CoE Recommends Improving Protections for National Minorities

Yesterday, the Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe adopted a Resolution on the implementation by Georgia of the CoE Framework Convention for the Protection of National Minorities.

The Resolution is largely based on the latest opinion on Georgia published in January 2016 by the Advisory Committee of the Framework Convention for the Protection of National Minorities. In that opinion, the Advisory Committee praised the important progress in protecting national minorities made since 2011, including new legislation and policies to ensure equality and integration and to combat discrimination, continued support to media and cultural activities in minority languages, and promotion of the participation of minorities in public life. However, the opinion said, national minorities remained marginalized; language barriers still existed; the quality of teaching at minority language schools was low; and hate speech and inter-faith tensions were on the rise.

The new Resolution adopted by the Committee of Ministers also takes note of the comments of the Government of Georgia and of other countries. It briefly lists positive developments, issues of concern, and adopts the following recommendations to the Government.

“In addition to the measures to be taken to implement the detailed recommendations contained in sections I and II of the opinion of the Advisory Committee, the authorities are invited to take the following measures to improve further the implementation of the Framework Convention:

- Pursue the effective implementation of the comprehensive Civic Equality and Integration State Strategy and respective Action Plan 2015-2020, to promote the equal access to rights of persons belonging to national minorities, while maintaining close consultation with representatives and taking full account of the evaluation of previous measures; government commitment to the full and effective equality of national minorities should further be more consistently portrayed in political discourse;

- Promote the effective implementation of the 2014 Antidiscrimination Law by raising awareness of the applicable standards and relevant redress mechanisms amongst society and ensure that the provisions are consistently applied by the government and throughout the public sector;

- Enhance the available support for activities at central and local level aimed at the preservation and promotion of all national minority identities and cultures, including through longer-term assistance and the provision of suitable premises where possible; closely involve representatives in relevant allocation procedures;

- Strengthen the response capacity within law enforcement to investigate and sanction adequately and promptly hate crime and hate speech against minorities; publicly and promptly condemn all expressions of intolerance and disrespect towards minorities and facilitate the effective investigation of all cases of alleged police abuse through the establishment of an independent and specialized body;

- Increase efforts to promote an attractive and diverse media environment with ample opportunities for persons belonging to national minorities, including the numerically smaller ones, to access quality media in their languages and ensure that national minorities are adequately represented and portrayed in mainstream media;

- Pursue the adoption of a legislative framework for the use of languages and promote the effective implementation of established guarantees for the use of minority languages throughout the country, while creating an environment that is conducive also for the use of languages spoken by numerically smaller minorities;

- Elaborate adequate standards of minority language learning in close consultation with national minority representatives and relevant schools; develop a comprehensive strategy for the promotion of modern language learning methodologies in minority language schools, including with respect to adequate education materials and teacher training opportunities, aiming at proficiency in first languages and in Georgian; pursue efforts to promote equal access to education for persons belonging to national minorities and actively prevent religious indoctrination in schools;

- Enhance the operative functioning of the Council of National Minorities to ensure the effective participation of representatives from communities in the regions, including by allocating an appropriate budget; increase efforts to boost the representation of national minorities in elected bodies and public administration at all levels, including within the context of broader decentralization processes; ensure that persons belonging to national minorities benefit equally from regional infrastructure and development projects and promote their equal access to the social and health facilities as well as to employment opportunities throughout the country.”

The Committee of Ministers noted in the preamble of the Resolution that the fact that Abkhazia and South Ossetia remain outside the effective control of the Georgian authorities is adversely affecting the implementation of the Framework Convention throughout the entire territory of Georgia.

The full text of the Resolution is available at http://bit.ly/2LJgt8K

Source: Council of Europe

Photo: Council of Europe