6 PROMOTING AND PROTECTING MINORITY RIGHTS ethnic, religious, and linguistic minorities contribute to political and social stability and peace and enrich the cultural diversity and heritage of society”.10 It is also important to note that, in addition to the development of minority rights, the United Nations has actively pursued distinct work on the human rights of indigenous peoples. This work culminated in the Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, a landmark document drafted with strong input from representatives of indigenous peoples and adopted by the General Assembly in September 2007. The 2001 Durban World Conference against Racism, Racial Discrimination, Xenophobia and Related Intolerance (Durban Conference) and the Durban Review Conference held in 2009 reaffirmed non-discrimination as a core human rights principle and recommended various measures towards securing additional protection against racism. The Durban Declaration and Programme of Action proposes concrete actions to combat racism, racial discrimination, xenophobia and related intolerance; addresses a wide range of issues; and contains farreaching recommendations and practical measures regarding various groups which suffer from discrimination. Specific recommendations are formulated to combat discrimination against Africans and people of African descent, Asians and persons of Asian descent, indigenous peoples, migrants, refugees, minorities, Roma and other groups. Several recommendations are made towards equal treatment of minorities and their enjoyment of human rights and fundamental freedoms without discrimination of any kind. The Durban Declaration and Programme of Action recognizes that victims often suffer from multiple or aggravated forms of discrimination based on sex, language, religion, political or other opinion, social origin, property, birth or other status. The Durban Review Conference provided an opportunity to assess and accelerate progress on the implementation of measures adopted under the Durban Declaration and Programme of Action. Its Outcome Document essentially reaffirms the commitments contained in the Durban Declaration and Programme of Action. Two intergovernmental mechanisms and two expert mechanisms were subsequently created: the Intergovernmental Working Group on the Effective Implementation of the Durban Declaration and Programme of Action, the Ad Hoc Committee on the elaboration of complementary standards, the Independent Eminent Experts’ Group and the Working Group of Experts on People of African Descent. The last is discussed more fully in chapter IV. Throughout the above developments, a persistent challenge for minority advocates within the United Nations and other intergovernmental bodies has been the lack of agreement on just what a “minority” is. The difficulties in arriving at an agreed definition have at times overshadowed substantive consideration of minority rights, and the adoption of the Minorities Declaration became possible only after a decision was taken to proceed without defining the persons to whom it would apply. One of the most widely cited definitions is that proposed by Special Rapporteur Francesco Capotorti. In his 1979 report, he defined a minority as “[a] group numerically inferior to the rest of the population of a State, in a non-dominant position, whose members – being nationals of the State – possess ethnic, religious or linguistic characteristics differing from those of the rest of the population and show, if only implicitly, a sense of solidarity, directed towards preserving their culture, traditions, religion or language”. In 1984, in the course of deliberations that would eventually lead to the adoption of the Minorities Declaration in 1992, the Commission on Human Rights requested the Sub-Commission to revisit the definition. After surveying various national and international precedents, Sub-Commission member Jules Deschenes submitted the following definition, which did not differ substantially from that by Mr. Capotorti: General Assembly resolution 60/1, para. 130. 10