MINELRES: ECMI Newsletter No. 30, October 2003

[MINELRES moderator]

Original sender: William Mckinney <mckinney@ecmi.de>


ECMI Newsletter No. 30
October 2003

CONTENTS

-----------------------
1. Upcoming Activities and Events in November 2003
2. Highlights in October 2003
3. We introduce...Power-Sharing in Bosnia-Herzegovina: Strengthening
Implementation of the Dayton Peace Accord and Lessons for Conflict
Management
4. News from ECMI Regional Offices
5. New ECMI Publications
6. New book: Radical Ethnic Movements in Contemporary Europe, ed. by
Farimah Daftary and Stefan Troebst
7. FCNM Database Online
8. New acquisitions in the ECMI Library
-----------------------

-----------------------
1. Upcoming Activities and Events in November 2003
-----------------------

ECMI Regional NGO Resource Centre Bitola Consultative meeting between
the members and the representative of ECMI Regional Office Skopje,
November 10
http://www.ecmingonet.org.mk/

ECMI Kosovo: Standing Technical Working Group, Study Visit and Training
at the Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR),
Warsaw, November 10-14
http://www.ecmi.kos.org/

ECMI Regional NGO Resource Centre Gostivar Consultative meeting between
the members and the representative of ECMI Regional Office Skopje,
November 13
http://www.ecmingonet.org.mk/

ECMI Regional NGO Resource Centre Shtip Consultative meeting between the
members and the representative of ECMI Regional Office Skopje, November
17
http://www.ecmingonet.org.mk/

ECMI Regional Resource Centre Kumanovo Consultative meeting between the
members and the representative of ECMI 
Regional Office Skopje, November 21
http://www.ecmingonet.org.mk/

ECMI Regional Resource Centre Tetovo Consultative meeting between the
members and the representative of ECMI Regional Office Skopje, November
24
http://www.ecmingonet.org.mk/

ECMI Regional NGO Resource Centre Skopje Consultative meeting between
the members and the representative of ECMI Regional Office Skopje,
November 26.
http://www.ecmingonet.org.mk/


----------------------------
2. Highlights in October 2003
----------------------------

ECMI Director Marc Weller visited the ECMI Regional Office in Macedonia.
He participated as a trainer in the training on the Framework Convention
for the Protection of National Minorities in Ohrid, organized by the
Humanitarian Association of Roma in Macedonia "SONCE", a member of the
ECMI NGO Network in Macedonia. The project is funded by the ECMI
National Network and Minority Rights Group. ECMI Director Marc Weller
devoted a significant part of his stay in Macedonia to meeting the ECMI
team where he was briefed about the activities of the ECMI Regional
Centres and Network members. The strategy for further development of the
Network was also discussed. The Research Team for the Project "Towards
Regional Guidelines for the Integration of Roms in the Republic of
Macedonia" also briefed ECMI Director Marc Weller on the progress of
their work, October 4-6.
http://www.ecmingonet.org.mk/

ECMI Kosovo: Fourth Standing Technical Working Group Civic Forum,
second week of October.
http://www.ecmikos.org/



The Centre for Balkan Cooperation "LOJA" - Tetovo, member of the ECMI
NGO Network in Macedonia, marked three years of successful operation by
organizing "Loja Day" at the House of Culture in Tetovo. This happening
was brought into being thanks to the commitment of its members and their
belief that they can make a difference. The event brought together both
adults and children from different ethnic, cultural, and professional
backgrounds, October 15.
http://www.ecmingonet.org.mk/

A Donor Conference was organized by the ECMI Regional NGO Resource
Centre Kumanovo at the Hotel "Kumanovo". Present at the Conference were:
representatives of SIDA-Sweden, the British Embassy, the EU, the OSCE,
the Swiss Embassy, the Mayor of Kumanovo, Mayor of Lipkovo, local
Ministers of Education and Minister of Transport, Directors of the local
schools and media representatives, as well as the ECMI Skopje Team and
the representatives of the NGO members of the ECMI Regional Resource
Centre Kumanovo. This unique event brought together key Kumanovo
stakeholders, namely the local government, institutions, NGOs and the
media to discuss with the International Donor Community the needs of the
people of Kumanovo. Four projects, for which financial support is
needed, were presented in detail by the ECMI NGO Network in Macedonia
members. These proposals are based on the findings of pilot projects
funded by the ECMI NGO Network in Macedonia, October 16.

