The scope of this project is to assist the UN Special Rapporteur on Minority Issues by doing research around communications on allegations of violations of the rights of minorities, preparing research papers and legal briefs on various minority issues, including towards Special Rapporteur’s annual thematic reports to the United Nations General Assembly and Human Rights Council.

The mandate of the UN Special Rapporteur on Minority Issues was first established in 2005, and is currently held by Dr. Fernand de Varennes, a Canadian. The key functions of the Special Rapporteur are to promote the 1992 UN Declaration on the Rights of Persons Belonging to National or Ethnic, Religious and Linguistic Minorities, and to examine ways and means of overcoming existing obstacles to the full and effective realization of the rights of persons belonging to minorities (in the sense of the UN Declaration on Minorities).

The mandate does not explicitly cover racialized minorities, although it covers intersections between racialization and “nationality”, ethnicity, religion and/or language. The key working methods of the Special Rapporteur include country visits, issue-based communications to the states, annual reports to the UN General Assembly and UN Human Rights Council.

Project Partner: Fernand de Varennes, UN Special Rapporteur on Minority Issues

Academic Advisor: Professor John Packer (HRREC Director)

Project Coordinator: Slava (Veaceslav) Balan, HRREC Member