General Comments of the Human Rights Committee state authorities but, in line with Article 20 of the Covenant, also the acts of other individuals within the state, such as members of racist organizations. Article 27 recognizes and establishes rights of individuals belonging to minorities; that is, not the group as such, but individuals are to enjoy the rights ‘in community with other members of their group’. The realization of the rights, therefore, relates to the ability of a group to maintain its identity, such as its culture, language and religion. Special measures may be required to protect this identity. Enjoyment of the right to culture, especially for indigenous communities constituting a minority, may be associated with the ownership and use of land and resources, and activities such as fishing and hunting, if these activities are integral to the preservation and development of the group’s way of life and culture. The HRC requests states to include in their reports information on any measures adopted for the full protection of the rights laid down in Article 27. The Committee specifically asks for information on measures adopted towards ensuring: ‘the survival and continued development of the cultural, religious and social identities of the minorities concerned’. It is important to remember that, according to the HRC, the enjoyment of the rights set out in Article 27 does not prejudice the sovereignty and territorial integrity of states. This understanding is repeated in many international instruments. Minorities Self-determination The HRC has adopted General Comment no. 23 on minority rights as set forth in Article 27 of the ICCPR (also of relevance to indigenous peoples).15 These are additional to all of the other rights set out in the Covenant to which members of minorities are entitled as a matter of course. The rights in Article 27 are extended to all individuals belonging to ethnic, religious and linguistic minorities within the jurisdiction of the state; they cannot be limited to citizens of that state. The existence of a minority is to be established on the basis of objective criteria and does not depend on state recognition of that minority. Although Article 27 is formulated in negative terms, that is ‘minorities shall not be denied the right’, a state party is nevertheless obliged to ensure that the existence and the exercise of the rights specified in Article 27 are protected against their denial or violation. This means that the negative wording has been reversed through the interpretative practice of the HRC:16 a state is obliged to undertake special measures or positive action to redress inequalities between members of minority groups and the majority. Special measures are required for the protection against the denial or violations of the rights provided for in the Article and against acts committed not only by The General Comment no. 12 by the HRC on the right of self-determination in Article 1 of the ICCPR, gives limited guidance on questions related to minorities and indigenous peoples, except to say that this is a right to which peoples and not minorities are entitled. The term ‘peoples’ in Article 1 has been interpreted by the HRC to mean the entire population of a state or of an entity entitled to statehood under international law. The term ‘peoples’ therefore cannot be applied to a minority group living within a state. Ethnic, religious or linguistic minorities do not have the right to break away or secede from a state by reference to Article 1, unless they can be classified as falling under the UN practice of decolonization, or unless the majority and minority agree to separate. Self-determination claims may also be justified in international law if groups are subject to systematic discrimination and exclusion from government, or if they live on territory that has been occupied by force since the entry into force of the UN Charter in 1945.17 In the General Comment on Article 1, the HRC requests state parties to include in their periodic reports details on measures undertaken to fulfil the right of: ‘all peoples to freely determine their political status and freely MINORITY RIGHTS: A GUIDE TO UNITED NATIONS PROCEDURES AND INSTITUTIONS 17 binding on states. They act as guidelines. It is possible for NGOs to lobby the treaty bodies to issue a General Comment/Recommendation on a particular issue, or to lobby committee members in order to influence the contents when new ones are being drafted or old ones amended. The CEDAW has adopted a procedure for drafting that includes dialogue with NGOs and the CESCR is also willing to receive proposals from specialized NGOs during drafting; however, for other committees, the extent to which NGO involvement is possible largely depends on individual committee members. Where General Comments call for states to provide certain information in their reports to the committee, NGOs have an important role. NGOs can submit the relevant information, which is of particular value, especially if the state report is lacking. See section 3.2 for more information on NGO shadow reports. Some of the relevant General Comments/Recommendations by the treaty monitoring bodies are summarized below.14 Note that these are not the only comments that are pertinent to minorities, and in many cases the summary covers only a fraction of the issues and recommendations in the General Comment. NGOs considering submitting information to the committees should refer to the full text and check those comments not mentioned here for possible relevance.