all individuals under their jurisdiction enjoy their rights; this may require specific action to correct inequalities to which minorities are subjected. The Human Rights Committee’s general comment No. 23 (1994) on the rights of minorities provides an authoritative interpretation of article 27. The Committee stated that “this article establishes and recognizes a right which is conferred on individuals belonging to minority groups and which is distinct from, and additional to, all the other rights which, as individuals in common with everyone else, they are already entitled to enjoy under the Covenant.” The right under article 27 is an autonomous one within the Covenant. The interpretation of its scope of application by the Human Rights Committee has had the effect of ensuring recognition of the existence of diverse groups within a State and of the fact that decisions on such recognition are not the province of the State alone, and that positive measures by States may be “necessary to protect the identity of a minority and the rights of its members to enjoy and develop their culture and language and to practise their religion, in community with the other members of the group.” The International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights mentions explicitly in article 2 (2) that “the States Parties to the present Covenant undertake to guarantee that the rights enunciated in the present Covenant will be exercised without discrimination of any kind as to race, colour, sex, language, religion, political or other opinion, national or social origin, property, birth or other status.” General comment No. 14 (2000) of the Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights on the right to the highest attainable standard of health states that health facilities, goods and services must be within safe physical reach for all sections of the population, especially vulnerable or marginalized groups, including ethnic minorities. Furthermore, all health facilities, goods and services must be culturally appropriate, for instance respectful of the culture of minorities. “States are under the obligation to respect the right to health by, inter alia, refraining from denying or limiting equal access for all persons, including […] minorities, to preventive, curative and palliative health services”. Article 1 of the International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination defines discrimination as “any distinction, exclusion, restriction or preference based on race, colour, descent, or national or ethnic origin which has the purpose or effect of nullifying or impairing the recognition, enjoyment or exercise, on an equal footing, of human rights and fundamental freedoms in the political, economic, social, cultural or any other field of public life.” Article 30 of the Convention on the Rights of the Child provides that “in those States in which ethnic, religious or linguistic minorities or persons of indigenous origin exist, a child belonging to such a minority or who is 16