A/HRC/17/40/Add.2 International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, and the International Convention on the Rights of All Migrant Workers and Members of Their Families. B. Constitutional provisions 13. Part IV of the Constitution of the Republic of Singapore, on fundamental liberties, contains provisions of particular relevance to the mandate of the Special Rapporteur. These include article 12, which states that “all persons are equal before the law and entitled to the equal protection of the law” (paragraph 1) and that “except as expressly authorised by this Constitution, there shall be no discrimination against citizens of Singapore on the ground only of religion, race, descent or place of birth in any law or in the appointment to any office or employment under a public authority or in the administration of any law relating to the acquisition, holding or disposition of property or the establishing or carrying on of any trade, business, profession, vocation or employment” (paragraph 2); and article 16, paragraph 1, which provides that “without prejudice to the generality of Article 12, there shall be no discrimination against any citizen of Singapore on the grounds only of religion, race, descent or place of birth: (a) in the administration of any educational institution maintained by a public authority, and, in particular, the admission of pupils or students or the payment of fees; or (b) in providing out of the funds of a public authority financial aid for the maintenance or education of pupils or students in any educational institution (whether or not maintained by a public authority and whether within or outside Singapore)”. In addition, other human rights relating to, inter alia, liberty of the person, slavery and forced labour, freedom of movement, freedom of speech, assembly and association and freedom of religion, are also guaranteed by the Constitution. 14. Part XIII of the Constitution, on general provisions, also contains relevant provisions. These include article 152 on minorities and special position of Malays, which states that “it shall be the responsibility of the Government constantly to care for the interests of the racial and religious minorities in Singapore” and that “the Government shall exercise its functions in such manner as to recognize the special position of the Malays, who are the indigenous people of Singapore, and accordingly it shall be the responsibility of the Government to protect, safeguard, support, foster and promote their political, educational, religious, economic, social and cultural interests and the Malay language”; and article 154 on impartial treatment of Government employees, which provides that “all persons of whatever race in the same grade of the service of the Government shall, subject to the terms and conditions of their employment, be treated impartially”. 15. While expressing his appreciation that a range of human rights are protected by the Constitution, the Special Rapporteur is concerned by the fact that some human rights are granted to Singaporean citizens, but not to non-citizens residing on Singapore’s national territory. For instance, the above-mentioned article 12, paragraph 2, and article 16, paragraph 1, specifically refer to rights granted to Singaporean citizens only. In addition, article 14 on freedom of speech, assembly and association stipulates that “(a) every citizen of Singapore has the right to freedom of speech and expression; (b) all citizens of Singapore have the right to assemble peaceably and without arms; and (c) all citizens of Singapore have the right to form associations”. 16. According to International human rights law only a limited number of rights may be made dependent on citizenship, including the right to enter and reside permanently within the territory of a State and the right to be protected by the State when one is outside its territory. In its general recommendation No. 30 (2004) on discrimination against noncitizens, the Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination recalled that although some rights, such as the rights to participate in elections, to vote and to stand for election, 6