Minority Ombudsman Conference, Berlin. Representatives of specialized
Ombudsperson institutions as well as general Ombudspersons offices that
routinely deal with minority issues gathered in Berlin for a two-day
conference, together with the six members of the Team of Experts
attached to the project and members of the project team. The discussions
focused on three topics: (a) Foundational Critiera for Specialized
Minority Ombudspersons, (b) the Mandate, Duties and Powers of
Specialized Minority Ombudspersons, and (c) the Functions of Specialized
Minority Ombudspersons and Matters of the Organization of their Offices,
October 16-17.
http://www.ecmi.de/doc/projects_action_3.html


Meeting in Kaliningrad "New problems in the accomodation of migrants in
the region" of the expert committee on migration problems in the
framework of the ECMI project "Stabilization and improvement of 
interethnic relations in the Kaliningrad region", October 23.
http://www.ecmi.de/doc/projects_action_2.html

Meeting in Kaliningrad "Fundraising capacity of national minority
organizations and how to enhance it" of the expert committee on national
minorities in the framework of the ECMI project "Stabilization and
improvement of interethnic relations in the Kaliningrad region", October
24.

ECMI Research Associate Eben Friedman holds a lecture entitled "Policy
toward Roms in the Czech and Slovak Republics, 1989-2003" at a
conference with the title "Menschenrechte in Mittel-und Osteuropa:
Aktueller Stand und Perspektiven im Hinblick auf die EU-Osterweiterung"
(=Human Rights in Central and Eastern Europe: Current state and
perspectives in view of EU Enlargement), organized by B'Nai B'Rith and
sponsored by the Robert Bosch Foundation, Prague, October 24-26.

ECMI Director Marc Weller, Rapporteur to Workshop 1 of the Council of
Europe conference "Filling the Frame: Conference to mark the 5th
Anniversary of the entry into force of the Framework Convention for the
Protection of National Minorities" presents report on "Creating the
Conditions necessary for the Effective Participation of Persons
belonging to National Minorities". The full text of this and other
reports and papers delivered at the conference can be found here.
Strasbourg, October 30-31.
http://www.coe.int/minorities

----------------------
3. We introduce... Power-sharing in Bosnia-Herzegovina: Strengthening
Implementation of the Dayton Peace Accord
----------------------

Power-Sharing in Bosnia-Herzegovina: Strengthening Implementation of the
Dayton Peace Accord and Lessons for Conflict Management

Aims
This project aims to consolidate implementation practice in Bosnia and
Herzegovina in view of the dispersed nature of its governance.
Consequently, it undertakes to comprehensively examine key areas of
public administration across different layers of public authority. This
survey will likewise include an overview of existing national and
international initiatives aimed at strengthening the implementation of
the particular areas of governance. 

The aim of this comprehensive review will be to evaluate the
effectiveness of existing power-sharing structures and implementation
mechanisms in Bosnia. It will furthermore identify best practices. The
project will draft policy recommendations to amend weaknesses of current
practice and create tools for the reproduction of best practices. It
endeavours to establish a greater sense of ownership of the Dayton
political and administrative structures in the territory. 

Relevance
Bosnia is the first case of long-term international institution-building
in a post-conflict setting in Europe. More than five years after the
signing of the Dayton Peace Accords (DPA), some aspects of power-sharing
and institution-building have been successfully implemented, while other
elements remain weak. On the one hand, the mechanisms established, in
combination with the substantial presence of international security
forces and international implementing agencies, have succeeded in
maintaining peace in Bosnia. The established institutions do permit the
functioning of Bosnia as a state. Nevertheless, the implementation of
the power-sharing structures remains mixed.

