2012 #02. NEWSLETTER Institute for Minority Rights EDITORIAL. The EU Crisis, the Newspapers and the Role of Rights

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1 Research Training Consultation Publications NEWSLETTER Institute for Minority Rights 2012 #02 Visit our website at EDITORIAL The EU Crisis, the Newspapers and the Role of Rights 01 Territorial Dimension of Cultural Diversity and Conflict Management in South Asia 02 International Conference: What Has the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples Achieved? 03 Feeling Optissimic Human Rights, Minorities and Diversity Management from Many Perspectives and Many Countries: The IMR Summer School and the Annual Minority-Rights Lecture 04 Südtirolismen II: Remembering the Feuernacht in Südtirol- Alto Adige 05 Minorities and Sport 06 Publications A Martian reading the current headlines in our very terrestrial newspapers might run the risk of concluding that Europe is in the process of dissolution. This crisis risks becoming a synonym for the overall status of Europe. For over half a century, the European idea stood on solid grounds, even if, admittedly, it did not have an explicit mandate from Europe s majority populations, but nor has it been a minority program ; instead, European integration has been characterized by a silent permissive consensus. The current crisis puts this consensus at risk. European membership (at least of some member states in the Eurozone) is up for discussion, and trust between member states, as well as in the European Union itself, is in decline. At the same time, the idea of a proper European transfer union remains a no-go. Far-right populist parties linking anti-eu propaganda with anti-immigrant rhetoric are on the rise. Forces like these tend to depict the EU as a detached entity threatening national identities and sovereignty. But is less Europe really the appropriate medicine against the current crisis? In this context, it is timely to stress the fact that the EU is more than an economic union. Member states unambiguously adhere to shared EU standards. At the same time, solidarity has its limits, as can be seen in the field of asylum, where the burden remains very unequally distributed among member states. Moreover, situations of wider political crisis like those recently in Hungary or currently in Romania show that the role of the Union with respect to a systemic crisis remains unclear. Nevertheless, it is important to underline that in its day-to-day business, Europe offers a solid human-rights framework that is exceptional in international relations. The EU provides strong legislation (like, for instance, in the field of anti-discrimination) but also creative forms of policy coordination (as, for instance, with the new framework for national action plans for the social inclusion of Roma populations). Soon, the EU will accede to the European Convention on Human Rights another success story of European integration. In fact, the European Union has, in recent years, increasingly put fundamental rights at the center of its attention. This helps to increase trust. Trust is not only relevant in an economic context. It is also a key notion in the world of human rights. In the area of cooperation in criminal matters, for example, the Union expects that member states will trust their fellow member states to offer sufficient protection. This trust cannot be blind; rather, it needs to be situated in a context of solid mechanisms guaranteeing sufficient controls. Here, also, the EU has an important role to play. Unfortunately, however, it is not only Martians who find it difficult to understand from newspapers that European cooperation is also about the protection of human rights, including the rights of people belonging to minorities, a value that is of special importance in times of economic crisis and that helps improve the lives of those living on this continent. Gabriel Toggenburg Programme Manager Legal Research at the European Union Fundamental Rights Agency (FRA) and Member of the Ring of Friends of the Institute for Minority Rights, EURAC.

