PRESS RELEASE
No. 19 - 33 / 2001

FUEN-Now Actuel
No. 75 / 2001-04
No. 76 / 2001-06
No. 77 / 2001-11
No. 78 / 2001-12

Resolutions
Heerenveen NL 2001 01
Heerenveen NL 2001 02
Heerenveen NL 2001 03
Heerenveen NL 2001 04
Heerenveen NL 2001 05
Heerenveen NL 2001 06
Heerenveen NL 2001 07
Heerenveen NL 2001 08

Documentation
Heerenveen 2001

The Assembly of Delegates of the Federal Union of European Nationalities
in Heerenveen/Netherlands on 24 May 2001 addresses the following resolution to the Council of Europe.

Since its foundation, the Assembly of Delegates of the FUEN has been campaigning for the expansion of the Declaration of Minority Rights by concrete and enforceable minority rights.
The Assembly of Delegates of the FUEN is convinced that effective protection and promotion of individual and collective rights of people who belong to national minorities represents the only opportunity of reducing ethnic tension and guaranteeing democratic cohesion and pluralism.

These rights do not exist as yet.
Two instruments have been created in their place, the European Charter of Regional and Minority Languages and the Convention for the Protection of National Minorities. Both instruments have lead to positive effects and, in some states, to an improvement in the situation of national minorities. Both of these instruments allow the individual states great room for interpretation and implementation with exceptions and reservations.
Particularly in countries where this type of tension is a common occurrence, or in states which deprive national minorities of their existence, the situation is not satisfactory.
In addition, the steps taken until now to effectively improve the situation of national minorities have come up against limiting factors:
For example, there is no binding definition of the term minority in international law; a first attempt at such definition failed at the summit in Vienna in 1993.
There are also no enforceable and binding individual and collective rights for those who belong to national minorities.

The Assembly of Delegates FUEN welcomes the renewed attempt by the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe to finally embed minority protection by means of an optional protocol to the European Convention on Human Rights. It requests the Council of Europe to take the necessary steps in this matter without delay in order to reach an international apparatus which promotes and guarantees the preservation of lingual and cultural diversity in Europe and the peaceful coexistence of all people regardless of race, ethnic or religious affiliation.
In particular it requests the Council of Europe to listen to the concerned organisations of the national minorities and / or the NGO`s representing them and to involve them more strongly in the legal and political rules on the matters that concern them.

of the Assembly of Delegates of the Federal Union of European Nationalities in Heerenveen/Netherlands on 24 May 2001. Considering the extremely serious situation of the almost 13,000 Turk Meskhets in the Krasnodar region the Assembly of Delegates of the Federal Union of European Nationalities
•	expresses its disquiet and concern about the complete infringement of the Turk Meskhets citizens' rights in the Krasnodar region
and urgently appeals to the president and government of the Russian Federation and the administration of the Krasnodar region to
•	end discrimination and persecution based on religious and ethnic features, to guarantee observance of all the rights and freedoms according to the norms of international law as regards the Turk Meskhets living in the territory of the Krasnodar region,
•	to grant all those entitled according to the constitution and laws of the Russian Federation Russian citizenship without delay (and this means to all those who lived on the territory of the Russian Federation at the time of the proclamation of the state sovereignty of the Russian Federation in 1991), and not to refuse the Turk Meskhets, the inhabitants of the Krasnodar region, this right nor to allow any new violent or forced deportation that may be pending from their current 'temporary' locations in the Krasnodar region.

of the Assembly of Delegates of the Federal Union of European Nationalities in Heerenveen/Netherlands on 24 May 2001. In view of the fact that
•	the situation of the ethnic groups (Turk Meskhets, Kurds, Chemschelians), who were deported from Southern Georgia in 1944, is still an issue, as a return home is not possible,
•	that the endeavours on the part of the Republic of Georgia to pass a law on the rehabilitation and repatriation of the deported people, as a prerequisite for its return to its home, are preceding at a hesitant pace – notwithstanding the obligation to pass a corresponding law within two years of admission to the Council of Europe in April 1999.
we call upon the legislative and executive bodies of the Republic of Georgia
•	to fulfil its undertakings with regard to the return of the Meskehts
•	to seek constructive cooperation with all Meskeht organisations
•	to pass a law on repatriation and citizenship that is in line with recognised international standards
•	to plan and implement a concept and concrete projects for the integration of Meskehts who are willing to return home
and we expect of the international community that it accompany Georgia's efforts and sustainedly support these – legally, logistically and financially.