For one, the complexity of the institutional set-up has delayed progress
in numerous areas of the peace accords. Both the structure of the
permanent institutional mechanisms-more complex than other systems
governing post-conflict countries and multi-ethnic settings-and the
sheer number of the agencies implementing the accords, contribute to the
intricacy of the arrangements. This complexity, in turn, diminishes
public understanding of the issues and hampers participation in
issue-based politics, contributing to the continued success of "ethnic
politics." 

In addition, the functioning of the power-sharing arrangement in Bosnia
has been prone to obstruction by individuals and parties on the level of
the joint state, the entities, and on the level of cantonal and
municipal government. In some cases, parties unwilling to compromise
stall and block the decision-making in relevant power-sharing
institutions. In other cases, instead of seeking to resolve their
demands within the existing structures, parties have unilaterally
withdrawn or threatened to opt out of power-sharing mechanisms. In sum,
the joint institutions of the Bosnian State have not been rendered fully
functional. 

There has been occasional criticism of the power-sharing structures from
local political parties. Furthermore, there have been efforts by the
international community to assess the overall progress in the
implementation of the DPA, for example in the form of regular reviews of
the Peace Implementation Council, and analyses of select specific
aspects of implementation mechanisms (e.g. refugee returns studies
compiled by the International Crisis Group). Nevertheless, no
comprehensive evaluation-in both detail and scope-of the implementation
of the Accords has taken place to date.

In addition to the apparent need to evaluate the effectiveness of one of
Europe's greatest investments in state-building, the new political
realities in Southeastern Europe, and the international community's
changing policy toward the region, demand that the functioning of the
power-sharing system in place in Bosnia be comprehensively examined. The
current level of international involvement in the implementation of the
DPA cannot be sustained indefinitely. The development of fully
democratic and functional institutions and the economic reconstruction
of Bosnia, therefore, cannot rely solely on the continued engagement of
the international community, but rather requires a working power-sharing
arrangement at the level of domestic institutions that is sustained
through domestic support.

The challenge in Bosnia is to identify successful existing mechanisms of
power-sharing within the current institutional set-up and to explore
tools to improve the dysfunctional power-sharing mechanisms within the
existing framework. This requires identifying the needs for legal
protection and political guarantees for all national communities in
Bosnia, and juxtaposing this with the power-sharing framework. In doing
so, there is also a need to differentiate legitimate political demands
within the power-sharing system from obstruction of the system itself. 

In addition to this analytical task, it is important to promote public
involvement in the political process that will extend beyond a fairly
narrowly circumscribed political class. A more active civil society
involvement in state-building needs to be encouraged. 

Project Activities
The project commenced with a two-and-a-half day Workshop held on 13-15
July 2001, and will continue over a period of 24 months (see ECMI Report
# 12). 

The project activities revolve around a series of interlinked events and
outputs, consisting of regular Working Groups and Workshops as well as
the production of Research Reports. The Working Groups constitute the
backbone of the project's activities, their primary purpose being to
guide the substantive development of the project. Each Working Group
will address one of the areas under investigation and will consist of
approximately ten representatives of the main target groups. There will
be three meetings of the Working Groups as well as informal meetings and
communications between its members and the researchers. At times,
membership of the Working Groups will be expanded to about 25, in order
to achieve a wider input into their work. 

The participants of the Working Groups and Workshops will then come
together in a final conference in order to present the findings of their
efforts. In addition to presenting the project's findings, the
conference will also include representatives involved in training
programmes pertaining to the different areas of governance addressed in
the project. In this way, the conference will also initiate a discussion
on implementing the project recommendations through the establishment of
targeted training programmes. 

Links with other Institutions
The first workshop was carried out with the participation of the High
Representative's Office and with representation from the OSCE. In
addition, the project will build synergy with other initiatives, by
identifying best practices and strategies for enhancing the existing
power-sharing mechanisms. 

Funding Details
ECMI gratefully acknowledges the generous support of the Royal Danish
Ministry of Foreign Affairs (FRESTA/Secretariat for Peace and
Stability), the Stability Pact Fund of the German Ministry of Foreign
Affairs and the Swedish Foreign Ministry. 