2 Meeting of EURAC researchers with Mr. Lobsang Sangay, Prime Minister of the Tibetan Government in Exile, and members of the Cabinet. 01 Territorial Dimension of Cultural Diversity and Conflict Management in South Asia The agenda of the Institute of Minority Rights (IMR) in spring-summer 2012 focused on a series of events related to South Asia. At the end of March, for example, the vice chairman of the Nepal Law Commission visited EURAC to share the latest political and constitutional developments in the country. Shortly thereafter, at the end of May, Nepal s prime minister called fresh elections for November after years of deadlock in which political parties represented in the Constituent Assembly have failed to agree on a new constitution. The crux of the matter is whether a Nepali federal system should be formed along ethnic lines or not. In recent years, the IMR has developed special expertise on Nepal, as well as the neighboring countries of South Asia, through several research projects (see, for example, that focused on enhancing the requisite knowledge base for new policies and instruments to reduce ethnic and religious conflicts and to foster stability and security in the region. As in the case of Nepal, it is often asserted that states are reluctant to grant functional autonomy to minorities because of fears that this will encourage separatism and, in the end, will lead to secession. Yet, the European and South Asian experience shows that, in many cases, aspirations of minority and indigenous population groups can in large part be met by appropriate institutional arrangements for self-government. In this context, the IMR s Tibet-related activities also deserve particular consideration. Since the mid-1990s, the IMR has provided technical and legal assistance to ministers and high-ranking officials from the Tibetan Government in Exile, civil servants and scholars. In particular, EURAC researchers have acted as facilitators and mediators in the process of familiarizing Tibetan representatives on matters of minority protection and selfdetermination by means of autonomy arrangements focusing on the South Tyrolean autonomy model as a best practice. Visits to EURAC by His Holiness the 14th Dalai Lama (November 2009) and Prime Minister Lobsang Sangay (February 2012) reinforced these special relations. Most recently, at the end of May, a EURAC delegation traveled to Dharamsala (India) for a series of meetings with the Tibetan Government in Exile and a workshop on minorities and autonomies organized together with the Tibet Policy Institute (TPI). The Dharamsala meeting was an excellent opportunity for EURAC and the Tibetan Government in Exile to discuss and agree upon a set of measures aimed at further enhancing the framework for cooperation in the coming years. The TPI plays a key role in this strategic planning. Established in February 2012 as a policy and research think tank under the Central Tibetan Administration, the TPI has a mandate to function as a research-oriented intellectual platform and to study all aspects of Tibetrelated issues. The EURAC researchers were the first foreign experts invited to hold lectures to hone the skills and expand the knowledge of TPI staff. Sergiu Constantin Researcher sergiu.constantin@eurac.edu

3 02 International Conference: What Has the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples Achieved? Developments and Challenges Five Years on (EMPI III) The UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples (UNDRIP), as is widely known, took approximately 20 years to be drawn up. This period included a number of tough debates, and the result is that the Declaration is not a fully fledged treaty, at least from a strict (legal) formal perspective. Despite its sui generis non-binding nature, The Declaration [ ] is the most comprehensive and advanced of international instruments dealing with indigenous peoples [ ], wrote the former Special Rapporteur on the rights of indigenous peoples, Rodolfo Stavenhagen, together with Claire Charters, in a book they co-edited called Making the Declaration Work (IWGIA, Copenhagen, 2009). Indeed, not only was the UNDRIP automatically endorsed as a piece of domestic legislation (in the unprecedented case of Bolivia), but, even more importantly, national courts have started to apply the Declaration in recent sentences (e.g., the Court of Appeal of Valdivia, in Chile, sentence Rol on the relocation of hazardous material onto indigenous territories). These two instances of direct enforcement of the Declaration are only two of a wide range of practical implications. What impact has the UNDRIP had in the five years since its adoption? What is its potential? Have indigenous peoples been empowered as a result of its adoption? With these and other questions in mind, this third Multidisciplinary Meeting on Indigenous Peoples/Encuentro Multidisciplinar sobre Pueblos Indígenas (EMPI III), organized by Alexandra Tomaselli, researcher at the Institute for Minority Rights, and Pablo Gutiérrez Vega, Professor of Law at the University of Seville, was held on 5-6 June in Seville, Spain. More than 30 presenters forming six working sessions came together at this annual meeting of the EMPI network, which groups young scholars dealing with indigenous issues worldwide. The best papers presented during the conference will soon be published in a volume of conference proceedings. Alexandra Tomaselli Researcher alexandra.tomaselli@eurac.edu 03 Feeling Optissimic - Human Rights, Minorities and Diversity Management from Many Perspectives and Many Countries: The IMR Summer School and the Annual Minority-Rights Lecture The Arab-Israeli conflict in the Gaza Strip and the West Bank has occupied the world s collective consciousness for decades. Far less known is the plight of the 1.3 million Palestinians who live as a minority within the state of Israel itself. In the annual minority-rights lecture, held in the framework of the 2012 Summer School on Human Rights, Minorities and Diversity Management, Yousef Jabareen, a