A/HRC/40/30 an investigation into the incidents and into the possible failure of the law enforcement authorities to fulfil their duty.6 12. In March 2018, the Special Rapporteur on the promotion of truth, justice, reparation and guarantees of non-recurrence and the Special Adviser to the Secretary-General on the Prevention of Genocide reported on their joint study (A/HRC/37/65). They underlined that the effective “upstreaming” of atrocity prevention work would include measures to prevent the entrenchment of various forms of inequality and marginalization. Those measures could include removing discriminatory provisions from existing constitutions and introducing mechanisms of inclusion. Since, in many countries, attacks predominantly targeted minorities, articulating clear and enforceable guarantees for minorities in bills of rights might offer some protection and discourage both attacks on minorities and pre-emptive action by them. B. Non-discrimination guarantees 13. During the period under review, OHCHR engaged in activities and strategies for the promotion and inclusion of non-discrimination guarantees in normative and policy processes regarding persons belonging to minorities. 14. In July 2018, during a side event at the thirty-eighth session of the Human Rights Council, the High Commissioner stated that the General Assembly’s request that Member States consider drafting a declaration on the promotion and full respect of the human rights of people of African descent was timely and important. The declaration should serve as an incentive for national action, providing concepts and ideas that could form a basis for the adoption of equality laws and policies. The primary beneficiaries of the declaration should be directly engaged in the drafting process, enabling them to express their views to the world community and engage with their governments in a manner that they had not been able to in the past.7 15. At the country level during 2018, the Human Rights Unit of the United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA) continued to promote efforts aimed at protecting the rights of ethnic and religious minorities in the country. The new Penal Code of Afghanistan, which entered into force on 14 February 2018, reinforces the country’s compliance with international human rights and criminal justice standards. The Code contains articles on the protection of the rights of ethnic and religious minority groups in relation to equality of persons before the law, incitement to discrimination or factionalism, insult to religion, introduction of sentencing for attacks against followers of religions, and discrimination in the civil service on religious, ethnic or linguistic grounds. In August 2018, the Government of Afghanistan commenced work on the draft anti-discrimination law, which will be reviewed by a legislative reform committee comprised of national and international stakeholders. The Human Rights Unit remains engaged with the Ministry of Justice to provide technical support in integrating international human rights standards into the draft law for the protection of ethnic and religious minorities. 16. The OHCHR Regional Office for Central Asia, in cooperation with the Presidential Office of Tajikistan, organized several meetings of the working group on the development of an anti-discrimination law. Those meetings offered a first opportunity for representatives of the Presidential Office, the Ministry of Justice, the Office of the Ombudsperson, civil society, the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) and United Nations agencies to review relevant recommendations from human rights mechanisms and take them into account during the drafting process of the anti-discrimination law. Based on OHCHR advocacy, the Government made a commitment to prepare the draft law in close consultation with civil society organizations. It is expected that during 2019, after further rounds of public discussion, the law will be drafted and submitted to State ministries and agencies for their feedback. During 2018, the Regional Office also supported the 6 7 See https://spcommreports.ohchr.org/TMResultsBase/DownLoadPublicCommunicationFile? gId=23715. See www.ohchr.org/EN/NewsEvents/Pages/DisplayNews.aspx?NewsID=23304&LangID=E. 5