A/HRC/34/53 61. The Special Rapporteur has observed challenges to use of the term “minority” for certain distinct communities, either because they reject being referred to as minorities on the basis of a perceived negative connotation, or because they self-identify as minorities but the State refuses to recognize them as such. 62. In certain regions, she has found that groups that fall or would fall under the legal category of “minorities” because of the distinct cultural, linguistic, religious or other identity of their members reject the use of the term, which they regard as “derogatory”, “discriminatory”, or establishing a “second-class” category of citizens. In these cases, groups tend to use alternative nomenclature to refer to themselves, such as “religious groups”, “communities”, “societal components” and others. 63. While the Special Rapporteur fully respects the principle of self-identification, she considers that further efforts are necessary to fully convey the meaning, scope and implications of the term “minority” to minority groups themselves, so that the term can be reclaimed and used with the empowering intent it actually holds. She reiterates that the term “minority” does not imply any inferiority or diminished status in any way, but rather the recognition that the principles of equality and non-discrimination are not fulfilled for certain groups. Minority protection entitles persons belonging to minorities to specific rights, imposing concrete obligations on States to ensure the survival and continued development of the cultural, religious and social identity of the minorities. 7 64. In some instances, States are reluctant to recognize the existence of minority groups within their territories, and therefore reject the concept of “minority” and the recognition of minority status for those groups. In other cases, States legally recognize certain groups as minorities in their constitution, but apply restrictive definitions or discriminatory criteria, for example, when introducing citizenship as a distinguishing criterion for granting minority rights (ibid., para. 10). 65. The Special Rapporteur recognizes that the lack of a universally accepted legal definition of the term “minority” in international law may create inconsistencies. However, she also recalls that in the absence of a formal definition, the existence of a minority group can be assessed using objective and subjective criteria on the basis of international standards.8 Objective criteria include, inter alia, shared characteristics of the group such as ethnicity, national origin, culture, language or religion. Subjective criteria focus on the principle of self-identification and the desire to preserve the group identity. According to the principle of self-identification, individuals belonging to minority groups have the right to self-identify or not to self-identify as a minority. She further recalls that the existence of an ethnic, religious or linguistic minority in a given State does not depend upon a decision by that State but must be established by objective criteria. Moreover, the minority need not be nationals or citizens, or even permanent residents. 9 66. Furthermore, the Special Rapporteur acknowledges that in order to avoid protection gaps, the minority rights framework can and should be applied to groups that, although belonging to the same ethnic, religious or linguistic group as the larger community are in a non-dominant (and often marginalized) position and suffer stigma, self-identify as minorities and have historically used the minority rights framework to claim their rights. This is the case of many caste-affected groups worldwide, to which the Special Rapporteur devoted her previous thematic report to the Human Rights Council (A/HRC/31/56). 7 8 9 Human Rights Committee, general comment No. 23 (1994) on the rights of minorities, para. 9. Ibid. See also Working Group on Minorities, Commentary to the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Persons Belonging to National or Ethnic, Religious and Linguistic Minorities (E/CN.4/Sub.2/AC.5/2005/2). Human Rights Committee, general comment No. 23, para. 5.2. 13