Re: Czech Republic ratifies the minority convention (and a comment)

Date: Sat, 31 Jan 98 12:50:02 -0500
From: MINELRES moderator <[email protected]>
Message-Id: <[email protected]>
To: "[email protected]" <[email protected]>
Subject: Re: Czech Republic ratifies the minority convention (and a comment)

From:    MINELRES moderator       <[email protected]>

Original sender: Fernand De Varennes  <[email protected]>

Re: Czech Republic ratifies the minority convention (and a comment)


Could someone explain to me the basis for the following comment on the
Framework Convention on National Minorities which was contained in a recent
posting at MINELRES:

>  Given that this convention has been a source of contention
> among the Council's member-states, a general definition of the term
> "minority" has not been adopted. Each state can decide for itself
> which groups it chooses to recognise as a minority.
 
Minority was not precisely defined for the application of Article 26 of the
International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, but in a number of
decisions and comments the United Nations Human Rights Committee has made it
relatively clear that defining a minority under the Covenant is not left to
the discretion of the government: it is an objective definition which rests
on whether or not a linguistic, religious or ethnic group represents less
than 50% of the population of a State.

Why and how is the Framework Convention different?

Merci!

Dr Fernand de Varennes
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