Ministers' Deputies / Rapporteur Groups
GR-H
Rapporteur Group on Human Rights
GR-H(2003)CB7 (confidential) 29 July 2003
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Records
Meeting of 28 April 2003
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The Ministers’ Deputies’ Rapporteur Group on Human Rights (GR-H) met on 28 April 2003 with Ambassador Justin HARMAN, Permanent Representative of Ireland, in the Chair. The agenda was as follows:
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03/16 |
Recommendation 119 (2002) on the state of regional print media in Europe - Pluralism, independence and freedom in regional press |
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03/08 |
Framework Convention for the Protection of National Minorities – Discussion on the Opinion of the Advisory Committee and the state comments concerning Slovenia |
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03/05 |
Framework Convention on the Protection of National Minorities - debate on the draft resolution on the implementation of the Framework Convention for the Protection of National Minorities by Albania |
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02/27 |
Feasibility of reviewing Resolution (97) 10 in order to enlarge the membership of the Advisory Committee on the Framework Convention for the Protection of National Minorities. |
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Any other business |
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Date of the next meeting |
03/16 Recommendation 119 (2002) on the state of regional print media in Europe - Pluralism, independence and freedom in regional press
Draft reply
The Chairman noted that the draft reply contained in document GR-H(2003)13 raised no comment from delegations and proposed to transmit it to the Deputies for adoption. This item is on the agenda of the 839th Meeting, 7 May 2003.
03/08 Framework Convention for the Protection of National Minorities – Discussion on the Opinion of the Advisory Committee and the state comments concerning Slovenia
The Representative of Slovenia expressed her authorities’ thanks to the Advisory Committee for its opinion and announced that the Opinion, together with the comments of the Government of the Republic of Slovenia, would be published on the web-site of the Ministry for Foreign Affairs. She went on to summarise the comments of the Government on the main findings of the Advisory Committee.
She drew attention in particular to the following points:
- The reproach concerning technical difficulties in receiving RTV Koper Capodistria’s programmes in some regions near the Croatian border was unjustified. Slovenian broadcasting stations cover the entire area in which members of the Italian national community in the Republic of Slovenia reside.
- A greater share of RTV production for the Hungarian national minorities would be made possible when the Lendava/Lendva studio moves to new premises, tentatively in 2004 which will increase production in terms of content and technical capacities.
.- Article 101a of the Act Amending the Local Government Act, lists 20 municipalities meeting the conditions and criteria to guarantee to the Roma community settled in their respective municipalities, the right to one representative in the municipal council. Being aware of the problem of the financing of local communities with a Roma population in Slovenia, the National Assembly of the Republic of Slovenia on 30th May 2002 called upon the Government to amend Article 26 of the Financing of Municipalities Act so as to define the criteria for co-financing 20 municipalities with Roma communities.
- The Ministry of Education, Science and Sport has asked the commissions responsible under law for deciding on the placement of children in elementary schools with adapted programmes, should pay particular attention to problems relating to the placement of Roma children. New criteria for the formation of classes in elementary schools are being prepared which are intended gradually to introduce integrated classes. The intention of the authorities is to draw up the best possible model for the education of Roma children and to plan most activities together with representatives of the Roma community.
- Members of the nations of the former Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia, and of the German-speaking ethnic community have the possibility of learning their mother tongue and familiarising themselves with their culture in accordance with all applicable international regulations and the Constitution of the Republic of Slovenia. This process of cultural pluralism can be counted among conjunctive processes facilitating the participation and self-government of ethnic communities. The process of such cultural pluralism is promoted by the Ministry of Culture, particularly its Department for the Culture of National Communities, Romany Communities, Other Ethnic Minority Communities and Immigrants.
The Representative of Greece asked for amendments to be made to document CM(2002)151 and Addendum in accordance with the Committee of Ministers Resolution (95) 23: in essence, he wished references to a particular national minority to be made using the adjective “Slavo-Macedonian”, whilst references to bodies or cultural associations containing the adjective to which he objected were to be placed in quotation marks.
After a debate, the Chairman ruled that the question raised by the Representative of Greece raised legal issues which the Secretary General was invited to examine.