Project Personnel
The following members of ECMI staff are involved in the project: 

Marc Weller, ECMI Director, Project Leader
Graham Holliday, ECMI Research Associate, Project Coordinator
Valery Perry, ECMI Regional Representative, Sarajevo, Project
Implementation
The following reports on this project can be downloaded at:
http://www.ecmi.de/doc/public_reports.html


ECMI Report #12 
ECMI Report #24
ECMI Report #25 
ECMI Report #29 
ECMI Report #32
ECMI Report #36
ECMI Report #38
ECMI Report #42
---------------------------------------
4. News from ECMI Regional Offices
---------------------------------------

ECMI Kosovo/a Civil Society Project
http://www.ecmikos.org/

Fourth Standing Technical Working Group Civic Forum, second week of
October.
 
ECMI Network for the Improvement of Interethnic Relations in the
Republic
of Macedonia
http://www.ecmingonet.org.mk/
ECMI Director Marc Weller visited the ECMI Regional Office in Macedonia.
He participated as a trainer in the training on the Framework Convention
for the Protection of National Minorities in Ohrid, organized by the
Humanitarian Association of Roma in Macedonia "SONCE", a  member of the
ECMI NGO Network in Macedonia. The project is funded by the ECMI
National Network and Minority Rights Group. ECMI Director Marc Weller
devoted a significant part of his stay in Macedonia to meeting the ECMI
team where he  was briefed about the activities of the ECMI Regional
Centres and Network members. The strategy for further development of the
Network was also discussed. The Research Team for the Project "Towards
Regional Guidelines for the Integration of Roms in the Republic of
Macedonia" also briefed ECMI Director Marc Weller on the  progress of
their work, October 4-6.
A Donor Conference was organized by the ECMI Regional NGO Resource
Centre Kumanovo at the Hotel "Kumanovo". Present at the Conference were:
representatives of SIDA-Sweden, the British Embassy, the EU, the OSCE,
the Swiss Embassy, the Mayor of Kumanovo, Mayor of Lipkovo, local
Ministers of Education and Minister of Transport, Directors of the local
schools and media representatives, as well as the ECMI Skopje Team and
the representatives of the NGO members of the ECMI Regional Resource
Centre Kumanovo. This unique event brought together key Kumanovo
stakeholders, namely the local government, institutions, NGOs and the
media to discuss with the International Donor Community the needs of the
people of Kumanovo. Four projects, for which financial support is
needed, were presented in detail by the ECMI NGO Network in Macedonia
members. These proposals are based on the findings of pilot projects
funded by the ECMI NGO Network in  Macedonia, October 16.
 
---------------------------------------------
5. New ECMI Publications
---------------------------------------------

ECMI Report #47
Holliday, Graham. "Kosovo/a Standing Technical Working Group", Training
Workshop and Study Visit - Council of Europe. August 2003, 28 pp.,
appendix.
Download: http://www.ecmi.de/doc/download/Report_47.pdf

ECMI Report #48
Wolff, Stefan. "Kosovo/a Standing Technical Working Group", Training
Workshop: Regional Integration in the European Union and Western
Balkans. August 2003, 12 pp., appendix.
Download:
http://www.ecmi.de/doc/download/Report_48.pdf

ECMI Report #49
Poleshchuk, Vadim. "Towards Linguistic Diversity Management in the
Baltic States. August 200e, 25 pp., appendix.
Download:
http://www.ecmi.de/doc/download/Report_49.pdf

ECMI Report #50
Martynuk, Vadim. The Role of the Interethnic Factor in the Development
of the Kaliningrad Region. August 2003, 43 pp., appendix.
Download:
http://www.ecmi.de/doc/download/Report_50.pdf

------------------------------------------
6. New book: Radical Ethnic Movements in Contemporary Europe, ed. by
Farimah Daftary and Stefan Troebst
------------------------------------------

Daftary, Farimah, and Stefan Troebst (eds.): Radical Ethnic Movements in
Contemporary Europe. New York, NY, Oxford: Berghahn Books, 2003.
(=Studies in Ethnopolitics), XVI + 208 pages, index. ISBN 1-57181-622-4,
hardback US-$ 49.95.

