MINELRES: Recommendations from Almaty NGO Preparatory Meeting

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Original sender: Nadir Kamaladdinov <nadir_kamaladdinov@hotmail.com>


Recommendations from the NGO Preparatory Meeting
for the Tolerance Implementation Meeting on Promoting Inter-Cultural,
Inter-Religious and Inter-ethnic Understanding
Almaty, 12-13 June 2006


Introduction

- We are grateful for the efforts of the Chairmanship to have initiated
a forum to prepare recommendations for the Tolerance Implementation
Meeting;
- We thank the initiative of the Chairmanship to offer the opportunity
to two Delegates of civil society to give keynote speeches, and in
particular to present the conclusions and recommendations of the
Preparatory Meeting and we recommend that this initiative be
institutionalized in future OSCE conferences and meetings.

Areas of concern

- We remind the PS of the OSCE to avoid double standards in assessing
the human rights situation in PS of the OSCE;
- We remind the PS of their existing commitments to safeguard the right
of freedom of religion or belief;
- We remind the PS that the obligation to protect their citizens against
terrorism does not justify curtailments of freedom of religion or
belief, freedom of association, freedom of assembly, freedom of speech
or other human rights.

Recommendations

- We recommend that dialogue initiatives emanating from civil society be
acknowledged and supported by OSCE institutions and supported by the
OSCE at a political level;
- We recommend that the OSCE engage more actively in supporting civil
society in strengthening their dialogue with and relations to State
authorities, in particular through establishing local, regional and
national consultation mechanisms;
- We remind the PS to adhere to their commitments to guarantee freedom
of assembly and recommend that existing commitments be further
elaborated. We recall that registration laws should provide for the
offer of legal personality and must never be a legal requirement (for
those communities who choose not to register);
- We encourage the OSCE to facilitate the establishment of consultation
mechanisms for ombudsmen and civil society in order to foster the
exchange of information and the sharing of best practices in areas where
such mechanisms are not currently in place;
- We recommend that PS adopt and where necessary strengthen
comprehensive antidiscrimination legislation and pursue
antidiscrimination policies proactively;
- We recommend that the OSCE PS strengthen the implementation of the
body of commitments respecting the linguistic and cultural heritage of
minorities in order to safeguard against discrimination of these
grounds;
- We recommend that OSCE PS intensify efforts to implement programmes
and support projects emanating from civil society aiming to promote
equal opportunities and eradicate discrimination against Roma and Sinti
especially in the CIS;
- We recognize that political representatives have a moral imperative
and social responsibility to speak out against hate-motivated acts and
incidents, and to avoid the use of intolerant and inflammatory
statements which may incite prejudice, hatred or hostility against
individuals or groups on the basis of race, ethnic origin, religion or
belief, sexual orientation or disability;
- We recommend that the PS and OSCE institutions foster an awareness by
the media of their political, social, societal and ethical
responsibility to prevent discriminatory and inflammatory public
discourse;
- While recognizing specificities among different cultural, ethnic,
ethic, religious and other communities, we recommend that the OSCE, in
acknowledging the added value of coalition work, support the activities
of existing networks fighting intolerance; and encourage the
establishment and the development of regional coalitions (inter-faith,
inter-cultural and inter-ethnic) throughout the OSCE region;
- We recognize the need for the development of a database compiling
illustrations of good practices on coalition building, highlighting
successful examples of inter-cultural, inter-ethnic and inter-religious
coalition projects aiming at increasing the level of trust between
groups;
- We recommend that the PS and the OSCE institutions acknowledge the
specific asset of youth engaged in the fight against intolerance,
encourage and facilitate its involvement in decision making process;
build the capacity of youth organizations and leadership and seek close
cooperation with the initiative of the CoE;
- We recommend that the OSCE institutions facilitate the emergence of a
youth forum on tolerance, non discrimination, mutual respect and
understanding. Such a youth forum should be empowered to make
recommendations on these issues;
- We recommend that the OSCE PS strengthen their efforts to develop and
promote a greater awareness and understanding of different religions
through education and training programmes with the aim of safeguarding
against discrimination on religious grounds;
- We recommend the existence of multiple identities as a wealth and as a
catalyzing force for cooperation and dialogue. We therefore recommend
that the OSCE PS engage in education on ethnic diversity with the aim of
safeguarding against political and societal discrimination.

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Nadir Kamaladdinov,

Director of International Caucasus Foundation on Minority Issues (ICFMI)
Address: 121-82, Mir-Jalal St, Baku City, 370147, Azerbaijan Republic
Phone: +99450 3288326, 2016076
Phone/Fax: +99412 4683839
E-mail: nadir_kamaladdinov@hotmail.com
WebSite: http://www.icfmi.narod.ru/


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