The Representative of Slovenia thanked delegations for their comments. With regard to the observations by Italy, she summarised the text (see appendix) which had been circulated in response to the Italian comments which had been made available at a previous meeting (see Appendix to document GR-H(2003)CB5).
Concerning the comments made by Croatia, she informed the group that her authorities were actively addressing questions concerning the status and protection of persons belonging to ethnic communities originating from former Yugoslavia as a whole, including the group which speaks Croatian as its mother-tongue. As this and other, similar population groups date from the period of existence of the Yugoslav State, their rights are not equivalent to those of the autochthonous ethnic communities, but the Slovenian Constitution enshrines their right to identity and to the exercise of their language and culture.
The Government seeks in particular to give expression to the respect of these rights through the support given to the relevant branches of civil society and by involving representatives of these minorities in the mechanism set up to ensure respect for the provisions of the Framework Convention at national level. Financial support is provided by the authorities for educational and cultural programmes, not least those undertaken in partnership with the so-called ‘kin-states’ under bilateral agreements.
03/05 Framework Convention on the Protection of National Minorities - debate on the draft resolution on the implementation of the Framework Convention for the Protection of National Minorities by Albania
The Chairman proposed to postpone discussion on this item to a forthcoming meeting.
02/27 Feasibility of reviewing Resolution (97) 10 in order to enlarge the membership of the Advisory Committee on the Framework Convention for the Protection of National Minorities.
In view of the unavailability of a document, it was agreed to postpone discussion on this item to a forthcoming meeting.
- Any other business
None.
- Date of the next meeting
The Chairman announced that the next meeting would take place on 20 May 2003.
Appendix
COMMENTS ON THE ITALIAN NON-PAPER ON THE IMPLEMENTATION OF THE FRAMEWORK CONVENTION FOR THE PROTECTION OF NATIONAL MINORITIES BY THE REPUBLIC OF SLOVENIA[1]
Language rights: Slovenia considers that the implementation and the application of a bilingual regime in the ethnically mixed area of the Republic of Slovenia defined as bilingual and in which Italian is an official language in addition to Slovenian is up to standards. Members of the minority have, in the ethnically mixed area, the right to use their language in private and public life freely and without restrictions, which has also become a positive standard for members of the majority nation. The bilingual regime in public life is both visible and audible. Slovenia considers that there are no deficiencies as stated in the non-paper. The members of the minority are also actively involved in the process of bilingual naming of streets and settlements. Bilingual signs must, and they do, ensure equitable appearance of both languages. Slovenia sees no difficulties in the bilingual regime relating to the operation of state, municipality and judicial authorities and public services operating in the ethnically mixed area. Furthermore, it is compulsory that all official documents for the population residing in the ethnically mixed area be bilingual (identity cards, passports, birth certificates and other documents). There are problems in bilingual operation of economic organisations, banks and other organisations, particularly those having its seat outside coastal municipalities. There is no regulatory pattern applicable to these entities as regards bilingualism. Particularly for this reason, it happens that certain institutions send monolingual in-payment forms to the ethnically mixed area. With regard to this, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs will turn to the Government Office for Nationalities to draw attention of these organisations and companies to the operation in the bilingual area.
Slovenia provided for uniform forms used in the administration by a special campaign. Slovenia also provided for their translation into both languages in the areas where the national minorities reside. The forms are published on the Internet – on the portal of administrative units. Several application forms are still in the process of translation.
With regard to the use of language of fiscal bodies and other bodies outside the areas in which Italian is also an official language, the bodies operate in Slovenian, however, each member of the minority has the right to use his/her language in the area he/she resides. This means that they may require the translation of the administrative act received from the body outside this area.
Slovenia rejects allegations addressed to the police that police officers do often not respect the right of members of the minority to use Italian during police control procedure and that police officers often respond that the use of Slovenian is an obligation of every Slovenian citizen. Police officers in the area of municipalities in which the Italian minority resides respect the rights of members of the Italian national community, which is also stipulated by Article 11 of the Constitution of the Republic of Slovenia stating that in those municipalities where Italian or Hungarian national communities reside, Italian or Hungarian are also official languages.