of the Assembly of Delegates of the Federal Union of European Nationalities in Heerenveen/Netherlands on 24 May 2001. Considering the plight of the Nogay people, in particular those forming the national minority in the Stavropol region of the Russian Federation and living on their own historical territory who have not only been denied rights to self-administration but all elementary rights prescribed by the International Convention on Human Rights and the rights of representatives of national minorities
•	the Assembly of Delegates of the Federal Union of European Nationalities expresses its disquiet and concern and urgently appeals to the president and the government of the Russian Federation and the administrative bodies of the Stavropol region to take the difficult situation of the Nogay minority in this region into consideration and take steps to protect their rights, their old culture and language and guarantee that they are able to survive economically and be socially secure.
•	the Assembly of Delegates draws attention particularly to such essential and desirable measures as the introduction of lessons in the Nogay language at schools in those areas in the Stavropol region where there is a concentration of Nogay, the publication of a newspaper in the Nogay language in the region, the transmission of several hours of programmes on local radio and TV in the Nogay language, improvement of the system of land use while taking account of the interests of the Nogay minority and the necessity of reintroducing the traditional method of livestock breeding outdoors.
•	the Assembly of Delegates appeals to the Federal Assembly of the Russian Federation and the legislative assembly of the Stavropol region to discuss the following issues:
	1.	Expansion of the validity of the 'Law governing small peoples in the Russian Federation' to cover the Nogay living in the Stavropol region
	2.	Admission of representative quotas of the national Nogay minority to the Duma in the Stavropol region.

of the Assembly of Delegates of the Federal Union of European Nationalities in Heerenveen/Netherlands on 24 May 2001. During Fascism the settlement areas of the Dolomite Ladins were split into three administration areas. To this date, varying juridical and in part discriminating legal regulations are having negative effects on the implementation of protective rights and protective regulations to which the whole of the Ladin population is entitled in accordance with national and regional laws and the European Framework Convention on the Protection of National Minorities. This discrimination applies to Ladin population in the communities Cortina d’Ampezzo, Livinallongo-Buchenstein and Colle S. Lucia (province of Belluno and the Veneto region), which today number around 8,000 citizens. Although these communities have always belonged to the Sella Ladins as far as language, culture and history are concerned, they do not enjoy any benefits to promote their culture and their native tongue, to preserve the names of towns and their traditional economy to this day. As a result of the assimilation policy, we see a threat that the identity of the Dolomite Ladins will be lost throughout the whole of the province of Belluno. To promote communication and intra-province cooperation with the Ladins in the neighbouring provinces of Bolzano and Trento and to halt the imminent loss of identity, the 'Committee of Communities and Ladin Cultural Societies' has pushed for active participation in the radio and TV programmes broadcast by the state RAI stations in the Ladin language and the stocking up of funds that will become necessary as a result. Although the state government of Southern Tyrol and the top authorities of the RAI in Rome agreed to this application two years ago, no action has as yet been taken. The Assembly of Delegates of the Federal Union of European Nationalities
•	supports the endeavours of the Committee of Communities and Ladin Cultural Societies to preserve and promote the culture, language and identity of the Dolomite Ladins independently of the part of the country in which they live
•	demands, with the democratic involvement of those concerned, comprehensive implementation of national and European laws and agreements in the spirit of minority protection and in line with the active promotion of minorities for the whole of the Ladin population
•	requires of the responsible bodies of the RAI that it involve all legitimate representatives of the Ladin population in the production of contributions in the Ladin language
•	demands that the historically grown, now inter-province, links between the Ladin populations are respected and that inter-province cooperation is promoted in all areas.