human-rights scholar and lecturer at the University of Haifa and Tel-Hai Academic College, lawyer and community activist, as well as founding Director of the Arab Center for Law and Policy, made his case, claiming that the politicization of ethnicity, as discussed during the Summer School, leads to tension not only in the Arab-Israeli conflict but also in discussions on multiculturalism and immigrant integration. Jabareen said that he felt optissimic (meaning both optimistic and pessimistic at the same time) about the conflict and the region. I see my role as continuing to look for and move towards the light at the end of the tunnel. To this end, many dedicated activists in both communities continue to advocate for the adoption of a human rights based approach, and full individual and group-based equality for national groups in order to bring about a solution for the Palestinian people. The international community has promoted and should continue to advocate for such a vision: two democratic states, with Jerusalem as a shared capital. I hope and believe that at some point a critical mass of people in our region will understand this as well: that it is only by fulfilling equity, inclusion and justice that we can live in harmony. Once we have internalised this feeling, peace will be on the calendar. (For a full interview conducted by Peter Farbridge, see Academia 2012, the European Academy s Science Magazine, available online at Conflicts based on ethnic or religious diversity are not declining but are, rather, on the rise, if we think of the current state of the world. Thus, the topics discussed at the annual International Summer School of the Minority Rights Institute, which took place from 25 June through 6 July 2012 in Bozen/Bolzano are not outdated: how to protect human and minority rights and how to best govern ethnic, religious, linguistic or cultural diversity are always the central questions at the Summer School. Although, this year, these issues were studied through a comparison of Canada and various European institutions and countries, the 36 participants from all over the world enriched the program with their personal experiences of conflicts and tensions of various kinds in Tibet, Syria, Pakistan, Hungary, and Greece, among others. The same excellence, enthusiasm and diversity that characterized this group of students could also be found within the teaching body. Thanks to everybody who contributed to the 2012 Summer School! We are already looking forward to the next edition. Further information on the summer school can be found at edu/summerschool. Verena Wisthaler Researcher verena.wisthaler@eurac.edu

4 04 Südtirolismen II: Remembering the Feuernacht in Südtirol-Alto Adige Conference March 2012, EURAC Overnight on June 1961, a number of electricity pylons were blown up in South Tyrol. Known as Feuernacht, or night of fire, the event has come to symbolize one of the most tragic episodes in the process of the development of regional autonomy. But why would historians and political scientists still be assessing the significance of the Feuernacht today? What impact does it continue to have on local communities? While there were certainly many social and political reasons that motivated the event, its consequences in polarizing public opinion along ethnic lines certainly cannot be ignored. These assumptions and questions provided the starting point for the Second Conference on Südtirolismen, Remembering the Feuernacht, as follow-up to the first meeting held at the University of Dublin in October Under the general coordination of Georg Grote (Professor of History at the University of Dublin) and the support of Günther Rautz (EURAC Institute for Minority Rights) and Hannes Obermair (Stadtarchiv Bozen), more than a dozen experts met for two days at the European Academy in Bozen in order to discuss multidisciplinary interpretations and future challenges of the South Tyrolean autonomy process. The papers and debates that followed focused primarily on the historical and political significance that can be assigned to the Feuernacht fifty years later and from within an already pacified context. One interesting aspect that emerged was the consideration of whether the actual scenario can really be considered as an end point or if, while representing the most mature stage of a long process toward recognition of autonomy, it should be taken as an opening for yet new forms of democratic interplay. That further developments are to be brought about is due to the persistent dichotomization (and sometimes even trichotomization) of the public sphere along ethnic lines. Despite the unquestionable success of the South Tyrolean autonomy model at the political and institutional level, the side effect of a socially non-inclusive public sphere shows that the next step to take is that of rejoining divided narratives. As the conference debate highlighted, the fragmentation of public opinion along ethnic lines (clearly visible especially in the case of contrasting opinions about Feuernacht) still prevents meaningful advancements toward inter-community integration. In view of such lines of progression, the specific value of the conference was precisely in stimulating a thoroughly informed debate. It is hoped that such an initiative can be replicated also at different levels of society so as to aid the construction of interethnically shared politics of civil coexistence. Destroyed electricity pylons during the Feuernacht, June Source: Archiv Dolomiten Claudio Corradetti Senior Researcher claudio.corradetti@eurac.edu

