduce the person to the rest of the group

Part A: You will ask the other participant of the group the following questions, and complete the questionnaire accordingly:

1. What is the name of your organization?
2. Where is your organization based? Do you have sections or branches in other countries, and if so, where?
3. What are the major programmes and activities of your organization?
4. Does your organization specialize in a particular area, if so, which one?
5. In what way, if any, is your organization involved in minority-related work?
6. What is your role within the organization?
7. How do you think that you can personally benefit from this training workshop?
8. How do you feel that this training workshop may benefit your organization?

Part B: Each participant will in turn introduce, to the group, the person just met using the information completed in the questionnaire.

Activity 2 What are the expectations of the participants?

For this exercise, all participants will respond to all the questions and will return the questionnaire to the facilitators. Wikram will summarize these questionnaire for plenary the next morning.

Part A: each participant will respond to the following questions:

1. Name two expectations you have for this training workshop? If they are met, how can you ensure that they may benefit your organization?
2. Name two things/resources that you feel you can offer the participants of this training workshop
3. Name two skills that you hope to gain during this training workshop
4. If you gain these skills during this workshop how can you ensure that your organization will benefit from your newly acquired skills?

Brief introduction to international human rights, including minority rights - Sherine Xavier (5 - 10 Mins)

BREAK

MODULE 2 WHAT CONSTITUTES A MINORITY? (45 mins)

Activity 1 Group work and discussion

1. The participants split up into 4 groups by numbering to discuss what a minority constitutes, keeping in mind three basic questions - namely - 1. What is a minority? 2. what are the characteristics of a minority - how are minorities different from the majority? 3. How may a minority be different or similar in respect of other groups in society such as internally displaced persons, refugees, migrant workers, immigrants, others?

2. The results of the findings of the groups are then shared by one spokesperson per group in plenary. Facilitators try to make comparisons within and beyond countries.

3. Brief presentation on what constitutes a minority - Sherine Xavier (5 - 10 mins)

The purpose of this session is to provide an overview of the similarities and differences among minorities and between minorities and other groups in society. The presentation will touch upon, inter alia, the following:

- differences and similarities between minorities and majorities
- differences and similarities among minorities from a historical, geographical, political, sociological and territorial perspective;
- differences and similarities between minorities and other groups in society, including indigenous populations, immigrants, migrants, migrant workers, asylum seekers and refugees;
- what definitions of a minority have been proposed at international level? Why has none proven acceptable to date?
- what working definitions have been proposed and what characteristics have been identified as belonging to a minority?
- What is understood by the terms 'national', 'ethnic', 'religious' and 'linguistic' minorities as referred to in the title of the United Nations Declaration on the rights of persons belonging to minorities?

Activity 2 Working groups: what minorities exist in your country? (40 mins)

Participants split up into 5 groups by country and respond to the following questions:

1. List the minorities that exist in your country
2. What are the characteristics which make up the different minorities in your country?
3. Has your Government recognized the minorities you have listed under question 1?. Explain why you think that your Government has or has not recognized the minorities you have identified.

Activity 3 Presentation and discussion in plenary of findings under activity 2

The chosen spokesperson of each of the groups presents the findings of the group to plenary. The findings are discussed and links are established between minorities, their characteristics and Government attitudes across countries, and ultimately at regional level.

LUNCH

MODULE 3 MINORITY RIGHTS CONTAINED IN INTERNATIONAL HUMAN RIGHTS INSTRUMENTS

Activity 1 Group work and discussion (45 mins)

1. The participants split up into 5 groups by numbering and each group is handed one international human rights instrument. The participants have to identify what minority rights are included in that instrument as well as any additional rights they feel are relevant.

2. The spokesperson from each group then makes a presentation to plenary.

3. Summary - Cecilia Thompson in order to make links across the various instruments and thereby demonstrate the interdependence and applicability of all the rights.

The aim of the session is to provide an overview of the minority rights contained in international instruments including the following:

- the nature of the rights codified in international human rights instruments (individual rights, collective rights, general provisions, special rights for persons belonging to minorities);
- the legally binding rights, such as art. 27 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR) on the rights of persons belonging to minorities and art. 30 of the Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC) on the rights of children belonging to minorities, as well as arts. 14 and 18 of the ICCPR on equality before the courts and tribunals and on freedom of religion, respectively, arts. 13 and 15 of the Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights on the right to education and to culture, respectively, art. 29 of the CRC on the right to education, art. 1 of the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination on the scope of discrimination prohibited under the Convention, and art. 2 of the Convention against Genocide on the meaning of genocide;
- minority rights contained in other instruments, with a particular focus on those in the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Persons Belonging to National or Ethnic, Religious and Linguistic Minorities.

