A/HRC/16/29 continued access to the material resources required to continue their existence on those territories. Protection of their existence requires respect for and protection of their religious and cultural heritage, essential to their identity, including buildings and sites such as libraries, churches, mosques, temples and synagogues. 11. With regard to article 2, the Commentary makes clear that the Declaration, by comparison with article 27 of the ICCPR, is more explicit in requiring positive action by the State for the realization of the rights of minorities to enjoy their culture, profess their religion or use their language and to participate in public life. 12. Article 3 specifies that persons belonging to minorities shall not be subjected to discrimination for exercising, individually or collectively, their minority rights, and that they shall also not be disadvantaged in any way for choosing not to belong to the minority concerned. This provision is directed both towards the State and the agencies of the minority group. The State cannot impose a particular ethnic identity on a given person by the use of negative sanctions against those who do not want to be part of that group; nor can persons belonging to minorities subject to any disadvantage persons who on objective criteria may be held to form part of their group but who subjectively do not want to belong to it. 13. Under article 4, the Commentary makes clear that States are generally obliged under international law to ensure that all members of society may exercise their human rights; however States must give particular attention to the human rights situation of persons belonging to minorities because of the special problems they confront, in particular with regard to discrimination. 14. The Commentary explains that under article 5, the interests of minorities should be given reasonable weight by comparison with other legitimate interests that the Government has to take into consideration. Planning of educational policy, health policy, public nutrition policy or housing and settlement policies are among the many aspects of social life with regard to which the interests of minorities should be taken into account. While the authorities are required to take only “legitimate” interests into account, this is no different from what is required in relation to majorities: an accountable Government should not promote “illegitimate interests” of any group, whether majority or minority. 15. Regarding article 6, the Commentary underlines that the implication of the cooperation of States on minority issues is to share and exchange knowledge about good practices, whereby States can learn from each other, and to promote mutual understanding and trust. It also recalls that in accordance with the Charter of the United Nations, States should observe the principle of non-intervention in their bilateral relations. They should abstain from any use of force and also from any encouragement of the use of violence by parties to group conflicts in other States, and should take all necessary measures to prevent incursion by any armed group or mercenaries into other States in order to participate in group conflicts. At the same time, they should, in their bilateral relations, engage in constructive cooperation to facilitate, on a reciprocal basis, the protection of equality and promotion of group identities. 16. The Commentary says with respect to article 7 that States’ cooperation as called for in this article can be undertaken at the regional and subregional levels, as well as at the level of the United Nations. 17. Article 8 indicates that the Declaration is intended to strengthen the implementation of human rights in regard to persons belonging to minorities, but not to prejudice anyone’s enjoyment of universal human rights. Consequently, it recalls that the exercise of rights under the Declaration must not negatively affect the enjoyment of human rights for persons who do not belong to a minority, nor for persons who belong to the minority. 5