A/60/399 74. In its general comment No. 22 (1993) on Article 18 of the Covenant, which uses language similar to Article 18 of the Universal Declaration, the Human Rights Committee has stressed that “[p]ersons already subject to certain legitimate constraints, such as prisoners, continue to enjoy their rights to manifest their religion or belief to the fullest extent compatible with the specific nature of the constraint. States parties’ reports should provide information on the full scope and effects of limitations under article 18.3, both as a matter of law and of their application in specific circumstances” (para. 8). (a) The principle of non-discrimination 75. The principle of non-discrimination, reaffirmed, inter alia, in article 2 of ICCPR, is a fundamental rule of international law. The Special Rapporteur notes that according to commentators, “The dangers of discrimination become much greater in the closed conditions of a prison. Prison administrations have a responsibility to ensure that they prevent the development of sub-groups that discriminate against minorities, both within their staff and within the prison population. This may require additional vigilance on any occasion when tensions are heightened in the community outside the prison. “Many of the prejudices which exist in society against minority groups are reflected in the world of the prison. This is no surprise since prisons to a great extent mirror the values of the society in which they exist. Prison authorities have a responsibility to ensure that there is no discrimination against any minority group of prisoners or staff. This includes institutional discrimination which is within the structure of the organisation as well as discrimination which is practised by individuals.”7 76. Article 27 of ICCPR provides that “In those States in which ethnic, religious or linguistic minorities exist, persons belonging to such minorities shall not be denied the right, in community with the other members of their group, to enjoy their own culture, to profess and practice their own religion, or to use their own language.” 77. The provisions of the International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination are also of particular relevance in this context. Article 5 of the Convention provides that: “In compliance with the fundamental obligations laid down in article 2 of this Convention, States Parties undertake to prohibit and to eliminate racial discrimination in all its forms and to guarantee the right of everyone, without distinction as to race, colour, or national or ethnic origin, to equality before the law, notably in the enjoyment of the … right to freedom of thought, conscience and religion.” 78. The principle of equal rights without discrimination is confirmed in principle 5, paragraph 1, of the Body of Principles for the Protection of All Persons under Any Form of Detention or Imprisonment: “These principles shall be applied to all persons within the territory of any given State, without distinction of any kind, such as race, colour, sex, language, religion or religious belief, political or other opinion, national, ethnic or social origin, property, birth or other status.” 79. In terms of prisons conditions, the Human Rights Committee also affirms in its general comment No. 21 (1992), concerning the human treatment of persons 21