A/HRC/37/55/Add.1 rights are to be implemented directly. Moreover, under article 22, “citizens shall have the right to address international institutions in order to protect their freedoms and rights guaranteed by the Constitution”. 13. The provisions most relevant to concerns raised in the present report include the prohibition of discrimination, including on the basis of culture (art. 21), the guarantee of freedom of thought, conscience and religion (art. 43), the principle that “Churches and religious communities are equal and separated from the State” (art. 44), freedom of thought and expression (art. 46), the requirement of promoting respect for diversity, including through culture (art. 48), freedom of the media (art. 50), freedom of assembly (art. 54), the right to education (art. 71) and the guarantee of freedom of scientific and artistic creativity (art. 73). However, the Constitution does not contain a specific guarantee of the right to take part in cultural life akin to the terms of article 15 of the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights. 14. Article 14 of the Constitution affirms that the protection of national minorities is one of the constitutional principles of the Serbian State. The 2002 law on Protection of Rights and Freedoms of National Minorities prohibits discrimination against such groups. In addition, in accordance with the 2009 Law on National Councils of National Minorities, the Councils are elected bodies, and represent national minorities in the fields of education, culture and official use of language.3 They also participate in decision-making in these areas. 15. Article 81 of the 2006 Constitution requires that “[i]n the field of education, culture and information, Serbia shall give impetus to the spirit of tolerance and intercultural dialogue and undertake efficient measures for enhancement of mutual respect, understanding and cooperation among all people living on its territory, regardless of their ethnic, cultural, linguistic or religious identity”. 16. In 2009, Serbia adopted its Law on Culture, which was amended in 2016. The new law is based on 10 principles of cultural development, which include: “freedom of expression in cultural and artistic creation”; “access to and availability of cultural content”; “respect for cultural and democratic values of the local, regional, national, European and global cultural diversity and intercultural dialogue”; “democratic cultural policy”; and “preservation of cultural and historical heritage”.4 17. A number of laws, including the law on the prohibition of discrimination (2009) and the law on gender equality (2009), prohibit discrimination. 18. On paper, this is a robust and impressive legal regime. However, the Special Rapporteur often heard, including from some within Government, of the ongoing need for the implementation of this legal framework in practice. She was pleased to learn of the existence of national councils on culture, Roma inclusion, anti-discrimination and on the monitoring of United Nations recommendations. She appreciated expressions of commitment by those in the Office for Human and Minority Rights to full implementation of international human rights recommendations and their request for more support from the United Nations in this regard. B. General context 19. Serbia is a diverse society. Ethnic minorities include Albanians, Ashkali, Bosniaks, Bulgarians, Bunjevac, Croats, Czechs, Egyptians, Germans, Greeks, Hungarians, Jews, Macedonians, Montenegrins, Roma, Romanians, Ruthenians, Slovaks, Slovenes, Ukranians, Vlachs and others. 20. There are also Serbs and others who fled from other parts of the former Yugoslavia during the conflicts of the 1990s. Some 203,000 internally displaced persons originally from Kosovo were present in Serbia at the time of the mission, 90,000 of whom had 3 4 Article 2 of the Law on National Councils of National Minorities. See www.culturalpolicies.net/web/serbia.php?aid=52. 5