A/74/215 recommendations as guidance to States on the implementation of human rights commitments and obligations. The section below highlights how those mechanisms contribute to the progressive development of international human rights law, including on minority rights. 1. Legal and institutional framework of protection of the rights of minority groups 5. There is no legally binding international human rights treaty focused specifically on the rights of minority groups, but there are several international human rights instruments and treaties that contain provisions for the specific protection of minority groups, primarily article 27 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights and article 30 of the Convention on the Rights of the Child. In addition, there are extensive general non-discrimination provisions elaborated under the International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination (article 5) and the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women (article 10). The dedicated instrument on minority rights is the Declaration on the Rights of Persons Belonging to National or Ethnic, Religious and Linguistic Minorities, adopted by the General Assembly in its resolution 47/135 of 18 December 1992. 6. The current international legal framework on minority rights is built around four key pillars: the right to exist, the right to protection of identity, the right to non-discrimination, and the right to effective participation (see E/CN.4/2006/74, para. 22; and E/CN.4/Sub.2/AC.5/2005/2). The right to exist protects the collective physical existence of minority groups, including from practices such as genocide. Under the Declaration on the Rights of Persons Belonging to National or Ethnic, Religious and Linguistic Minorities, States shall protect the existence of minorities within their respective territories (article 1 (1)). The prohibition of genocide is strongly embodied in the Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide, 1948, and in the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court (articles 3 and 7). 7. The right to protection of identity safeguards the freedom of minority groups to practice their culture, religion and language in the public and private spheres and to affirm and protect their collective identity and to reject forced assimilation. That right is recognized in article 27 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights and in article 30 of the Convention on the Rights of the Child. The Declaration holds that States shall protect the national or ethnic, cultural, religious and linguistic identity of minorities within their respective territories and shall encourage conditions for the promotion of that identity (article 1 (1)), including by adopting appropriate legislative and other measures to achieve those ends (article 1 (2)). There is also a requirement for States to take positive and permanent measures to protect that righ t (article 4 (4)). 2 8. The right to non-discrimination protects minority groups from direct or indirect discrimination on the basis of ethnic, religious, linguistic or cultural identity, which is contained in all international human rights treaties, is add ressed in particular under the International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination. According to the Convention, the right to non-discrimination protects individuals against any distinction, exclusion, restriction or preferenc e which may have the purpose or effect of nullifying or impairing the recognition, enjoyment or exercise of their human rights and fundamental freedoms (article 1). The Convention also enables States parties to take temporary special measures in the social, economic, cultural and other fields to help individuals to overcome discrimination (article 2 (2)). __________________ 2 19-12558 Human Rights Committee, general comment No. 23 (1994) on the rights of minorities, paras. 6.1–6.2. 3/15