With a view to respect the rights of members of the Italian and Hungarian minorities in the Republic of Slovenia, the Slovenian police provides for that police officers carrying out duties in the area where members of these minorities reside have the command of the language of members of the minority and use it if persons in the procedure declare that they are members of the national community. Police officers in the municipalities where members of the national community reside use relevant forms in Slovenian and in the language of the respective national community. According to the police, the Slovenian police has not received any applications of members of the national community relating to disrespect by the police for their rights to the use of their language.
With regard to the allegation concerning disrespect for the right of matrimonial service to be conducted only in Italian in the Municipality of Koper/Capodistria, it has to be emphasised that members of the Italian national community have, under the statute of this municipality, their own representatives – councillors in the municipal council and deputy mayor – and thus have the opportunity to draw attention to such cases. State authorities have not been acquainted with these difficulties.
Right to consensus: With regard to the comment that the right to consensus applies only to legislation relating to minority issues, it has to be stressed that this derives from Article 64 of the Constitution of the Republic of Slovenia. To date, no complaints have been filed by the Italian national community in Slovenia concerning this right.
The Italian national community in the Republic of Slovenia has its representatives at all levels of authority, which enables them to have influence on the above procedures. Under Article 15 of the Self-Governing Ethnic Communities Act, the opinion of the national community has to be acquired prior to the beginning of the decision-making process of state bodies relating to their rights.
“Slovenising” of Italian cultural heritage: The statement of the Italian side concerning the “slovenising” of the Italian cultural heritage and the lack of such themes in textbooks drawing attention to the Italian presence on the coast is unjustified. The Italian national community in the Republic of Slovenia has their representatives in all bodies in which their cultural heritage and education are decided on, and have thus the opportunity to draw attention to possible irregularities.
“Textbooks and curricula do not mention the presence and exodus of Italians from the coastal area of the Republic of Slovenia after World War II”:
In the period from 1995 to 1999, the curricular reform included the renewal of the content of curricula. In this period, syllabuses and curricula were also prepared for schools attended by members of the Italian minority in the ethnically mixed area.
For elementary schools with Italian as the language of instruction, adjusted curricula were prepared for the following subjects: social sciences, geography, music, Italian as the mother tongue, Slovenian as the second language and history.
Members of the Italian national community participated in the formation of curricula. All draft curricula were sent to teachers teaching in these schools. Their comments were forwarded to those responsible for the curricula, and then they had to submit the analysis of comments to the Council of Experts when adopting the curricula proposal. Such a demanding procedure for the preparation of curricula was carried out with a view to include in the curricula all subjects important to build the identity of the Italian national community. The Council of Experts unanimously confirmed all the proposals received.
The curriculum for history, in which the issue of “the Italian minority in Yugoslavia after World War II” was proposed as one of the topics in the ninth grade of elementary school, includes the issue of the exodus of Italians. The Council of Experts confirmed two history textbooks and both include the text on the status of the Italian national minority after World War II. This means that not only pupils in ethnically mixed areas but also other pupils in entire Slovenia learn about the Italian national community. Moreover, the learning of Italian as the language of environment is compulsory for all pupils attending elementary schools with Slovenian as the language of instruction in the area where the Italian national community resides.
To achieve goals in accordance with curricula, teachers independently choose textbooks and other materials. Article 21 of the Organisation and Financing of Education Act stipulates that schools implementing certified programmes use only textbooks and teaching aids confirmed by the competent council of experts. In addition, teachers may also use other non-compulsory educational resources.
Textbooks and teaching aids are first considered by the commissions of the council of experts and then approved by the council. The commission for minority education of the Council of Experts is responsible for minority education, and one of the members of the council of experts is also a representative of the national community.
In elementary schools with Italian as the language of instruction, translated textbooks and textbooks exported from Italy are used. These textbooks are chosen by teachers and approved by the Council of Experts.
With gradual introduction of nine-year elementary school, textbooks for individual subjects, chosen by teachers in elementary schools with Italian as the language of instruction, are translated into Italian and then approved by headmasters of these schools. In line with the curricula, additional materials are prepared, and a commission composed of teachers from elementary schools with Italian as the language of instruction participates in their preparation.