5 05 Minorities and Sport In parallel with UEFA s Euro 2012 football championship, held in Poland and Ukraine, another football championship (EUROPEADA) for Europe s autochthonous national minorities was hosted by the Lusatian Sorbs in Germany from 16 through 24 June. After the first such European championship in 2008, hosted by the Rhaeto-Romansh in Graubünden, Switzerland, the Sorbs organized this year s EUROPEADA in the East of Saxony, in Upper- Lusatia, and in the South of Brandenburg, in Lower Lusatia, where about residents speak Sorbian languages, which are part of the Slavic family of languages. Among the 20 teams that competed from 13 European countries were the Lusatian Sorbs, the selection of South Tyrol, the Cimbrians, the Occitans, the Slovenes from Carinthia, and other national minorities such as the Danes in Germany and minorities without a kin-state, such as the Ladins and the Rhaeto-Romansh. EUROPEADA 2012 helped raise awareness of the contribution of these autochthonous national minorities and their regional and minority languages to linguistic and cultural diversity and to the unique character of European regions. The European Association of Daily Newspapers in Minority and Regional Languages organizes an annual study visit to a minority region, offering journalists from member newspapers and the majority press an opportunity to learn more about the perspective of minorities, to exchange their experiences with one another, and to report on the trip upon their return. This year, the study visit to Lusatia focused on sport and the minority situation of the participating football teams, as well as the Sorbian minority in Germany. Günther Rautz Coordinator grautz@eurac.edu Opening Ceremony of EUROPEADA 06 Publications Gabriel N. Toggenburg, Günther Rautz, The Protection of Minorities in Europe - A Legal-Political Compendium Leading from A-Z Bozen/Bolzano, Published by Autonomous Region Trentino-Südtirol 2012 Diversity is an issue of great importance, as is increasingly apparent to every citizen. The issue of diversity comprises the phenomenon of migration, as well as the minorities that have traditionally resided within current EU territory, of which there are well over a hundred. Moreover, European diversity also pertains to indigenous peoples like the Sami and involves the social inclusion of groups that differ from the majority in other ways, such as their sexual orientation. In short, diversity is a multifaceted topic, complex and thus elusive. The former German federal minister and long-term president of the German Federal Parliament, Rita Süssmuth, paid particular tribute to the two authors, Toggenburg and Rautz: The two experts have succeeded in an appealing way in showing that there are many facets to Europe s diversity, and that there are of course many points of view which permeate every aspect of the European debate. These views can however be used to form a reconciling symbiosis between social diversity and unity. The book was first published in German by Böhlau in The English translation was made possible by the Autonomous Region of Trentino Alto Adige/Südtirol.

6 European Autonomy and Diversity Papers (EDAP) EDAP is a high-quality online paper series produced by the Institute for Minority Rights and the Institute for Studies on Federalism and Regionalism that contributes to approaching diversity in Europe. Diversity is understood in a broad sense as encompassing diversity of ethnic identities, cultures, regions and institutions. Regionalism, federalism, minority protection, multiculturalism and, more generally, constitutional flexibility are among EDAP s core topics. The papers concentrate on diversity, especially from the perspective of comparative constitutional law and EU law. Contributions from other disciplines, such as political science, international relations and economics, are also welcome. Papers and a biographical note outlining the author s professional affiliations and publications can be submitted to edap@eurac.edu. For more details and guidelines, see: EDAP Titles 2012 Alexandra Tomaselli, Autonomía Indígena Originaria Campesina in Bolivia: Realizing the Indigenous Autonomy? 1 European Autonomy and Diversity Papers - EDAP (2012) Morten Kjaerum, Gabriel N. Toggenburg, The Fundamental Rights Agency and Civil Society: Reminding the Gardeners of their Plants Roots 2 European Autonomy and Diversity Papers - EDAP (2012) Stefan Graziadei, The French Constitutional Council as the Rottweiler of the Republican Ideal in the Language Fields: Does Jurisprudence Really Reflect Reality? 3 European Autonomy and Diversity Papers - EDAP (2012) Francesco Palermo, Giovanni Poggeschi, Günther Rautz, Jens Woelk (eds.), Globalization, Technologies and Legal Revolution: The Impact of Global Changes on Territorial and Cultural Diversities, on Supranational Integration and Constitutional Theory (Nomos, Baden-Baden, 2012) Schriftenreihe der Europäischen Akademie Bozen, Bereich Minderheiten und Autonomien, 21 The Liber Amicorum in Memory of Sergio Ortino covers issues of globalization, technology and constitutional theory, supranational integration, federalism and minorities, and territorial and cultural-diversity management. In the volume, Professor Ortino s colleagues, students and friends describe his approach to research, as he studied a variety of new fields in his attempt to explain legal phenomena. The book looks beyond the traditional academic horizon, which was too tight and narrow for Professor Ortino s innate desire to find new challenges. In their contributions, scholars, both Italian and foreign, as well as friends of the late Professor Ortino, looked to disciplines other than law, which is fitting, since Professor Ortino s broad approach to scholarship was vital in order to deepen his comprehension of fields that are essential to better understanding the most profound reasons for legal phenomena and their evolution. Such an approach is what enabled him to explain legal developments long before others. All the articles in the book are dedicated to exploring new fields, to investigating the relationship between legal phenomena and economics, anthropology, history, and trends in legal development, identifying areas where research will be needed in the future. Professor Ortino s curiosity about Asia and especially China, and his critical view of the evolution of the European Union are just two examples that his colleagues, his students and his friends focus on in this commemorative publication.

