Treaty Compliance Parallel Report: Framework Convention for National Minorities

Treaty Compliance Parallel Report: Framework Convention for National Minorities

The Parallel Report from the NI Human Rights Commission to the Council of Europe Advisory Committee for the Protection of National Minorities is available on the Commission’s website at:

http://www.nihrc.org/index.php?page=subresources&category_id=26&from=0&resources_id=146&search_content=&Itemid=61

The Council of Europe recently conducted a monitoring visit to Belfast in relation to the above treaty and their conclusions should be available later this year. The British Government submitted its Monitoring Report to the Council of Europe in March 2010, this and previous recommendations from the Advisory Committee can be accessed at: http://www.coe.int/t/dghl/monitoring/minorities/3_FCNMdocs/Table_en.asp#United_Kingdom

Among the issues addressed in the Commission’s Parallel Report are:

* The minority rights framework in the Good Friday Agreement and the Bill of Rights
* Monitoring and self identification under the 2011 Census
* Gaps in anti-discrimination law and a Single Equality Bill for NI
* Ethnic profiling: immigration control and police stop and search
* The situation of destitute migrants
* Situation of Irish Travellers: caravans legislation, lack of Traveller sites, hostility and other barriers.
* Migrant access to medical care
* Funding for ethnic minority and minority language organisations
* The draft Programme of Cohesion, sharing and Integration: defining sectarianism and ‘good relations’
* Ethnically motivated incidents (hate crimes): data, securing convictions, and tackling paramilitary involvement
* Legislation preventing incitement to hatred
* The Robert Hamill Inquiry
* Parades and the law regulating freedom of assembly and freedom from sectarian harassment
* Religious Education
* Legislative framework for the use of the Irish language
* Use of minority languages in the courts
* Irish language place name street and road signs
* Intercultural education
* Tackling sectarian discrimination
* 50:50 recruitment to the PSNI
* Civil service nationality requirements