A/HRC/31/56/Add.1 IV. Minority rights: legal and institutional framework A. International legal framework 21. Brazil has ratified the core United Nations human rights instruments and some of the optional protocols thereto, which contain numerous legal obligations regarding the rights of minorities. These include the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, and the International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination. 22. Brazil has also ratified International Labour Organization (ILO) Indigenous and Tribal Peoples Convention, 1989 (No. 169) which was implemented into domestic law through Presidential Decree 5.051 of 2004. Notably, the lands protected under Convention No. 169 include all lands used for traditional activities by traditional groups, and the Convention is therefore applicable to all traditional communities. Convention No. 169 further provides that governments should: (a) consult the peoples concerned through adequate procedures and in particular through their representative institutions, whenever legislative and administrative measures are passed that could affect them directly (art. 6). The Special Rapporteur notes with regret that, in June 2014, Congress representatives of the agribusiness and industrial sectors tried to cancel Brazilian commitment to Convention No. 169. 23. Brazil is also party to the Inter-American Convention on Human Rights and the additional protocol thereto in the area of economic, social and cultural rights, both of which have important implications for minorities. Brazil has also supported the establishment of the Organization of American States Special Rapporteur on the Rights of Persons of African Descent and against Racial discrimination, and signed the Inter-American Conventions against Racism, Racial Discrimination and Related Forms of Intolerance (A68) and against All Forms of Discrimination and Intolerance (A-69). The Conventions, which still require approval and ratification by Congress, require the establishment of a committee for the prevention and elimination of racism, racial discrimination and all forms of discrimination and intolerance, which will strengthen efforts to combat racism in Brazil and the region. 24. Importantly, constitutional amendment No. 45 of 2004 confers on human rights treaties the status of constitutional amendments. Human rights treaties ratified prior to the amendment are considered to be supralegal provisions and the constitution must be interpreted in conformity therewith. B. National legal framework 25. Brazil is a federal republic with 26 states, a federal district and 5,507 municipalities. The states have powers to adopt their own constitutions and laws; their autonomy, however, is limited by the federal constitution, which specifically protects human rights. 26. It is set forth in article 3 of the constitution that the fundamental objectives thereof include the reduction of social and regional inequalities and the promotion of the well-being of all, “without prejudice as to origin, race, sex, colour, age and any other forms of discrimination”. The fundamental right of equality before the law is established under article 5, together with that of freedom of conscience and of belief and the protection of places of worship (sect. VI); the prohibition of discrimination by reason of religious belief (sect. VIII); the criminalization of acts of racism (sect. XLII) and the outlawing of discrimination against fundamental rights and liberties (sect. XLI). 6