A/HRC/13/23 certain preferential treatment in specific matters as compared with the rest of the population … as long as such action is needed to correct discrimination in fact”.14 44. This principle has been articulated in several legal instruments which allow for the adoption of special measures. The Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination permits the implementation of special measures “for the sole purpose of securing adequate advancement of certain racial or ethnic groups or individuals requiring such protection as may be necessary in order to ensure such groups or individuals equal enjoyment or exercise of human rights and fundamental freedoms” (art. 1, para. 4). The Convention goes on (art. 2, para. 2) to refer to special and concrete measures taken by States parties in the social, economic, cultural and other fields, the purpose of which is to guarantee the full and equal enjoyment of human rights and fundamental freedoms. The Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women also allows for “temporary special measures” which accelerate the de facto equality between men and women (art. 4, para. 1). At the regional level, the same approach is taken in the Framework Convention for the Protection of National Minorities, which allows States parties to “adopt, where necessary, adequate measures in order to promote, in all areas of economic, social, political and cultural life, full and effective equality between persons belonging to a national minority and those belonging to the majority” (art. 4, para. 2). Special measures do not constitute discrimination and therefore should not be considered such.15 45. The international legal framework has repeatedly recognized the need for special and concrete measures to protect certain groups with the purpose of guaranteeing them full and equal enjoyment of human rights and fundamental freedoms. The use of special measures is in fact a fundamental component of the realization of the right to nondiscrimination. Special measures are not merely permissible under the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination but also, in certain circumstances, a requirement. The Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination has emphasized that “the adoption of special measures by States parties when the circumstances so warrant, such as in the case of persistent disparities, is an obligation”.16 46. The concept of special measures is relevant for the effective political participation of women and men belonging to minorities as it can facilitate the implementation of minorities’ rights to vote and to stand for office. It has been endorsed by the United Nations human rights bodies and by regional human rights institutions. With regard to the right to vote, the Human Rights Committee recognized that “[p]ositive measures should be taken to overcome specific difficulties, such as illiteracy, language barriers, poverty, or impediments to freedom of movement which prevent persons entitled to vote from exercising their rights effectively. Information and materials about voting should be available in minority languages”.17 47. Arguments for special measures which could ensure the participation of minorities in public bodies are based on the fact that because of their smaller number, minorities can 14 15 16 17 12 Human Rights Committee, general comment No. 18 (Non-discrimination), 1989, para. 10. Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination, art. 1, para. 4; Framework Convention for the Protection of National Minorities, art. 4, para. 3. Concluding observations of the Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination: United States of America , Official Records of the General Assembly, Fifty-sixth Session, Supplement No. 18 (A/56/18), para. 399. See also generally the Committee’s general recommendation No. 32 (The meaning and scope of special measures in the International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination), adopted at its seventy-fifth session in August 2009, at http://www2.ohchr.org/english/bodies/cerd/comments.htm (English only). Human Rights Committee, general comment No. 25 (1996), para. 12. GE.10-10198