A/HRC/28/30 III. Contributions of panellists 12. In her introductory remarks, the Adviser on Human Rights and Refugees at the Quaker United Nations Office in Geneva and panel moderator, Rachel Brett, introduced the panellists, highlighting their extensive experience and contributions to the field of human rights. She outlined various aspects of prevention: firstly, prevention through the creation of a protective and enabling human rights framework, given that, at the national level, it was critical to have human rights provisions that can be invoked in and applied by the courts; secondly, prevention through inclusion, which was more than non-discrimination, but included the positive obligation to bring in different people and groups; and thirdly, prevention through participation. 13. Recalling the High Commissioner’s opening remarks to the Human Rights Council at its twenty-seventh session that minorities were often victims of violence and atrocity crimes, Ms. Brett invited the Special Rapporteur on minority issues, Rita Izsák, to outline risk factors that constitute early warning signs for preventing and addressing violence and mass atrocity crimes against minorities. The Special Rapporteur gave a rundown of her findings contained in her annual report to the General Assembly, 1 in which she listed the risk factors identified during the course of her mandate: exclusion and inequalities; deficits of democracy, good governance and rule of law; hate speech and stigmatization; history of violence with impunity and tensions without reconciliation; denial or deprivation of citizenship; political or regime change; multiple or intersectional discrimination; harmful actions of non-State actors; and armed conflict. She emphasized that, of these, the key risk areas for prevention work were exclusion and inequality, deficits of democracy, good governance and rule of law, and hate speech. 14. The Special Rapporteur on minority issues stated that the likelihood of unrest and violence grew whenever there were greater horizontal inequalities between different ethnic or cultural groups in terms of political and economic status. For that reason, it was essential that minorities and indigenous peoples be involved fully, including in shaping and implementing development policies. Competition over territory and the distribution of resources and power along ethnic lines could cause tensions. The Special Rapporteur emphasized the importance of ensuring that minorities participated in the planning, implementation and development of the post-2015 development agenda, underlining that it was crucial to reach the most vulnerable and marginalized groups in society rather than just those most easily accessible. She reminded the Council that hate speech was a process aimed at dehumanizing and demonizing others and that affects not only the groups targeted but also the majority by desensitizing it. 15. In answer to the moderator’s question on the elements that could play a key role in preventing violence and atrocities against minorities, the Special Rapporteur on minority issues referred to understanding the status and challenges facing different communities; implementing international human rights standards; ensuring institutional attention to minority issues; strengthening security measures and law enforcement bodies; granting space for civil society; and cooperation with regional and international bodies. She emphasized that an important tool for tackling ethnically or culturally biased favoritism in the distribution of power and resources was good governance, which implied inclusion. It was not enough to have good legislation in place; there had to be institutions with the budget and independence to monitor the situation and to address tensions. Prevention work would also be enhanced by the implementation of international human rights standards, 1 A/69/266. 5