Public financing: The Government Office for Nationalities is responsible for providing funds for the needs of the Italian national community at the state level. These funds are paid regularly. There are some delays in payment of approved funds in the area of culture. These delays are due to certain procedures which must be complied with in connection with public competitions for these funds. The funds allocated to the costal self-government community in 2003 will remain at the same level as in 2002 but the amount of these funds will be increased in 2004. Cultural activities of the Italian national community are not financed only by the Ministry of Culture but also by municipalities; it is thus difficult to establish the total amount of funds, however, they will remain at the same level as in 2002. The Ministry of the Economy yearly earmarks substantial funds for the promotion of economic activity of the Italian national community. In four years, around SIT 600 million has been earmarked for this purpose. Taking into account a longer period of time, funds for the Italian national community have been constantly on the increase, the index, however, differs from year to year.
RTV Koper/Capodistria programmes for the Italian national community: Slovenia finances electronic (radio, TV) and printed media of the Italian national community in Slovenia.
Due to restricted financial means, RTV Slovenia is carrying out rationalization of public funds (RTV subscription), which, however, does not affect the programme. The intention of the public institution RTV Slovenia is not to reduce programmes in Italian, in particular not those laid down by law. This public institution aims to improve the quality of the programme within the framework of stabilization and rationalization and not to reduce it.
In the context of the reform programme, current range of RTV Koper/Capodistria operation is being preserved in 2003 as a result of an amendment proposed by Deputy Battelli (SIT 40 million for RTV minority programmes, out of which SIT 32 million has been allocated to RTV Koper/Capodistria – the National Assembly adopted the proposal). The two minorities – Slovenian in Italy and Italian in Slovenia – are interested in that the role of transfrontier television increases within the framework of cooperation between RAI and RTV Slovenia, which would also increase the quality of the programme targeted at the two minorities. With a view to achieving this objective, coordination is being carried out within the working table for minority issues, which is active within the mixed commission between Slovenia and Friuli-Venezia Giulia.
With regard to the last comment where the comparison between legislation and agreements on the protection of the rights of minorities in the former common state is made, Slovenia’s answer is that standards for the protection of minority rights in the Republic of Slovenia in comparison to the former Yugoslavia are constantly on the increase. When stating the two cases of possible risk of exercise of their right, Slovenia concludes that it is the issue of the recently adopted Matura Act (Act on the General Examination before Leaving Secondary School) and Draft Law on Central Register which is currently dealt with by the National Assembly of the Republic of Slovenia. All comments of the deputy of the Italian national community, Mr Battelli, were entirely taken into consideration when adopting the above legislation.
The Matura Act stipulates that a candidate may, in the area where the Italian or Hungarian national communities reside, choose Italian or Hungarian instead of Slovenian. Pupils of Italian or Hungarian high schools may take their respective mother tongue as one of the subjects at the matura examination.
Trilateral Memorandum on the Protection of the Italian minority in Croatia and in Slovenia of 1992:
Based on the agreement between foreign ministers, the representatives of Slovene, Italian and Croatian foreign ministries met in Zagreb on 9 and 10 January 1992 and drafted the Trilateral Memorandum on the Protection of the Italian Minority in Croatia and Slovenia. Slovenia agreed to sign this Memorandum subject to the signing of the Bilateral Memorandum on the Protection of the Slovene Minority in Italy. Italy agreed to such a memorandum in Zagreb and also to the concurrent signing of the two documents. When drafting the bilateral memorandum, however, Italy only agreed to the adoption by the parliament of a global act protecting the Slovene minority in Italy as soon as possible. During the harmonisation of this agreement in Gorizia-Gorica on 14 January 1992, Italy renounced the draft law without justification.
In his letter to the Italian foreign minister, the Slovenian foreign minister expressed his regret that Italy withdrew from the Bilateral Memorandum on the Protection of the Slovene Minority in Italy and assured him that Slovenia would implement the Trilateral Memorandum on the Protection of the Italian Minority in Croatia and Slovenia as if it were signed.
Slovenia considers that the problem of the Trilateral Memorandum has been solved and overcome. Slovenia and Croatia signed the Agreement on Border Traffic which regulates free movement of persons facilitating contacts of the Italian minority with its nation of origin. Slovenia also recognised the Union of Italians as a cultural association of the Italian minority. Slovenia provides for a higher level of protection as defined in the Trilateral Memorandum.