Shorthand

UNHRC II: Rights of Religious Minorities

Sarina Xu

Letter from the Dais

Dear Delegates,

My name is Sarina Xu, and I am delighted to welcome you to the Yale MUN Taiwan V! To introduce myself, I'm currently a sophomore in Pierson College, and I’m majoring in Statistics & Data Science. In addition to YMUNT, I have also helped out with Yale Model United Nations, one of our local conferences. However, beyond my involvement with Model UN, I’m also the co-founder and Corporate Head of the Urban Philanthropic Fund, Publicity Director of Yale’s political publication called The Yale Politic, a member of the Alpine Ski Team, and a volunteer at Camp Kesem. Last summer, as a recipient of the Richard U. Light Fellowship, I studied abroad in Beijing to study Mandarin.

In the U.N. Human Rights Council, you will be responsible for upholding the dignity of people all around the world, determine if supposedly "universal" rights actually have ethnic or religious dimensions, search for ways to improve protection of some of the world’s most vulnerable populations, and see whether countries can unite to save their people or if cultural and religious differences will prevent them from reaching a consensus. In short, you will determine the course of human rights in the coming years.

In this committee, we will be discussing various religious issues drawing from current and events. However, rather than debating what political entities should have done or prioritized in certain situations, I would like you guys to focus more on the thought process that you believe would uphold the values of the UNHRC the best when approaching this issue of the rights of religious minorities. Ask yourself, how should a government go about appeasing different religious groups, especially those who don’t get along with each other? Take it a step further: what happens when this government is of a particular religion and does not recognize the rights of religious minorities? How can you, delegates, as part of the UNHRC efficiently and righteously decide how to go about these situations?

I’m looking forward to spending time engaging in a thought-provoking and meaningful discussion with you – the world’s future diplomats. See you in committee, and please write to me if you’ve got any questions beforehand!

Sincerely,

Sarina Xu

sarina.xu@yale.edu

History of the Committee

The United Nations established the Human Rights Council (HRC) in 2006. Member States mandated the HRC to promote “universal respect for the protection of all human rights and fundamental freedoms for all.” The Council also has the duty to “address situations of violations of human rights, including gross and systematic violations, and make recommendations thereon.” Through dialogue and cooperation with international, regional, national, and nongovernmental bodies, the Council educates individuals on human rights issues, makes suggestions to the General Assembly to improve international human rights laws, undertakes periodic reviews of how well each country fulfills its human rights obligations, and prevents and addresses human rights violations.

Although the Council is open to all UN Member States, it only consists of 47 countries, which are elected by secret ballot by all countries in the General Assembly. Each country can serve on the HRC for up to two consecutive three-year periods, after which each country must take a break for at least three years. The membership is equally distributed among nations in different geographic regions: there are thirteen states from Africa, thirteen from Asia, eight from Latin America and the Caribbean, six from eastern Europe, and seven from western Europe and other states. [16]

Additionally, the Council benefits from Special Procedures, who are experts in the field of human rights and advise the HRC They visit countries, communicate with governments about rights violations they observe, and support the HRC’s other work. [17] To fulfill its mandate as outlined in Resolution 60/251, the Human Rights Council conducts a Universal Periodic Review [18] to assess human rights situations in all UN Member States. It also has an Advisory Committee [19] to provide knowledge and advice on a range of human rights issues. It’s Complaint Procedure [20] allows both individuals and governments to bring human rights violations to the committee. [21]

Topic History

The United Nations Minorities Declaration, which defines minorities as based on national or ethnic, cultural, religious and linguistic identity, was adopted in 1992. This document establishes that States must protect the existence of minorities within their borders. However, there is no internationally agreed upon definition as to which groups constitute minorities. Over the years, there has been a general sentiment that any definition of minorities should have both objective factors (such as the existence of shared ethnicity, language, or religion) and subjective factors (including that individuals must identify themselves as a member of a minority). Oftentimes, a minority religion is considered one that is held by a minority of the population of a region.[1]

Human Rights

According to Article 1 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, “All human beings are born free and equal in dignity and rights. They are endowed with reason and conscience and should act towards one another in a spirit of brotherhood.”[2]

Human rights are those rights regarded as belonging fundamentally to all people. These rights are both universal and egalitarian—all people are equal and deserve equal rights and opportunities. The United Nations acts as a force to promote and protect the human rights and fundamental freedoms of all individuals.[ibid]