Activity 2 Working groups: discussion of the key minority issues in your country (1 hour)

Participants split up into 5 groups by numbering and respond to the following three questions:

1. What are the key problems in the area of minority rights in your country?
2. What are the major factors which cause violations of minority rights?
3. Who are the perpetrators of the violations of minority rights?

Activity 3 Presentation of the working group findings under activity 2

The chosen spokesperson of each of the groups, formed under activity 2, presents the findings of the group to plenary, and the findings are discussed. Links are made between the situations at national and regional levels. In addition, questions 4, 5 and 6 below will be further discussed in a more general manner in plenary.

4. What factors promote the respect of minority rights?
5. List two negative and two positive attitudes of your Government towards minority issues, and describe.
6. List two negative and two positive attitudes of civil society towards minority issues in your country, and describe.

Activity 4 Presentation and discussion: the scope and content of minority rights, and the extent of Government obligations

1. Presentation of the content and scope of article 27 of the Covenant on Civil and Political Rights - Cecilia Thompson - (10 mins)
2. Presentation on the Declaration on the rights of persons belonging to minorities - Sherine Xavier (10 mins)
3. The participants split into 5 different groups by numbering to discuss issues in their countries arising under article 27 and under the Declaration and establish conformity or breach of the rights contained in each instrument respectively
(30 mins)

The purpose of the session is to provide an overview of the content and scope of minority rights and in particular to clarify the meaning of the rights, as well as the duties of persons belonging to minorities and the obligations upon Governments which their effective implementation imply. Reference in the presentation will be made, inter alia, to the following:

- the scope and content of minority rights contained in legally binding instruments and in the Declaration;
- interpretation of the rights by the treaty monitoring bodies with a special reference to general comments adopted, including General Comment no. 23 on art. 27 of the ICCPR on the rights of persons belonging to minorities, General Comment no. 18 on the non-discrimination provisions of the ICCPR, General Comment no. 22 on article 18 of the ICCPR on freedom of religion, General Comment no. 13 on art. 14 of the ICCPR on equality before the courts and tribunals, General Comment no. 13 on art. 13 of the ICESCR on the right to education, and General Comment no. 1 on art. 29 of the CRC on the aims of education;
- The travaux préparatoires of the ICCPR, the ICESCR, the CRC, and the Declaration on the rights of persons belonging to minorities;
- the Commentary to the United Nations Declaration on the rights of persons belonging to minorities elaborated by the Chairman of the Working Group Mr. Asbjorn Eide.

Daily evaluation questionnaire distributed for completion (see last section)

Wikram to report back on questionnaire on the expectations of the participants completed by all the previous day.

MODULE 4 FACT-FINDING AND THE COLLECTION OF INFORMATION

Activity 1 Presentation in plenary and discussion

1. Two Representatives of 2 non-governmental organizations in 2 different countries and with experience in fact-finding will complete the following questionnaire and report back to plenary (30 mins) .

Sri lanka - Father Jaikumar and Senthur
Bangladesh - Mr. Nur Khan and Faustina Perreira

- For what purposes does your organization undertake fact-finding activities?
- What does your organization do in the area of fact-finding in respect of minority rights?
- How do you assess the information gathered to determine violations of minority rights?
- What are some of the problems your organization is facing in the area of fact-finding?
- What activities are undertaken upon collection of the information?
- How is the information disseminated to relevant institutions and bodies at national, regional and international levels, as well as to policy and decision-makers within your country?

2. An expert will make a brief presentation about fact-finding (10-15 mins)

This session focuses on the purpose and methods of fact-finding in the area of minority rights, as well as the collection of objective and relevant information, and the analysis and dissemination thereof.

Activity 2 Working groups: one case study (India) (I hour)

The participants will divide into three groups by numbering with a view to undertaking the following exercise. On the basis of the case study from India, the participants will:

1. identify the violations of minority rights
2. list the perpetrators of the violations
3. identify the State obligations which apply
4. identify the sources of information

Activity 3 Presentation and discussion in plenary of findings under activity 2

A representative of each of the working groups, formed under activity 2, presents the findings to plenary, followed by a discussion.

