Who Are Minorities under International Law

The United Nations comprehensive human rights treaties also contain important standards for protecting the rights of persons belonging to minorities. It should be recalled that the rights guaranteed by all United Nations human rights conventions also apply to persons belonging to minorities. The committees have established eight human rights treaties to monitor the implementation of their work: The twentieth century has seen a cyclical resurgence of minority rights. The first international regime for the protection of minorities was introduced after the First World War as part of the League of Nations. The league system is widely credited with both recognizing minority rights and legitimizing minority protection as an area of international interest. Its main flaw, however, was that it never became universal, leading to a discontinuity with the post-World War II human rights system. The mid-twentieth century marked the beginning of the era of individual human rights. Although some progress had been made in defining minority rights in the decades that followed, the legal framework for responding to crises involving minorities was not sufficiently sophisticated. Since the end of the cold war and the crises in the former Soviet Union and the former Yugoslavia, the importance of minority rights on the international scene has once again been impressively demonstrated. This article will attempt to describe the existing international framework and some of the key issues that are still under consideration.

Given the broad ratification of the ICCPR and the CRC, every state in the world has a legally binding obligation to protect minority rights on the basis of its voluntary obligations under international law. On the basis of the above-mentioned international standards on minority rights and information from various sources, the independent expert identifies four main areas of concern for minorities worldwide: (c) The objective of this special issue is to bring together academics working in the field of minority rights to provide their views on a wide range of topical issues; and the implementation of the international legal framework. The special edition will provide an in-depth analysis of the functioning and application of the existing legal framework for minority rights in practice. In 1992, the General Assembly adopted the United Nations Declaration on Minorities. It is considered the most important document on minority rights. The Declaration obliges States to protect the existence and identity of minorities. It also calls upon States to promote the promotion of the national or ethnic, cultural, religious and linguistic identities of minorities. Article 1 of the United Nations Declaration of Minorities refers to minorities as being based on national ethnic, religious and linguistic identity. Article 2(1) of this document states that minorities have the right to practise their religion, to enjoy their culture and to use their own language in public and private contexts without any form of defamation. This is very important in an inclusive society. Article 3 of this document guarantees persons belonging to minorities the right to exercise their rights individually and without discrimination. This article guarantees the legal protection of minority rights.

Article 4 refers to the responsibility of a State for minority rights. Under this article, States must take appropriate measures to ensure that minorities fully and fully enjoy all their rights without discrimination. Article 5 explains the various programmes and policies relating to the protection of minority rights. Assistance and cooperation programmes among States should be planned and implemented, and even national policies and programmes should be implemented. Article 9 is also very important in this regard. The specialized agencies and other United Nations agencies play a role in the full realization of the rights and principles set forth in the Declaration, followed by the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights. Article 27 protects the rights of minorities to their national, ethnic, religious or linguistic identity and to respect for the characteristics they wish to preserve and develop. The League of Nations was founded in 1920 and drafted various “minority treaties.” Then came the United Nations, which replaced the League of Nations, which developed several norms and procedures concerning minorities. The 1966 International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights and the Declaration on the Rights of Persons Belonging to National or Ethnic, Religious and Linguistic Minorities, now known as the 1992 United Nations Declaration of Minorities, recognize and protect minority rights. According to UN statistics, about 10 to 20% of the world`s population is made up of minorities. Throughout history, minorities have faced injustice and discrimination. There are cases where they are excluded from active public participation and political life.

Submitted manuscripts must not have already been published or considered for publication elsewhere (with the exception of conference proceedings). All manuscripts undergo a double-blind peer review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submitting manuscripts can be found on the Instructions for Authors page. Laws is an international peer-reviewed open access journal published by MDPI. Although the definition of minorities is simple, it is a little more difficult to understand who should all be included in this term. In America, so-called “blacks” are generally considered minorities and in India, Dalits, Muslims, are all considered minorities. People with disabilities, people belonging to certain political groups or people with a particular sexual orientation or gender identity, such as lesbian, transgender and gay people, could also fall into this category. Similarly, in many countries, minorities are often among the most marginalized groups in society and are affected by poor socio-economic conditions as well as diseases such as HIV/AIDS. Indigenous peoples are communities that live in or are linked to traditional habitats or geographically diverse ancestral territories. They are also known as First Peoples or Indigenous peoples because they are the first known inhabitants of an area.