This idea of universal and inalienable rights not contingent upon the laws or customs of a particular culture or government was pioneered by philosophers such as Thomas Hobbes, John Locke, and Thomas Paine during the Enlightenment Period. The idea of natural law was one of the prominent ideals behind both the American and French Revolutions. Almost all of the national liberation movements, civil rights movements, and labor unions in recent history find strength in the idea of human rights. The World Wars of the 20th century brought to attention, and in many ways necessitated, the development of a mechanism to define basic human rights. The charter of the League of Nations (1919), and subsequently the United Nations Charter (1945), mandated the promotion of basic human rights.[ibid]

Minority Rights in International Law

According to Francesco Capotorti, Special Rapporteur of the United Nations Sub-Commission on Prevention of Discrimination and Protection of Minorities, a minority is “a group numerically inferior to the rest of the population of a State, in a non-dominant position, whose members - being nationals of the State - possess ethnic, religious or linguistic characteristics differing from those of the rest of the population and show, if only implicitly, a sense of solidarity, directed towards preserving their culture, traditions, religion or language.”[3]

While the nationality criterion included in the above definition has often been challenged, the requirement to be in a non-dominant position remains important. In most instances a minority group will be a numerical minority, but in others a numerical majority may also find itself in a minority-like or non-dominant position, such as black South Africans under apartheid. In other situations, a group which constitutes the majority in a State as a whole may be in a non-dominant position within a particular region of the State in question.[ibid] It is now commonly accepted that recognition of minority status is not solely for the State to decide, but should be based on both objective and subjective criteria, as described above.[ibid]

The protection of minority rights was formally included within the international legal framework for the first time following World War I, through the League of Nations’ Minority Treaties. However, the League of Nations was dissolved in 1946. After World War II, minority rights received significantly less attention, with the notable exceptions of the United Nations Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide (the Genocide Convention) and the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR), which includes minority rights protection under Article 27.[4]

The collapse of the communist regimes in Central and Eastern Europe and the rise of ethnic nationalism in the late 1980s, followed by the violent conflict in former Yugoslavia, altered the situation. From the early 1990s onwards, several international and regional human rights documents that included minority rights provisions were adopted. Some of the most relevant ones are:

● The United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Persons Belonging to National or Ethnic, Religious and Linguistic Minorities (1992);

● The two Council of Europe treaties: the Framework Convention for the Protection of National Minorities (1995) and the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages (1992) and;

● The Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe’s (OSCE) Copenhagen Document (Art. 31-35) (1990).

Minority rights are based on the recognition that minorities are in a vulnerable situation in comparison to other groups in society, namely the majority population, and aim to protect members of a minority group from discrimination, assimilation, prosecution, hostility, or violence as a consequence of their status.

It should be highlighted that minority rights do not constitute privileges, but act to ensure equal respect for members of different communities. These rights serve to accommodate vulnerable groups and to bring all members of society to a minimum level of equality in the exercise of their human and fundamental rights.[6]

Three main categories of fundamental rights central to ensuring the effective protection of minority rights can be established:

● The rights aiming to protect minorities from extinction and discrimination. Minority communities shall not be denied the right to be recognised as a group, enjoy their own culture and religion, use their own language, establish their schools, and receive teaching in the language of their choice.

● The rights designed to preserve and safeguard the ethnic and cultural identity of the group. A pluralist system, in which two or more groups coexist, and genuinely democratic society should not only respect the ethnic, cultural, linguistic, and religious identity of each person belonging to a national minority, but also create appropriate conditions enabling them to express, preserve, and develop their identity.

● The rights aimed to empower minority communities. Minority communities need to have the authority to determine their own affairs and to be able to actively participate in state affairs. To put it simply, the state needs to create the conditions necessary for the effective participation of persons belonging to national minorities in cultural, social, economic, and public affairs, particularly on issues directly affecting them. This includes achieving proportional representation in government positions and active and equal participation in public affairs.[7]

Current Situation

At the Congress of Vienna in 1814, the issue of minority rights was first presented at the international level. Members at the Congress were attempting to find a solution for what to do with German Jews and the Poles. The Congress was hoping that countries like Prussia, Russia, and Austria would be willing to host these minorities, but they all refused, engaging in organized discrimination. Eventually, the first minority rights were proclaimed and enacted by the revolutionary Parliament of Hungary in July 1849. Minority rights were codified into Austrian law in 1867. [9]

Later, the Congress of Paris focused on the status of Jews and Christians in the Ottoman Empire. The massacres of Bulgarians by the Ottomans was considered a series of grave human rights violations and eventually received a copious amount of international attention. Years later in 1878, The Congress of Berlin would also attempt to deal with the status of Jews in Romania, Serbia, and Bulgaria.

