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Regional HR protection and indigenous groups 12 European instruments on human and minority rights Emanating principally from the Council of Europe, key European instruments have considerable potential to advance human rights strategies of indigenous groups. The Council of Europe was founded in 1949 as a European organisation for intergovernmental and parliamentary cooperation. The central motive for the creation of the Council was the need to secure democracy in the light of recent and actual totalitarianism and to prevent the recurrence of the gross
Numerous scholars and policymakers have highlighted the predicament of Roma as the most disadvantaged ethnic minority in Europe. This predicament has often been discussed as an unfortunate anomaly within otherwise inclusive liberal democratic states.
In this book, Julija Sardelić offers a novel socio-legal enquiry into the position of Roma as marginalised citizens in Europe. Whilst acknowledging previous research on ethnic discrimination, racism and the socio-economic disadvantages Roma face in Europe, she discusses civic marginalisation from the perspective of global citizenship studies. She argues that the Romani minorities in Europe are unique, but the approaches of civic marginalisation Roma have faced are not. States around the globe have applied similar legislation and policies that have made traditionally settled minorities marginalised. These may have seemed inclusive to all citizens or have been designed to improve the position of minority citizens yet they have often actively contributed to the construction of civic marginalisation. The book looks at civic marginalisation by examining topics such as free movement and migration, statelessness and school segregation as well as how minorities respond to marginalisation. It shows how marginalised minorities can have a wide spectrum of ‘multicultural rights’ and still face racism and significant human rights violations. To understand such a paradox, Sardelić offers new theoretical concepts, such as the invisible edges of citizenship and citizenship fringes.
minority rights. The first section examines the initial marginalisation of minority rights questions within the UN system, highlighting how the mainstreaming of human rights provided early justification for not having titular standards devoted to protecting minorities and indigenous peoples. The second section focuses on why the International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination (ICERD/the Convention)8 is the only universal binding international standard for minority rights, on the basis of its remit against other related instruments, and
Irish postmodernity’, eih ch-10.P65 182 26/3/03, 15:18 Community, language and culture 183 the Gaeltacht has become the state’s testing ground for decentralisation and local governance, as well as for the progressive recognition of linguistic and cultural minority rights.38 The ‘local and universal’ Gaeltacht These developments present both opportunities for and threats to the construction of community. As Ó hIfearnáin argues,39 the Irish state has progressively withdrawn from direct action: following a policy of disengaging with direct sponsorship not simply
approach the civic marginalisation of Roma in Europe from a different perspective: it argues that Roma have been a visible minority but invisible as citizens. The EU and its Member States have manifestly constructed (supra)national citizenship on the foundation of fundamental rights and minority protection. Nevertheless, the chapter questions why such a construction still leaves many Roma, who are clearly in need of having their fundamental and minority rights protected (Pogány, 2004 ), on the fringes of citizenship: can this be attributed to the uniqueness of Roma as a
several domains of discourse: those of collective rights (self-determination), undifferentiated individual rights (most of the text), and minority rights (Article 27); it does not include a specific article on indigenous rights. The First Optional Protocol (the Optional Protocol) to the ICCPR, which allows for communications from individuals who claim to be victims of violations of Covenant rights, has 98 States’ parties.5 States declining to allow individuals this additional facility include indigenous-rich Belize, Brazil, Honduras, India, Japan, Mexico, Sudan, Thailand
This chapter examines the special position women hold in a discussion of minority rights. They are seen as victims who need rescuing or as sexual exotic beings. This was as true under colonialism as it is now, particularly with regard to Muslim women. The logic of “civilising” is inherent to this logic, particularly expressed around what is seen as an inferior culture. Feminists are not exempt from this attitude. I examine the politics around the veiling issue in France, and forced marriages in Britain, as examples of this trend.
This chapter examines the breadth and depth of the EU intervention in human rights and minority protection provision in Romania. The main EU financial, technical and legal instruments are examined in relation to the transformations that occurred on the ground. The application of human rights conditionality in Romania led to transformations in relation to a wide range of social, civil, political and minority rights. The role played by EU institutions, national and international NGOs and other external donors is highlighted. The human rights conditionality applied by the Commission went beyond the existing EU acquis and internal mandate in human rights, particularly in relation to policy sectors such as minority protection, mental health and prison conditions. This external human rights function provided the European Commission with invaluable experience and expertise regarding the reform of the human rights systems of former communist countries.
Lesbian and gay activists in Sheffield often organised in ways distinct from the wider activist milieu. This chapter explores how, against a backdrop of rising homophobia and constraints to local government funding, Sheffield’s labour movement failed to recognise the political significance of sexual identity at a moment when left-wing lesbian and gay activists were turning more fully towards it; focusing on creating safe social spaces, providing counselling and information around sexuality and gender identity, and responding to HIV/AIDS. The development of gay discos and phone lines was inherently political and in those spaces Sheffield’s gay community was formed. By the late 1980s Sheffield University’s Lesbian, Gay and Bisexual Society became an important voice for sexual minority rights in the city; working out internal divisions and making attempts to connect to people outside Sheffield’s universities. Members formed Lesbian and Gay Fightback to organise against homophobic legislation and succeeded in building bridges with Sheffield City Council over fostering.
Imperial occasions of special worship, most notably for royal events, became more frequent in the late Victorian and Edwardian eras. Various kinds of special worship marked royal occasions in 1872, 1887, 1897, 1901, 1902, 1910 and 1911. Though the task of proclaiming and organising special acts of worship was devolved to colonial authorities, technological developments, namely the telegraph, meant there was some coordination, and colonial and metropolitan observances took place almost simultaneously The jubilees of 1887 and 1897, the coronations of 1902 and 1911, and memorial services for dead monarchs exhibited much of the ceremonial style that became such a feature of royal celebration and commemoration in the United Kingdom (they also had an intimate and personal quality which was lacking in special worship for other causes). These popular and multi-faith events also provided a focus for imperial unity in an age of colonial self-government and church independence. The chapter argues that the movements of governors on royal occasions – that is, where they chose to worship – are an important register of the evolving relationship between the monarchy, and the Crown authorities more generally, and the empire’s varied faith communities. The chapter also suggests that royal occasions had an integrative and popular character because colonial communities – from the most privileged to the marginalised – had various reasons for identifying with the monarchy: the Crown might be viewed as a protector of minority rights, a symbol of Protestant ascendancy and a point of appeal.