Nation states and minorities resort more and more to violence when
safeguarding their political interests. Although the violence in the
Middle East has been dominating world politics for some time now,
European governments have had their share of ethnic violence to contend
with as this volume demonstrates.
 
This applies to Western Europe as much as to Eastern Europe as the case
studies demonstrate, ranging as they do from the Basque Country to
Chechnya, from Northern Ireland to Bosnia-Herzegovina. However, in
contrast to other parts of the world, instances where political
struggles for power and social inclusion between minorities and
majorities lead to full-fledged inter-ethnic warfare are still the
exception; in the majority of cases conflicts are successfully
de-escalated and even resolved. In a comprehensive conclusion, the
volume offers a theoretical framework for the development of strategies
to deal with violent ethnic conflict.
       
Radical Ethnic Movements in Contemporary Europe locates the topic within
the current literature and offers a sophisticated analysis of the causes
of ethnopolitical violence based on case studies drawn from both Western
and Eastern Europe. While the overall message of the book is that there
is no single and simple formula that determines the factors that turn a
national or ethnic struggle into a violent ethnopolitical conflict, it
nevertheless brings us nearer to an understanding of this question in
its many facets and also offers an initial assessment of the remedies
that can be brought to bear on ethnopolitical violence.

Thus, this volume is likely to become indispensable not only within the
academic arena for students and lecturers of ethnic conflict, but also
to policy-makers and practitioners in the area of conflict resolution.

CONTENTS: Introduction, Stefan Troebst and Farimah Daftary, p. 1.

PART ONE: COMPARISONS.
1. Regionalism in Western Europe, Peter Alter, p. 21; 2. 
Conflicts Between East European States and Minorities in an Age of
Democracy, Tom Gallagher, p. 31.

PART TWO: CASE STUDIES.
3. Ethnoradicalism as a Mirror Image
of State Centralisation: the Basque Paradigm in Franco's Spain, Daniele
Conversi, p. 57; 4. Chechnya and the Caucasus, Helen Krag, p. 71; 5.
International Dimensions of the Northern Ireland Conflict and
Settlement, Adrian Guelke, p. 84; 6. Explaining Ethnic Violence in
Bosnia-Herzegovina, Marie-Janine Calic, p. 105.

PART THREE: LESSONS.
7. The Use of Force in Minority Majority Relations: An International Law
Perspective, Rainer Hofmann,
p. 133; 8. Third Party Mediation in Violent Ethnic Conflicts, Norbert
Ropers, p. 150.

PART FOUR: CONCLUSION.
9. In Quest of Peaceful Coexistence Strategies in Regulating Ethnic
Conflicts, Ulrich Schneckener and Dieter Senghaas, p. 165; index, p.
201.

Farimah Daftary is a former Senior Research Associate of the European
Centre for Minority Issues (ECMI), Flensburg, Germany.

Stefan Troebst is Professor of East European Cultural Studies at the 
University of Leipzig, Germany, and Deputy Director of the Leipzig
Centre for East Central Europe (GWZO). He was the founding director of
the European Centre for 
Minority Issues (ECMI), Flensburg, Germany.

This book is part of the series "Studies in Ethnopolitics", edited by
Timothy D. Sisk, University of Denver, and Stefan Wolff, University of
Bath. Focussing on the ethnopolitical dimension of the security and
stability of states and regions, this series addresses theoretical and
practical issues relating to the management, settlement and prevention
of ethnic conflicts.

Review copies may be requested by Berghahn Books, New York and Oxford,
UK fax
+44 (1865) 25 00 56, UK fax +1 (212) 222-5209.


------------------------------------------
7. FCNM Database Online
------------------------------------------
The ECMI Framework Convention for the Protection of National Minorities
Database aims to provide a comprehensive collection of materials on the
negotiation and implementation of the Convention. The imminent
conclusion of the first cycle of monitoring makes this a particularly
auspicious time to review progress. The Database enables scholars and
practitioners to gain rapid insight into the practice of governments in
the implementation of the commitment they undertook when becoming
parties to the FCNM. This project is placed in the context of a further
major ECMI venture: a scholarly article-by-article commentary of the
Convention produced by eminent specialists in the field of minority
rights.

