ACFC/31DOC(2008)001 PART II 1. PRELIMINARY REMARKS INTERNATIONAL STANDARDS FOR EFFECTIVE PARTICIPATION OF PERSONS BELONGING TO NATIONAL MINORITIES: THE FRAMEWORK CONVENTION AND OTHER INTERNATIONAL INSTRUMENTS 5. The protection of national minorities and of the rights and freedoms of persons belonging to national minorities, as embedded in the Framework Convention for the Protection of National Minorities, forms an integral part of the international protection of human rights.2 Hence the right to effective participation of persons belonging to national minorities in cultural, social and economic life and in public affairs, as spelled out in Article 15 of the Framework Convention, forms also part of the international protection of human rights. 6. Although the Framework Convention protects the rights of individual persons belonging to national minorities,3 the enjoyment of certain rights, including the right to effective participation, has a collective dimension. This means that some rights can be effectively enjoyed only in community with other persons belonging to national minorities.4 7. Besides the Framework Convention, there are other international documents that are relevant for the participation of persons belonging to national minorities. The Advisory Committee has taken into account the standards contained in these international texts when preparing this Commentary. They range from legally binding standards to recommendations and guidelines. Legally binding standards include those contained in the European Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms and the related case-law of the European Court of Human Rights, the revised European Social Charter or the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. The Lund Recommendations on the Effective Participation of National Minorities in Public Life published by the OSCE High Commissioner on National Minorities, have also been carefully considered by the Advisory Committee in its analysis of Article 15 of the Framework Convention. The United Nations also contributed to developing norms in the field of participation, notably through the Declaration on the Rights of Persons belonging to National or Ethnic, Religious and Linguistic Minorities (adopted in 1992), the Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples (adopted in 2007) and, on a more general level, in the International Convention on the Elimination of all forms of Racial Discrimination. 2 See Article 1 of the Framework Convention. See Explanatory report to the Framework Convention on Article 1 of the Framework Convention, paragraph 31. 4 See Article 3 paragraph 2 of the Framework Convention: “Persons belonging to national minorities may exercise the rights and enjoy the freedoms flowing from the principles enshrined in the present Framework Convention individually as well as in community with others”. 3 10