7 Russia and European Human Rights Law: Progress, Tensions and Perspectives 37(2-3) Review of Central and East European Law (Martinus Nijhoff Publishers, Leiden, 2012) The Review of Central and East European Law is a journal published in cooperation with the Institute of East European Law and Russian Studies of Leiden University, the Universities of Tartu and Graz, as well as the European Academy of Bozen/Bolzano. The aim of the journal now in its 37th year of publication by Martinus Nijhoff/Brill in Leiden is to examine issues of legal doctrine and practice in the CIS and CEE regions, on the basis of a comparative and multidisciplinary approach. The most recent special issue is devoted to Russia and European Human Rights Law: Progress, Tensions and Perspectives, edited by Professor Lauri Mälksoo from the Law Faculty of the University of Tartu, which collects a set of multidisciplinary articles assessing the relation between the Strasbourg system of human-rights protection and the Russian legal order. For further information, visit the RCEEL website at < or contact the editorial office at <rccel@eurac.edu>. Table of contents Foreword Angelika Nussberger Introduction, Lauri Mälksoo Culture Re-introduced: Contestation of Human Rights in Contemporary Russia Petr Preclik Tilting at Windmills? The European Response to Violations of Media Freedom in Russia Dorothea Schönfeld Orthodox Pluralism: Contours of Freedom of Religion in the Russian Federation and Strasbourg Jurisprudence Dara Hallinan Assessing Human Rights in Russia: Not to Miss the Forest for the Trees. A Response to Preclik, Schönfeld and Hallinan Vladislav Starzhenetskii Concluding Observations. Russia and European Human-Rights Law: Margins of the Margin of Appreciation Lauri Mälksoo Sia Spiliopoulou Åkermark, Arie Bloed, Rainer Hofmann, Joseph Marko, James Mayall, John Packer, Marc Weller (eds.): European Yearbook of Minority Issues (EYMI), Vol. 9/2010 (Martinus Nijhoff Publishers, Leiden, 2012) This volume s general articles deal with several key fields of minority protection. Special attention is paid to the issues of equality and non-discrimination, minority-rights regimes, implementation of norms, minority mobilization and definitions. These issues have become particularly topical in light of EU enlargement, as well as in view of recent developments in national legislation and international standards pertaining to minority rights and equality. The book s special focal points are dedicated to education, minorities and new media, as well as to minorities and religion. There is no doubt that educational institutions and accepted practices contribute significantly to the reproduction and transmission of minority identities and cultures, as well as to general social dynamics in minority-majority relations. This focus directs attention at both historical and persisting problems in the establishment of inclusive education systems and outlines the limits of, and challenges to, the education sector as a promoter of the creation of bilingual societies. The catch-all notion of new media aims to include media and media-like activities performed by new technologies or by new actors. This, in combination with relatively little research done to date, encouraged the editors to include these topics in the volume. The focus on religion addresses the normative gap that exists between the protection of old and new minorities, religious minorities under English law, and the role of the European Court of Human Rights in tackling the main issues and dilemmas confronting religious minorities and groups. This volume is available as a hardcopy or in electronic format at < european-yearbook-minority-issues>.

8 Upcoming Events of the Institute for Minority Rights 24 October 2012 Conference on Citizenship, Identity and Participation Trento, Palazzo della Regione, via Gazzoletti 2 In the framework of the 2011 Protocol of Intent to Strengthen Intercultural Policies in the Europaregion Tirol-Südtirol/Alto-Adige-Trentino, the Euregio Office, in cooperation with the Institute for Minority Rights (Eurac), is organizing its annual conference in Trento on 24 October 2012 on the topic of Citizenship, Identity and Participation. Among the lecturers is Jean-Thomas Arrighi from the EUI Citizenship Observatory. For further information, write to: minority.rights@eurac.edu 7-8 November 2012 EU Interreg project Cooperative Enterprises & Linguistic Minorities Identity ID-Coop Opening Workshop EURAC, Viale Druso, 1/Drususallee 1 On 7-8 November, the opening workshop of the EU-funded Interreg Project ID-Coop, coordinated by EURAC s Institute for Minority Rights, will be held in Bolzano/Bozen at the seat of the European Academy. ID-Coop deals with the potential of cooperative enterprises to promote the economic development and cultural protection of the Ladin and Slovene minorities living in Italy and Austria. For further information, write to: minority.rights@eurac.edu EURAC Institute for Minority Rights Viale Druso, 1/Drususallee Bolzano/Bozen Italy Tel Fax minority.rights@eurac.edu