A/HRC/25/56/Add.1 International Day of the World’s Indigenous Peoples and the Government involved communities in celebratory events. II. Methodology 6. The Independent Expert’s evaluation is based on the Declaration on the Rights of Persons Belonging to National or Ethnic, Religious and Linguistic Minorities and other relevant international standards, from which she has identified four broad areas of global concern: (a) The protection of a minority’s survival by combating violence against them and preventing genocide; (b) The protection and promotion of the cultural identity of minority groups, and their right to enjoy their collective identity and to reject forced assimilation; (c) The guarantee of the rights to non-discrimination and to equality, including ending structural or systemic discrimination and the promotion of affirmative action, when required; (d) The right to the effective participation of minorities in public life and in decisions that affect them. 7. The Independent Expert visited Yaoundé and different regions where minority communities live, including Kribi in the South, Bamenda in the North-West and Maroua in the Far North. She undertook visits to local communities to hear their issues and concerns. The Independent Expert focused her work on national, ethnic, religious and linguistic groups whose generally non-dominant, disadvantaged situations require measures to allow them to exercise all their rights, including minority rights, to the fullest. 8. The Independent Expert acknowledges that some communities with whom she consulted also self-identify as indigenous peoples or indigenous minorities. She notes that their engagement with her mandate on minority issues and her analysis of the situations of such groups in no way undermines or is incompatible with their claims to indigenous status and to enjoy the rights contained in the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples and other international standards for indigenous peoples, including rights to ancestral lands. III. Minority rights: legal and institutional framework 9. The Constitution states in its preamble that “the State shall ensure the protection of minorities and preserve the rights of indigenous populations in accordance with the law.” Article 7 prohibits discrimination, stating that “all are equal before the law and are entitled without any discrimination to equal protection of the law. All are entitled to equal protection against any discrimination in violation of this Declaration and against any incitement to such discrimination.�� Cameroon has no laws that explicitly forbid discrimination based on race, religion, language or social status; to date, the prohibition of racial discrimination has therefore not been fully incorporated into State legislation, including the Criminal Code and the Code of Criminal Procedure. 10. Cameroon is a party to international treaties relevant to minority rights, including the Convention on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination, the Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights and the Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, as well as the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights. Under the Constitution, international law has primacy over national laws. Cameroon was one of the few African countries to vote in 5