Minorities in Russia

Key points

Since its inception, the Council of Europe has acted as a guardian to protect minority languages: article 14 of the 1950 European Human Rights Convention sets out the principles of non-discrimination, including where it touches on language or membership of a national minority.

However, this was only a very basic protection. There was a need to go further and give minorities and their languages proper protection. This is why the Council of Europe has drawn up two conventions: the Framework Convention for the Protection of National Minorities and the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages (the Charter). The Charter is unique in the world. It is the only binding convention seeking to safeguard regional and minority languages at international level. It is open to all countries.

Some of these languages are in danger of disappearing altogether, and the Charter hopes to contribute to their continuation and development. It sets out practical measures to promote these languages in daily public and private life. It aims to overcome the decline of certain languages. Protecting regional and minority languages is an essential part of protecting the identity and cultural heritage of national minorities.

A regional or minority language is a distinct language which exists separately from the official languages or dialects of the official language. Languages spoken by migrants are not taken into account by the Charter of Minority Languages. Regional or minority languages can be widely spoken in Europe, as is the case of Catalan in Spain, Russian in Romania, or Hungarian in Slovakia or Romania; or languages with a very limited number of speakers, such as Sámi languages in Norway and Finland, Scottish Gaelic in the United Kingdom or Frisian in the Netherlands.

On 22 June 2009, the Council of Europe and the European Commission, in co-operation with the Ministry of Regional Development of the Russian Federation, launched in Moscow a Joint Programme on “Minorities in Russia: Developing Languages, Culture, Media and Civil Society”.

Summary

The overall objective of the Joint Programme is to promote Russia’s ethnic and national minorities and better recognition of their specific integrity with regards to culture, education, languages, media and civil society.

The Programme runs from 1 January 2009 to 31 December 2011 and involves a budget of 2,750,000 euros.

Other objectives include:

·                 Enhancing the legal framework for ethnic and national minorities in the light of Council of Europe standards for better recognition of its integrity by:

-          assessing the extent to which national and regional legislation is adapted to the implementation of the Charter in particular in the fields of culture, education, media and in relation to Non-Governmental Organisations (NGOs), and make proposals  on how to enhance the legal framework in the light of the Charter’s ECRML’s standards;

-          raising awareness regarding the relevant legal instruments of the Council of Europe among public authorities and national (umbrella) NGOs, representing ethnic and national minorities, and providing assistance to different stakeholders that would be involved in the future ratification and implementation of the Charter.

·           Supporting the presence and contributing to a better expression of ethnic minorities in the field of culture, education and media in selected regions of the Russian Federation in light of Council of Europe standards by:

-          supporting the cultural expressions of national minorities;

-          supporting the education of national minorities and the use of their languages in education;

-          encouraging the adequate expression of national minorities through media;

-          supporting/building capacity for NGOs concerned with the protection of the cultures and languages of national minorities

The main activities will be implemented in selected “subjects” of the Russian Federation. The simulation of the possible implementation of the Charter will  be done in at least three regions, including one national Republic with a strong ethnic and regional linguistic component and other subjects to be selected. Given substantial differences in the situation of national and ethnic minorities and their languages in various regions (Republic of Mordovia, Altai Krai and Republic of Dagestan), the selected activities will be also implemented in different regions including Krasnoyarsk Krai, Republic of Karelia and others.

Recommendations developed through this project could contribute to the improvement of Council of Europe legal instruments (notably the Charter) and their monitoring mechanisms, in the field of regional and minority languages.

Project stakeholders include the relevant Russian authorities and civil society representatives involved in implementing national policy in this area such as the Ministry of Regional Development, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Ministry of Culture, the Ministry of Education and the Federal Assembly, as well as the Public Chamber of the Russian Federation. NGOs and local authorities will also be closely involved in promoting minority integrity including their cultures and languages at federal and regional levels. To make best use of their valuable experience and adequately reflect specific local needs, NGOs and authorities in the field will be offered an opportunity to devise and implement their own projects to the benefit of minorities in their respective regions.

Questions and Answers

Why does Europe need a convention to protect languages?