The efforts by these well-meaning international bodies in the 19th century ultimately failed to impose significant reforms. Russia continued to selectively protect Orthodox Christians and Slavic people under the control of the Ottoman Empire. Discrimination against specific minorities became more and more prevalent to the public, as Jews began to organize protests against the pogroms, or the violent attacks by non-Jewish populations on Jews in Russia. While a few cases received attention internationally, there was generally little outrage regarding treatment of religious minorities; it was very much a pick and choose situation.

At the Versailles Peace Conference, the Supreme Council established The Committee on New States and for The Protection of Minorities. Countries s were expected to sign minority rights treaties as a precursor to diplomatic recognition. The issue of German and Polish rights was a point of dispute as Polish rights in Germany remained unprotected, unlike the German minority in Poland. Like other principles adopted by the League, the Minorities Treaties were increasingly ignored by the other governments, with the entire system mostly collapsing in the late 1930s. Despite the political failure, they remained the basis for international law. After World War II, the legal principles were successfully incorporated in the UN Charter and a host of international human rights treaties. [9]

International Law

Minority rights represent a legal framework designed to ensure that specific groups, which are in vulnerable, disadvantaged, or marginalized positions in society, are able to achieve equality and are protected from persecution. The first postwar international treaty to protect minorities, designed to protect them from the greatest threat to their existence, was the Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide. [12]

Subsequent human rights standards that codify minority rights include the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (Article 27), the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Persons Belonging to National or Ethnic, Religious and Linguistic Minorities, two Council of Europe treaties (the Framework Convention for the Protection of National Minorities and the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages), and the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) Copenhagen Document of 1990.

Minority rights cover protection of existence, protection from discrimination and persecution, protection and promotion of identity, and participation in political life. To protect minority rights, many countries have specific laws or commissions.[12]

Country Case Studies

Are the rights of religious minorities upheld in developed nations like the US?

When it comes to the rights of religious minorities, many often picture an unstable government with blatant violations of human life. However, it is also key to note other, maybe more subtle forms of religious minority right violations. For instance, in the United States, known for being a rather progressive and human rights law abiding country, citizens remained silent as Tennessee tried to use zoning laws to prevent a mosque from being built. This would be considered a blatant violation of the freedom of religion codified into the US constitution for all citizens. President Donald Trump also suggested that American Muslims should carry identification with them all the time, along with planning to ban non-American Muslims from traveling to the US. Remaining silent about such persecutions is just as bad as being actively involved in removing the rights from minority groups.[14]

Iraq

When thinking about religious minorities, oftentimes the more obvious cases like the Rohingya Muslim crisis or the Syrian refugee crisis come into mind. Still, there are undercovered cases of religious discrimination, like the increased persecution of Christians in the Middle East. For instance, in Iraq, it was confirmed that the Islamic State completely demolished the country’s oldest Christian monastery, St. Elijah Monastery. This landmark was not only sacred to Christians, but also a world cultural asset.[15]

China

Throughout the years in China, there have been varying degrees of religious persecution. The freedom of religion is provided for in the Constitution of the People’s Republic of China. However, it specifically states that the government must protect what they consider to be normal religious activity, defined in practice as activities within government-sanctioned religious organizations and registered places of worship. China has two main minority regions in Xinjiang and Tibet which are known as “autonomous regions.”[17] Xinjiang and Tibet are home to culturally and ethnically distinct people from the Han majority. But while they are considered autonomous regions, they are still under heavy control by the Chinese government. A few years ago, the Human Rights Watch issued a report that details the discriminatory practices that China has exhibited towards the citizens of these regions. Chinese authorities have been using a double-tiered passport system for people in areas populated by religious minorities. This system for passports forces citizens to provide an extensive amount of documentation even for everyday purposes. Other policies have led to a near-total ban on any travel for these residents unless they are on official business. Even Christians, who make up roughly 68 million people in China, have been treated improperly. In 2015, roughly 400 Christian churches were torn down or had crosses, religious symbols removed; this trend has been steadily increasing over the years. [16]

Questions to Consider

When thinking about this topic, delegates may find it prudent to find examples of religious persecution from history and current events. Delegates should think about how countries can have differing religious groups and the prospects of coexisting.

What religious groups exist in your country? What status do they have?

What laws exist in your country to protect minority groups?

Which countries do not recognize religious minorities as its own citizens? Why not? Which countries do?

What policies have they enacted to achieve this recognition?

How can states better protect religious minorities?

How can states diffuse tension between groups of citizens?

How can different types of people uphold the rights of religious minorities? Consider international organizations, government officials, nongovernmental organizations, business leaders, citizens, and any other relevant actors.