INTRODUCTION Charter for Regional or Minority Languages and in the Council of Europe’s Framework Convention for the Protection of National Minorities (FCNM). The scope and application of ESC rights, as they apply to minorities and indigenous peoples, have been elaborated and refined through the General Comments of treaty bodies, the rulings of regional courts and the opinions of regional commissions. They have also been developed through the decisions of national courts in countries that have entrenched many of these rights into domestic law. Two instrumental elements have been identified as essential for the exercise of ESC rights by minorities and indigenous peoples. These are the need for selfidentification and for official state recognition. Self-identification is generally accepted as the primary criterion in the determination of who constitutes a minority or indigenous person.10 However, while the existence of a minority does not depend upon a decision by the state,11 there is little doubt that the recognition of minority communities, particularly when provided for in domestic law, is conducive to the fulfilment of their rights. Moreover, domestic laws that recognize only certain groups, thereby facilitating their enjoyment of certain rights, while excluding other groups, may well be discriminatory.12 The chapters in this guide offer valuable insight into the specific content of ESC rights when the beneficiaries are minorities or indigenous peoples. They consider recent developments, highlight existing limitations in the content and enforcement of the standards to date, and describe various mechanisms including those of the UN, ILO, World Bank and regional human rights bodies. What can we learn from the interrelatedness and interdependence of human rights? Drawing on the interrelatedness and interdependence between ESC rights and civil and political rights can expand the scope for advocacy. For example, bodies that monitor state compliance with the treaties addressing civil and political rights have considered cases with distinct socio-economic components.13 Throughout this guide, there are many examples of ESC rights activists using standards and monitoring procedures aimed more directly at the protection of civil and political rights. We see in the chapter, ‘Housing rights’, how the right to property, traditionally a civil liberty, has been used to protect indigenous land rights in the Americas; and how the violation of the right to life has been successfully invoked in the case of forced evictions in India. In the chapter, ‘Cultural rights’, we are shown that traditional economic activities may form an essential element of the culture of an ethnic community under the ICCPR. This ‘integration approach’ is also highlighted in the chapter, ‘Health rights’, in relation to the European Court of Human Rights.14 7