The language we speak is one of the most essential elements of our identity. Nevertheless, a certain number of languages are no longer in existence because they were neither taught nor practiced, especially when older generations died out. In the past, in a number of countries, regional or minority languages were simply ignored, or, worse, discouraged or forbidden during wars or ethnic conflicts, or by a more powerful linguistic majority.

The Council of Europe, as Europe’s human rights watchdog, plays a major role in protecting minorities and their right to practice their mother tongue.

In fact there is a large range of minority languages used in Europe: around a hundred in Western and Central Europe alone – from the Sami language spoken in the extreme North of Scandinavia, through to the Italian spoken in Slovenia or Croatia, and to the Basque language of France and Spain.

What can be done to protect these languages?

A language will only survive if it is used. The best way to protect a language and to guarantee its future existence is to ensure that it is used daily in public and private life by every age group. Some minority languages have undergone a renaissance thanks to the fact that they are used in schools, by officials and local authorities and by the popular media such as radio, television and newspapers.

These developments are the result of an active policy on the issue by member countries, and in particular between the 24 states party to the Charter. Governments are an important part of the picture because they finance theatres and films, or the translation of popular books in regional or minority languages. In some countries, legislation creates favourable conditions for the production of radio and television programmes in these languages.

Are there any initiatives at international level?

There are more than 6500 languages in the world and of these one falls into disuse every two weeks. That is why it is important for governments to join the Charter and co-operate with the Council of Europe to safeguard minority languages. Other initiatives have come from civil society and language speakers. For example, each year the Liet Lavlut song contest is held - a sort of “Eurovision song contest” for minority languages. This event – held in Sweden in 2008 – brings together the winners of regional events and celebrates the cultural richness of Europe’s different minorities.

In 2008, the Council of Europe joined the Liet Lavlut to mark the tenth anniversary of the Charter for Regional or Minority Languages.

Does the Charter apply to my country?

Of the Council of Europe’s 47 members, 25 have ratified the Charter: Armenia, Austria, Croatia, Cyprus, the Czech Republic, Denmark, Finland, Germany, Hungary, Liechtenstein, Luxembourg, Montenegro, Norway, the Netherlands, Poland, Serbia, Spain, Slovakia, Slovenia, Sweden, Switzerland, Romania, Ukraine and the United Kingdom. Eight other countries, including the Russian Federation, also signed it.

How does the Charter protect regional and minority languages?

Countries that ratify the Charter are obliged to take general obligations under the Charter (Part II), and in addition to select specific undertakings regarding regional or minority languages in the field of education, judicial authorities, administrative authorities and public services, media, cultural activities and facilities, economic and social life and transfrontier exchanges, and this according to the factual situation of each language selected by the authorities (Part III).

In practice these measures concern language teaching, to introduce its use in public administration and to ensure that it is used in cultural and economic activities and in the media. This way, people should be able to follow their favourite TV show or be taught at school in their mother tongue if the government has committed itself to the Charter.

On a wider level, the Charter encourages the practice of regional or minority languages in daily life (in health care, road signing etc). This daily use of languages helps them to survive: it is easier to speak the language when you can use it in local government offices, at the supermarket and in the cinema. This way, people who have dropped the language can be encouraged to take it up again. These initiatives can create a snowball effect: the more people that speak the language, the more that are encouraged to speak it in turn because it becomes easier and easier.

How can the Council of Europe ensure that the Charter is applied?

The monitoring mechanism established by the Charter ensures that it is effectively applied. A committee of independent experts evaluates how a country is implementing the obligations taken, on the basis of reports sent in by governments every three years. The reports describe the policies being put in place to defend and promote minority languages. The committee gives recommendations to governments to improve their policies and practices on language protection. NGOs and representatives of minority languages have an important role to play in the process. This means that the Charter has a real binding effect on countries that have signed it, and it provides considerable protection for minority languages, alongside other conventions such as the European Convention on Human Rights and the Framework Convention for the Protection of National Minorities.

More information: Special file

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[email protected]                                                                           Update: November 2010