A/HRC/37/55/Add.1 7. Serbia and Kosovo have experienced recent events, including the break-up of the former Yugoslavia, repression, mass atrocities, armed conflict in 1998/99 and rioting in 2004, that have had far-reaching consequences on the construction of identities and sense of belonging of their populations and about which there are divergent narratives. The current situation reflects the sensitivity of people in Serbia and Kosovo to the history of these events, which cannot be comprehensively reviewed in the limited space here. The Special Rapporteur notes that discussions about cultural heritage revealed deep wounds that must be addressed to achieve lasting reconciliation and peace. II. International human rights framework 8. Many provisions of international law are relevant for the protection and promotion of cultural rights. These include article 26 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and article 13 of the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, which specifically highlight the right of each person to education, as well as article 27 of the Universal Declaration and article 15 of the Covenant, which recognize the right of each person to take part in cultural life and to the freedom indispensable for creative activity. In addition, in accordance with article 5 of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) Universal Declaration on Cultural Diversity, all persons have the right to participate in the cultural life of their choice and to conduct cultural practices, subject to respect for human rights and fundamental freedoms. 9. The International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights also protects rights bearing an important cultural dimension, in particular the rights to freedom of thought, conscience and religion (art. 18), freedom of opinion and expression (art. 19), and freedom of persons belonging to ethnic, religious or linguistic minorities to enjoy their own culture, profess and practise their own religion, or use their own language (art. 27). 10. The Special Rapporteur stresses the importance of the right to access and enjoy cultural heritage as a human right, which finds its legal basis, inter alia, in the right to participate in cultural life.2 This right includes the right of individuals and groups to, inter alia, know, understand, enter, visit, make use of, maintain, exchange and develop cultural heritage, as well as to benefit from the cultural heritage of others. It also includes the right to participate in the identification, interpretation and development of cultural heritage, as well as in the design and implementation of preservation/safeguard policies and programmes. 11. In its resolution 33/20 the Human Rights Council stated that “the violation or abuse of the right of everyone to take part in cultural life, including the ability to access and enjoy cultural heritage, may threaten stability, social cohesion and cultural identity, and constitutes an aggravating factor in conflict and a major obstacle to dialogue, peace and reconciliation”. The 2003 UNESCO Declaration Concerning the Intentional Destruction of Cultural Heritage states that “cultural heritage is an important component of cultural identity and of social cohesion, so that its intentional destruction may have adverse consequences on human dignity and human rights”. III. Serbia: enjoyment of the right to take part in cultural life A. Domestic legal framework 12. In Serbia, which is a party to both the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights and the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, the 2006 Constitution guarantees many human rights enshrined in these instruments. All of these 2 4 See A/HRC/17/38, A/HRC/31/59 and Corr.1 and A/71/317. See also Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, general comment No. 21 (2009) on the right of everyone to take part in cultural life, para. 50.