Cultural Diversity (2001) that are devoted to protecting cultural diversity, promoting the diversity of cultural expressions, and safeguarding tangible and intangible cultural heritage. Likewise, the 2005 UNESCO Convention on the Protection and Promotion of the Diversity of Cultural Expressions carries special weight, as we shall see. Finally, there are a number of relevant provisions and instruments relating to minorities and indigenous peoples that concern issues such as identity, language, belief systems, traditions and customs, participation in cultural life, education, and cultural heritage. Cultural Heritage and the Right to Participate in Cultural Life Within the cultural rights context, as already mentioned, the right to engage with cultural heritage is considered an aspect of the right freely to participate in cultural life. Relevant legal documents reflect, more or less directly, the view that it is important when talking about cultural heritage also to look at the cultural meanings and practices that individuals and collectivities associate with it. No uniform definition of cultural heritage can be found in the relevant legal instruments. Most of them simply list items that they understand as belonging to tangible, intangible, or natural heritage. Historical buildings, monuments, archaeological sites, and collections of objects belong in the category of tangible heritage, for example. Oral traditions, social practices, dances, rituals, and the knowledge and skills to produce traditional crafts are all part of intangible cultural heritage, and natural heritage refers to elements of biodiversity, including flora and fauna, ecosystems, and geological structures. The key here is the multiple expressions, manifestations, and communications of heritage through 8 which people – individuals as well as communities, including minorities and indigenous peoples – express their cultural identity and give meaning and value to their lives. Over the years, a change seems to have occurred within international legal instruments as to what kinds of cultural heritage should be safeguarded, and for what reasons. Whereas the earlier instruments discussed and wanted to protect the cultural heritage that had outstanding value for humanity as a whole, newer instruments aim to safeguard cultural heritage which has special value for individuals and communities. Crucially, the protection of cultural diversity should not be equated with cultural relativism. The fear that cultural rights and cultural diversity will automatically lead to cultural relativism has always been there. The UN Special Rapporteurs have tried to counter this fear by reaffirming the universality of cultural rights as an integral aspect of human rights. The commitment to cultural rights, they have argued, goes hand in hand with the commitment to cultural diversity. Respect for cultural rights as universal human rights will automatically make people respect cultural diversity, but it will also make people see and understand that not all cultural practices are protected in international human rights law. Cultural rights are not and should never become an excuse for the violation of other human rights. Gender is an important issue in this context, as in so many other cultural rights contexts. When cultural practices lead to discrimination against women, they must be questioned.