Background

Article 1 paragraph 1 of the 1992 Declaration on the Rights of Persons Belonging to National or Ethnic, Religious and Linguistic Minorities states: “States shall protect the existence and the national or ethnic, cultural, religious and linguistic identity of minorities within their respective territories and shall encourage conditions for the promotion of that identity.” Article 1 paragraph 2 provides: “States shall adopt appropriate legislative and other measures to achieve those ends.”

In order to assess how these requirements from the 1992 Declaration are being implemented – which is the first task given to the Special Rapporteur by Resolution 52/5 of the Human Rights Council – the Special Rapporteur on minority issues will devote his report to the 58th session of the Human Rights Council to explore how state institutions and/or political traditions support the expression and preservation of national, ethnic, cultural, religious, or linguistic minority identities, thereby ensuring the existence of minorities within a diverse society.

The Special Rapporteur is well aware that the 1992 Declaration addresses the rights of persons belonging to minorities, not the rights of minorities themselves. This is why, in his report to the 58th session of the Human Rights Council, he will investigate whether a specific right to identity for persons belonging to minorities exists.

Introduction

This report – as his previous report to the Human Rights Council in 2024, entitled “Promoting diversity on minority issues to strengthen the universal dimension of human rights” – aims at highlighting the positive and significant contribution of minority identities to national identity, and the benefits of protecting minorities’ existence for the enrichment and stability of States.

Examining the contributions of minority identities to societies requires understanding the relationship between minority and majority identities. As the Rapporteur stated in his 2024 report to the Human Rights Council, in line with Article 1 of the 1992 Declaration: “One of the central issues in the recognition and protection of minorities is to enable them to maintain and promote their own identity, as a group distinct from the majority of the population”.

In order to enhance the understanding of the contribution of minority identities to society, the Special Rapporteur considers it useful to carry out a comparative examination of the expression and preservation of minority identities in societies and their relationship with national and majority identities.

Objectives

This call for written submissions aims to inform the preparation of the 2025 report of the Special Rapporteur on minority issues, which will highlight contribution of minority identities to societies.

Key questions and types of input/comments sought

Sharing experiences and highlighting achievements, while also recognizing shortcomings, is crucial for improving the situation of individuals belonging to minorities within national contexts, as well as to foster inclusive, cohesive, peaceful, stable, and diverse societies.

In order to obtain a broad representation of views to inform the thematic report, the Special Rapporteur is seeking written contributions from all relevant stakeholders through responses to a list of questions. The list could be answered entirely or partially according to the expertise and experience of those actors willing to contribute to the Report. Please find the list of questions here and please refer to the question accordingly in your response:

1. What are the main elements that define your minority identity? How do they make the minority distinct from the rest of the population of the State?
    
2. How do you articulate your minority identity with the “national” identity in the country where you live? Do you consider that minority and majority identities are approached in complementary or competing ways in your national context?
    
3. Do you consider that minorities identities are reflected in the laws, constitutions and national symbols of your country?
    
4. Do you consider that your country’s legislative and/or other measures are appropriate to achieve the protection and/or promotion of minority identities? If so, what type of measures are adopted to achieve this goal?
    
5. Do you consider that legislative and/or other measures that prevent the expression and/or enjoyment of their identity by persons belonging to minorities exist in your country?

How inputs will be used?

All submissions will be posted on the official webpage of the Special Rapporteur on minority issues. Civil society organizations or individuals can request their submissions to remain confidential by explicitly requesting this in their submissions.