Suchergebnisse

32 páginas ; The protection of minorities in Central Europe became a deeply controversial issue in the aftermath of World War One. The presence of a sizeable German minority in what had become Polish territory following the Versailles settlement played into the hands of political extremists on both sides when the German anti-Weimar right and Polish nationalists saw an opportunity to use the minority issue as a tool for revisionism. Whilst acknowledging that certain revisionist objectives were indeed pursued by Weimar governments, this article argues that democratic and republican forces did not use the minority problem as a direct tool for German expansionism in Eastern Europe.

THE UN SUB-COMMISSION ON PREVENTION OF DISCRIMINATION AND PROTECTION OF MINORITIES BEGAN ITS FORTY-SECOND SESSION ON 6 AUGUST 1990 UNDER UNUSUAL PRESSURE: MEETING FOUR DAYS AFTER IRAQ'S INVASION OF KUWAIT, IT FACED A TENSE WORLD SITUATION WITHAN OVERCROWDED AGENDA OF STUDIES ON HUMAN RIGHTS VIOLATIONS IN PARTICULAR COUNTRIES. IN ADDITION THE SUB-COMMISSION HAD TO ADDRESS CRITICISM FROM SOME MEMBERS OF ITS PARENT BODY, THE COMMISSION OF HUMAN RIGHTS, WHO QUESTIONED SUB-COMMISSION INVOLVEMENT IN COUNTRY SITUATIONS. THIS ARTICLE REVIEWS THE SESSION.

The United Nations Sub-Commission on the Prevention of Discrimination and the Protection of Minorities has an interest which is belied by its subordinate position in the international hierarchy. Apart from the intrinsic interest of the work in which it is engaged—work at the very heart of some of the most hotly debated issues in the United Nations—the Sub-Commission, because of the manner of its composition, possesses certain characteristics which differentiate it significantly from most other United Nations organs. Like the now defunct Sub-Commission on Freedom of Information and of the Press which was created at the same time, it consists, in theory, at least, of experts acting in their individual capacity, an arrangement which—because it gave its members a degree of independence not possessed by representatives of governments—would, it was hoped, permit them to contribute to the solution of certain problems in ways not possible to the latter. How has this arrangement worked in practice, if at all? Does the Sub-Commission really act as a body of independent experts, or are its decisions motivated by the same kind of political considerations which motivate its superior bodies? Why has it so singularly failed to make any contribution towards the protection of minorities? "What have been its successes and what is its future?

Examines activities of the 1990 session, responses to criticisms aired by its parent body, the UN Commission on Human Rights, resolutions adopted on human rights violations, and studies and meetings of the working groups.

The uninstructed expert has in recent years lost ground to the governmental representative in international organization. One of the most striking indications of this trend is to be found in the decision of the Economic and Social Council of the United Nations to establish the principle that its commissions should be composed of persons representing, and instructed by, their governments.