The coverage of the Database includes:
- Full review of the negotiating history
- Consolidated overview of State Reports
- Comprehensive list of Advisory Committee Opinions
- Extensive presentation of Comments by States
- References to Committee of Ministers Resolutions
- Links to other related instruments

The Database covers the evolution of monitoring up to July 2003 and will
be regularly updated to incorporate recent events.

ECMI gratefully acknowledges the generous support of the Framework
Convention Secretariat of the Council of Europe for this project. A link
to the Database can be found at:
http://www.ecmi.de/doc/projects_research_10.html.

----------------------------------------
8. New acquisitions in the ECMI Library
----------------------------------------

Birckenbach, Hanne Margret and Christian Wellmann (eds.) (2003). The
Kaliningrad Challenge: Options and Recommendations. Kieler Schriften zur
Friedenswissenschaft, 10. Munster; New Brunswick: Lit Verlag;
Transaction Publishers, 298 pp.
The Kaliningradskaya Oblast will soon turn into an island amid the
enlarged EU and NATO and constitutes a twofold challenge to European
politics. Due to its socioeconomic, historical, geographical, strategic
and cultural peculiarities the detached region may become a source of
instability. However, due to the above-mentioned peculiarities the
region also bears the potential to serve as a pilot-region for
EU-Russian partnership. This book provides recommendations to a wide
range of actors on how to approach the Kaliningrad challenge in a
proactive manner, complemented by an array of issue-oriented chapters
which provide in-depth reasoning on the recommendations made here.

Marko, Joseph, Roberta Medda-Windischer and Catrin Pekari (2003). LISI:
Legal Indicators for Social Inclusion of New Minorities Generated by
Immigration. Arbeitshefte 44. Bozen: European Academy, 284 pp.
This book is in English, German and Italian. The main results obtained
during the implementation of the European Commission-funded LISI project
can be found here.

The primary objective of the project is to devise common legal
indicators for measuring integration of new minorities originating from
immigration potentially applicable in a EU-wide context. The LISI
indicators measure the two major aspects of legal integration: legal
equality, meaning equal rights and duties compared to citizens of the
host country, and access to minority rights such as cultural, linguistic
and religious rights. This project aims at complementing research and
analyses conducted in the field of social exclusion of the new
minorities originating from immigration that do not always consider to a
sufficient degree the legal aspects pertaining to social integration.
Classical empirical analyses of the social integration of this target
group are usually based on statistical data which are generally
available only to a limited degree and are often not suitable for
supporting comparative analysis because almost every country has its own
survey methods.

The LISI indicators constitute a useful tool for systematic comparisons
across countries in specific policy areas and for generating inductive
typologies or clusters of countries that show similar features in their
approach to the legal integration of new minorities. In addition, they
can be used as an instrument for underpinning areas in which legal
measures should be adopted by political bodies in order to counteract
discrimination and forms of exclusion. In sum, this book is indeed a
welcome addition to the literature on this subject.

Pentassuglia, Gaetano (2002). State Sovereignty, Minorities and
Self-Determination: A Comprehensive Legal View. International Journal on
Minority and Group Rights 9 (4), 303-324

An advanced understanding of self-determination assumes the
accommodation of individual and group interests to be less a question
of  'ceding' sovereignty than of responding to sub-national and
supranational or international constituent pressure and demand.
Certainly the human rights implications of autonomy structures (notably,
the individual-based and group-based equality aspects) must be carefully
measured, especially when it comes to truly collective regimes; after
all, such structures should be construed as a practical means to an end
under particular circumstances, not as an end in itself. In this
respect, pervasive power-sharing systems may be seen as a 'least worst'
solution in deeply divided societies.
http://ecmidb.aboutmedia.de/

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

We hope you have enjoyed this thirtieth issue of the ECMI Newsletter,
and we hope you will remember to tell interested colleagues about it.

If you have any comments or suggestions for improvement of this
newsletter, please contact William McKinney at:
mckinney@ecmi.de