A/HRC/4/9/Add.2 page 5 6. The Independent Expert regrets the fact that widespread reforms to the institutional structures of the Hungarian Government, including those specifically relating to minorities, were under way during the course of her visit to Hungary. Some institutional changes may therefore not be fully reflected within the present report. I. MINORITIES IN HUNGARY - RECOGNITION AND DEMOGRAPHICS 7. Hungary officially recognizes 13 national and ethnic minorities, which are: Armenian, Bulgarian, Croatian, German, Greek, Polish, Roma, Romanian, Ruthenian, Serbian, Slovak, Slovenian and Ukrainian. According to the census of 2001, a total of 314,000 people declared to belong to one of these minority groups (out of a total Hungarian population of circa 10.55 million), although actual numbers are much higher. The Roma are the largest minority group with a Government-estimated population of approximately 600,000 people. Minorities live in about 1,500 settlements throughout the country, and generally constitute a minority even within the settlements they inhabit. The Government records that the 13 recognized minorities speak 14 different languages, due to the Roma using 2 different languages (Romani and Beash). 8. The right of conscience and freedom of religion are safeguarded in Hungary. Individuals, belonging to different national, ethnic, religious communities may freely practise, or refrain from, their conscientious conviction. According to the census of 2001, there are 250 religious groups in Hungary. Until 2006, 146 denominations were registered as a church at the registration court. To establish a church or a religious community as a legal entity requires a representative and 100 individuals declaring the acceptance of the rules of operation. 9. To be considered by the Hungarian Parliament for recognition as a national or ethnic minority, claims must be based on the group having existed in Hungary for 100 years, and 1,000 signatures of minority individuals legally resident in Hungary must be submitted. Claims by the Macedonian minority and the Russian minority for recognition were rejected by Parliament due to failure to meet these criteria. The Government rejected requests by the Chinese Government to recognize a Chinese minority in Hungary. In June 2006 the deadline for submission of signatures by members of Hungary’s Jewish community passed without the required signatures, despite estimates that the Jewish population numbers some 100,000 persons. II. LEGISLATIVE AND ADMINISTRATIVE FRAMEWORK FOR MINORITY RIGHTS IN HUNGARY A. Key legislation and monitoring bodies 10. Since 1990 the Governmental Office for National and Ethnic Minorities (ONEM), a key element of the institutional framework to address minority issues, has been in charge of elaborating and coordinating the Government’s minority policy. The Hungarian Parliament adopted the comprehensive Act LXXVII on the Rights of National and Ethnic Minorities in 1993. The Act declares the right to national and ethnic identity as a universal human right and the special individual and collective rights of national and ethnic minorities as fundamental freedoms to be respected and enforced.