A/HRC/34/53/Add.3 now most speak Sinhalese and Tamil. Chetties, who are descendants of a community of Indian traders, comprise 0.03 per cent of the population. Bharatha, originally from Tamil Nadu in India, constitute 0.01 per cent of the population. The census also provides for the category of “other”, which covers the 0.09 per cent of the population who do not identify themselves as falling within the aforementioned categories. 6. Many minority representatives questioned whether the 2012 census data truly reflect the actual composition of the society, where categories overlap. The implications of undercounting may be considerable, particularly in view of the proportional representation system. The category of “other”, as pointed out by smaller minority groups, is problematic, given that they are not provided with the opportunity to self-identify and to have a separate voice under the proportional representation system. According to the Department of Census and Statistics, consideration is being given to the possibility of allowing for selfidentification in the next census. The Special Rapporteur would welcome such a step. II. Minority rights: legal, political and institutional framework 7. Sri Lanka is a State party to the core international human rights treaties of particular importance to the rights of minorities, including the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, the International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination and others. 8. The 1978 Constitution establishes the principle of equality and non-discrimination under its article 12 (2), which contains general provisions prohibiting discrimination on the grounds of race, religion, language, caste, sex, political opinion and place of birth, though not on the basis of colour or national or ethnic origin. 9. Article 9 establishes that “the Republic of Sri Lanka shall give to Buddhism the foremost place and accordingly it shall be the duty of the State to protect and foster the Buddha Sasana, while assuring to all religions the rights granted by articles 10 and 14 (1) (e)”. Article 10 stipulates that “[e]very person is entitled to freedom of thought, conscience and religion, including the freedom to have or to adopt a religion or belief of his choice”. Article 14 (1) (e) states that “[e]very citizen is entitled to the freedom, either by himself or in association with others and either in public or in private, to manifest his religion or belief in worship, observance, practice and teaching”. 10. Problematic in terms of constitutional provisions affecting the private practice of religion, as explained below, are article 16 (1), stipulating that all written and unwritten laws that existed prior to the 1978 Constitution are “valid and operative”, and article 80 (3), which prohibits judicial review of acts once adopted by Parliament. Article 18 establishes Sinhala and Tamil as the official languages, with English as the “link language”, and article 19 establishes Sinhala and Tamil as the national languages. Article 20 states that a Member of Parliament or of any local government authority is entitled to perform his functions in any of the national languages, and article 21 (1) guarantees the right of an individual to be educated through the medium of either of the national languages. Subsequent articles (22, 23 and 24) provide for the use of Tamil “as the language of administration for the maintenance of public records and the transaction of all business by public institutions in the Northern and Eastern Provinces”. All proclamations, by-laws and official publications are to be published in both languages, and all laws must be published in Sinhala and Tamil with a translation into English. Tamil is the language of the courts exercising original jurisdiction in the Northern and Eastern Provinces. 11. Further to the fifteenth amendment, the Constitution establishes in its article 99A that the Commissioner of Elections would ensure “as far as practicable” that the 4