of the Assembly of Delegates of the Federal Union of European Nationalities in Heerenveen/Netherlands on 24 May 2001. Unfortunately, as was the case in the past, we are still unable to recount any encouraging news about the Aromani again this year. It is far more the opposite. The specially grave case from Greece can be mentioned as an example: In Greece, a member-state of the NATO and of the European Community, the Aromani architect Sotir Bletza, President of the Aromani Association of Athens, which is legally recognised as such, was sentenced to 15 months imprisonment and a fine of 500,000 drachmas. He was charged with publishing a magazine in English of the European Bureau for Lesser Used Languages EBLUL. This periodical mentioned that five other languages in addition to Greek are spoken in some regions of Greece, these included Aromani or Vlach, which is mainly spoken in the mountainous regions of Thessaly, Epirus and Pindos. No further comment is necessary. The Assembly of Delegates of the Federal Union of European Nationalities expects and demands: From the Council of Europe
•	an analysis and report on the implementation of recommendation 1333 (passed in 1997) on the part of the governments of Albania, Bulgaria, Greece, the Republic of Macedonia and Romania. These countries are all members of the Council of Europe. We have in fact determined that even four years after the ratification of this recommendation no kind of practical implementation whatsoever has taken place.
•	the execution of tangible measures aimed at condemning and bringing an end to nationalistic and chauvinistic actions directed at the Aromani. They are the only peace-loving people in the Balkans who are still calling for their rights through democratic and European channels.
From Greece
•	that it stops all intimidating and persecutory acts against these people who want nothing more than to speak their mother tongue
•	the reversal of the unjust judgement against architect Sotir Bletza and President of the Aromani Association of Athens and that it grants the required moral compensation.
From Albania
•	that the Aromani are granted all minority rights according to the constitution of the country as they apply to Albanian minorities that live in other regions.
From the Republic of Macedonia
•	that issues concerning minorities are tackled in the constitution, laws and in daily political and economical life. Today we are experiencing a serious conflict between the Slavic-Macedonian population and the Albanians, who represent the largest minority population in the country. The main reason for this conflict is insufficient implementation of generally recognized European minority rights.
From the international community, the Assembly expects
•	that it more actively attend to resolving the problems of the Republic of Macedonia in the above-mentioned sense.
From Romania
•	that it facilitate access to radio and television and also to finance an Aromani language newspaper/magazine. In Romania we are able to determine positive developments regarding the recognition of lingual and cultural identity for the Aromani. We demand that the voluntary lessons in the Aromani language at the schools in Constanta (a town with a large proportion of Aromani) and in other towns in the region of Dobrogea will be taken up on the general syllabuses in the near future.

of the Assembly of Delegates of the Federal Union of European Nationalities in Heerenveen/Netherlands on 24 May 2001. After listening to the representative delegates of the Meschlys of the Crimean Tartars, the Dzhamagat Democratic Organisation of the Karachay, the National Council of the Balkars, the Watan International Association of Turkish Meskhets and Birlik, the Interregional Association of the Nogay People,
•	the Assembly of Delegates of the Federal Union of European Nationalities (FUEN) expresses its deep concern
•	that the law of the Russian Federation of 26 April 1991 'On the rehabilitation of suppressed peoples' is systematically being ignored by the federal powers and local administrations, and that
•	the intention is expressed in the minutes to the meeting No. 94 of 18 October 2000 of the State Duma of the Russian Federal Assembly to amend this law and abolish the vital articles 3 and 6 on the political and territorial rehabilitation of peoples suppressed during the years of the totalitarian regime.

of the Assembly of Delegates of the Federal Union of European Nationalities in Heerenveen/Netherlands on 24 May 2001. The Assembly of Delegates of the Federal Union of European Nationalities
•	is concerned about the continuing infringement of national rights of the Carapathian Ruthenians that live in their historical home of Russinia, now Trans-Carapathian Oblast in the state territory of the Ukraine.
It demands
•	Recognition of the ethnic minority "Carpathian Ruthenians", the end of its compulsory assimilation and the grant of all rights as enjoyed by all other Ukrainian ethnic groups.
•	to facilitate cross-border contact to Ruthenian organisations and Ruthenian family members in accordance with the recommendations of the Framework Convention of the European Council on the Protection of National Minorities.
•	to grant free choice as to religious and ethnic affiliation and to guarantee this by the involving international observers during the census of the populations scheduled for this year.