MODULE 5 USE OF, AND ACCESS TO, THE UNITED NATIONS HUMAN RIGHTS PROCEDURES AND MECHANISMS

Activities 1 to 3 Presentation and discussion (all afternoon)

1. A general presentation will be made on the work of the treaty bodies overseeing implementation of the international human rights instruments, the complaints procedures (the 1503 procedure and the Optional Protocol to the Covenant on Civil and Political Rights) and the relevant special rapporteurs) - Sherine Xavier (15 - 20 mins)
2. This will be followed by questions and a discussion
3. Brief presentation on the Working Group on Minorities - Cecilia Thompson (15 - 20 mins)
4. This will be followed by questions and discussion

The session will highlight the relevant United Nations treaty monitoring bodies, the complaints procedures and the Special Rapporteurs of the United Nations. With regard to the treaty bodies special attention will be paid to the Human Rights Committee, the Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, the Committee on the Rights of the Child, and the Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination. As for the complaints procedures, emphasis will be placed on the complaints under the Optional Protocol to the ICCPR, the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination and the 1503 Procedure. In respect of the Special Rapporteurs, the presentation will focus on thematic rapporteurs on the right to education, religious intolerance, freedom of opinion and expression and violence against women, and the Special Representative of the Secretary General on Cambodia and the rapporteur on Myanmar.

The presentation under each of these procedures and mechanisms aims to provide an overview of the following:

- the mandate, working methods and activities of the respective mechanism or procedure, with an emphasis on the countries from which the participants come and the minorities living in those territories
- how the procedures may benefit persons belonging to minorities
- the reporting procedures under the treaty monitoring bodies
- the type of information minorities can submit to such procedures
- access to such procedures and the most effective channels for the submission of information

Daily questionnaire distributed for completion

MODULE 6 SUBMISSION OF A CASE TO THE INTERNATIONAL MECHANISMS AND PROCEDURES

Activities 1 &2 Identifying and gathering information (2X 1.5 hours)

The participants will split into 6 groups by country (2 for Sri Lanka) and then into five groups across countries by numbering and elaborate a case, on the basis of the minority situation in their own country and issues across countries respectively with a view to submitting the relevant information to all the mechanisms, as applicable.

Activity 3 Presentation of the case, as prepared under activities 1 and 2, to plenary

A spokesperson for each of the groups, formed under activities 1 and 2, present the case of their group to plenary. This will be followed by a discussion and conclusions.

MODULE 7 CONCLUSIONS, RECOMMENDATIONS AND FOLLOW-UP

Activity 1 Summary, conclusions and recommendations of the workshop

One spokesperson will summarize the workshop and draw upon the presentations and discussions to arrive at conclusions and recommendations.

Activity 2 Suggestions for follow-up

Suggestions for follow-up, with a specific focus on the provision of advisory services in response to needs identified by participants in areas such as training, capacity-building and project elaboration, as well as the elaboration of a training manual on minority rights, will be discussed in plenary.

MODULE 8 EVALUATION AND CLOSING

Daily questionnaire and overall evaluation

Activity 1 Questionnaire

All participants complete a brief questionnaire in response to the following questions:

1. How have you personally benefited from this session?
2. What skills do you feel you have acquired today?
3. How are you planning to apply the skills and information from this session to your work?
4. What do you feel were the weaknesses in this session?
5. How do you feel that this session could be improved

Activity 2 Closing remarks

ANNEX B

List of documents

1. The United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Persons Belonging to National
or Ethnic, Religious and Linguistic Minorities

2. Optional Protocol to the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights

3. International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights

4. International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination

5. War crimes and crimes against humanity, including genocide

6. Convention on the Rights of the Child

7. International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights

8. Related Articles in six major international human rights instruments, in Manual on Human Rights Reporting

9. Overview of Procedure regarding the Optional Protocol under the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights

10. The Revised 1503 Procedure, UNHCHR Website

11. Overview of information work in a human rights NGO setting

12. Special Rapporteur on Torture, extract form the Torture Handbook by Camille Chefford

13. Fact-finding, some guiding principles for human rights fact-findings, from the CHRF handbook

14. Monitoring and fact-finding

15. Minority Rights, United Nations Factsheet, No. 18, rev.1.

16. Minority rights: a guide toUnited Nations Procedures and Institutions, by Gudmundur Alfredsson and Erika Ferrer.

17. Towards effective political participation and representation of minorities, working paper submitted to the working group on minorities at its May 1998 session by Mr. Fernand de Varennes, E/CN.4/Sub.2/AC.5/1998/WP.4.

ANNEX C