The Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe aims to provide early warning and conflict prevention, crisis management and post-conflict reconstruction. It regularly deals with human rights and minority rights issues in this capacity, including under the auspices of several OSCE bodies, such as the office of the High Commissioner on National Minorities (HCNM) and the Contact Point on Roma and Sinti Issues.

High Commissioner on National Minorities (HCNM)

The position of the High Commissioner on National Minorities was created by the OSCE in 1992 to provide “early warning’ and, as appropriate, ‘early action’ […] in regard to tensions involving national minority issues that have the potential to develop into a conflict.” The mandate specifically states, “The High Commissioner will not consider national minority issues in situations involving organized acts of terrorism”. The mandate also excludes the HCNM from considering allegations of violations from individuals.

The HCNM examines the situation and gives advice to governments in confidence and has developed an approach focusing mainly on using quiet diplomacy rather than public statements. The aim of this confidentiality is to gain more acceptance of the role of the HCNM among governments, to avoid escalation of tensions between groups and to encourage parties involved in disputes to be more cooperative and adopt moderate positions since they know discussions with the HCNM will not be made public.

The HCNM’s recommendations are not legally binding but are based upon expert opinions of minimum standards of good practice in each thematic area. The lack of a formal monitoring mechanism means that it is difficult to know the extent to which States have amended national laws to implement the recommendations.

	The HCNM has produced thematic recommendations on aspects of minority rights. These include the: Hague recommendations on the education rights of national minorities; Oslo recommendations on the linguistic rights of national minorities; Lund recommendations on the effective participation of national minorities in public life; Warsaw recommendations to assist national minority participation in the electoral process; Report and recommendations on the Situation of Roma and Sinti in the OSCE Area; Guidelines for the use of minority languages in the broadcast media; Recommendations on policing in multi-ethnic societies.

Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR):

Within the OSCE, the Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights is the institution which specialises in dealing with elections, human rights, and democratization. Its mandate includes assisting States with implementing their commitments on non-discrimination and it supports state efforts to tackle hate crimes, incidents of racism, anti-Semitism, and other forms of intolerance. ODIHR has established a Contact Point for Roma and Sinti Issues to address discrimination against Roma and Sinti across the OSCE area. The Contact Point conducts activities within the framework of the the 2003 OSCE Action Plan on Improving the Situation of Roma and Sinti within the OSCE Area.⁹³ The Action Plan makes specific recommendations to participating OSCE States and to OSCE institutions and structures in the areas of improving political participation, tackling discrimination and racial violence and improving the social conditions of Roma and Sinti.