ABSTRACT
This chapter focuses on the promotion of group diversity under international law. Minority rights and non-discrimination can be viewed as two sides of the same coin. The Western tradition with its central focus on the rights of individuals is clearly reflected in the international norms of equality and non-discrimination. The Conference Organisation, on Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) has made considerable developments in international cooperation in the fields of human rights as well as in security and military issues. It is evident that the OSCE process has raised the profile of minority rights issues generally in particular the plight of the Roma. The Convention, like the OSCE, prefers the term 'national minority' to the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR) formulation of 'religious, linguistic and ethnic minority. Ethnic, religious and linguistic minorities shall not be denied the right to enjoy their own culture, to profess and practice their own religion or use their own language.
