Declaration on the Rights of Persons Belonging to National or Ethnic, Religious and Linguistic Minorities

The Declaration on the Rights of Persons Belonging to National or Ethnic,
Religious and Linguistic Minorities was adopted by General Assembly resolution 47/135 of 18 December 1992.

It was inspired by the provisions of article 27 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights concerning the rights of persons belonging to ethnic, religious and linguistic minorities.

The main relevant provision for the right to education in this declaration is:

Article 4

1. States shall take measures where required to ensure that persons belonging to minorities may exercise fully and effectively all their human rights and fundamental freedoms without any discrimination and in full equality before the law.

2. States shall take measures to create favourable conditions to enable persons belonging to minorities to express their characteristics and to develop their culture, language, religion, traditions and customs, except where specific practices are in violation of national law and contrary to international standards.

3. States should take appropriate measures so that, wherever possible, persons belonging to minorities may have adequate opportunities to learn their mother tongue or to have instruction in their mother tongue.

4. States should, where appropriate, take measures in the field of education, in order to encourage knowledge of the history, traditions, language and culture of the minorities existing within their territory. Persons belonging to minorities should have adequate opportunities to gain knowledge of the society as a whole.

5. States should consider appropriate measures so that persons belonging to minorities may participate fully in the economic progress and development in their country.

 

 

97) The value of the UN specialized agencies for activities to promote and protect the rights of national minorities.

The values at the heart of the United Nations system and the major specialized agencies are diminished by the operational demands of humanitarian disasters and the necessity of working in tandem with peacekeeping operations. Emergency humanitarianism not only diverts human and material resources away from developmental expressions of humanitarian obligation, but also from the important normative work of the specialized agencies. It is argued that the greatest challenge facing the UN is how to restore the essentially developmental ethos of the organization ‐ and the specialized agencies in particular ‐ in the face of humanitarian emergencies of the number and severity now extant. “Specialized agencies” is a term used in the Charter of the United Nations referring to the intergovernmental agencies related to (affiliated with) the United Nations (UN) by special agreements; a special agreement concluded between the United Nations and each of these agencies has brought each agency into relation with the United Nations. Specialized agencies are separate, They report annually to the Economic and Social Council. Each specialized agency possesses full juridical personality. It enjoys full immunities and privileges in the territories of the member states; it is immune from judicial process and other actions, and from taxation; its property, assets and archives are immune; and it enjoys the privilege of communication. There are fifteen specialized agencies affiliated with the United Nations.

98) Embodied in the Constitution of the Republic of Kazakhstan of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.

Not all nation states have codified constitutions, though all such states have a jus commune, or law of the land, that may consist of a variety of imperative and consensual rules. These may include customary law, conventions, statutory law, judge-made law or international rules and norms.

Universal Declaration states that the protection of human rights by the rule of law is essential. Only thus can the broader purposes of the Charter of the UN—peace, justice, and social progress—be attained. In line with this, most national constitutions, including of course the Republic of Kazakhstan’s, have adopted both the spirit and letter of the Declaration. Article 1 of the Constitution of the Republic of Kazakhstan defines the state’s “highest values [as] an individual, his life, rights and freedoms.” The Government and legislature of Kazakhstan have many proud achievements in adopting, protecting, and promoting human rights. The Universal Declaration also calls upon all Member States to teach it widely. The Declaration is the “most translated document in the world” (Guinness Book of Records). This means it is available to virtually all people. The Universal Declaration and its associated Conventions define the rights inherent in our universal values of moral equality and human well-being. And they lay out a compelling normative framework for the formulation of national policies and strategies for human development. Kazakhstan today on its appointment to the UN Human Rights Council for 2013-2015. This gives a platform for Kazakhstan to take a position of leadership on human rights. It also should give new impetus to the next National Human Rights Action Plan, one which can be more inclusive and comprehensive than the current plan.

 

 

99) International Agreements of the Republic of Kazakhstan with other countries on human rights.

Since its independence, Kazakhstan has taken a principled stand on nucleardisarmamentand the non-proliferation of weapons of mass destruction (WMD), and aims at achieving concrete results in the multilateral disarmament machinery with regard to both the WMD and conventional weapons. Kazakhstan had actively supported the holding of the Review Conference of the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons (NPT) in May this year. It is confident that the decisions adopted by consensus in its Outcome Document, with its conclusions and recommendations, provide a sound foundation for further global cooperation on disarmament, non-proliferation and the peaceful use of nuclear energy. Kazakhstan supports the action of the United Nations to combat illicit drug activities and mobilizes regional cooperation to stop drug flows from Afghanistan. The creation of CARICC (Central Asian Regional Information Coordination Center) in Almaty has been recognized one of the greatest achievements on this track. We believe that CARICC should become a regional platform in the fight against illicit drugs.Kazakhstan is also strongly committed to pursue the step-by-step development of regional cooperation in order toprovide security and economic prosperity of countries in the region. Kazakhstan is convinced of the si Kazakhstan is dedicated to meeting its commitments for achieving the Millennium Development Goals. To this end, it has established firm long term development strategies including: Strategy Kazakhstan 2030, the Strategic Plan for Kazakhstan's Development by 2020, and the National Accelerated Industrial Innovation Programme 2010-2014. significant importance of international cooperation in the research and uses of outer space. The territory of Kazakhstan has some ecologically unfavorable zones, such as the Aral Sea and the former Semipalatinsk nuclear test site. Cooperation in the framework of rehabilitation and restoration of these devastated areas with the assistance of the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) is of high importance. Kazakhstan has offered to host the sub-regional Central-Asian office of UNEP. In January 2010 Kazakhstan assumed the chairmanship of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE), the biggest regional security organization, connecting 56 countries of Europe, North America and Asia

 

100) The principles of human rights in Kazakhstan: the ways and means of implementing them.

The human rights situation in Kazakhstan has been an area of concern for many outside governmental and non-governmental observers. Observer group Freedom House ranks this former Soviet state with a 6 in Political Rights and a 5 in Civil Liberties (scale of 1-7; 1 is the highest), denoting it as "Not Free."

The website of the US Embassy in Kazakhstan notes that in 2004-2005 the Kazakhstan government's human-rights record "remained poor," and "the Government continued to commit numerous abuses."^[1]

Kazakhstan's political structure concentrates power in the presidency. Current President Nursultan Nazarbayev was elected to a 7-year term in a 2006 election that, many observers note, fell far short of international standards.^[2] The legislature and judiciary, as well as regional and local governments are not independent from executive control, and changes or amendments to the Constitution require presidential consent. No opposition parties are represented in the Lower House of Parliament. Corruption remains systemic.

While civilian authorities maintained effective control of the security forces, members of the security forces are reported to have committed human rights abuses. On some occasions, members of the security forces, including police, tortured, beat, and otherwise mistreated detainees; some officials were punished for these abuses. Prison conditions remained harsh; however, the Government took an active role in efforts to improve prison conditions and the treatment of prisoners. The Government continued to use arbitrary arrest and detention and to selectively prosecute political opponents; prolonged detention was a problem. Amendments to several laws governing the authority of procurators further eroded judicial independence. The Government infringed on citizens' privacy rights.