Annex I 163 2.5 Persons belonging to minorities have the right to establish and maintain, without any discrimination, free and peaceful contacts with other members of their group and with persons belonging to other minorities, as well as contacts across frontiers with citizens of other States to whom they are related by national or ethnic, religious or linguistic ties. 52. The right to contacts has three facets, permitting intra-minority contacts, inter-minority contacts, and transfrontier contacts. The right to intra‑minority contacts is inherent in the right of association. Inter-minority contacts make it possible for persons belonging to minorities to share experience and information and to develop a common minority platform within the State. The right to transfrontier contacts constitutes the major innovation of the Declaration, and serves in part to overcome some of the negative consequences of the often unavoidable division of ethnic groups by international frontiers. Such contacts must be “free” but also “peaceful”. The latter limitation has two aspects: contacts must not involve the use of violent means or preparation of the use of such means; and the aims must be in conformity with the Declaration and generally with the purposes and principles of the Charter of the United Nations, as set out also in article 8.4 of the Declaration. ARTICLE 3 3.1 Persons belonging to minorities may exercise their rights, including those set forth in the present Declaration, individually as well as in community with other members of their group, without any discrimination. 53. The main point here is that persons can exercise their rights both individually and collectively, the most important aspect being the collective exercise of their rights, be it through associations, cultural manifestations or educational institutions, or in any other way. That they can exercise their rights in community with other members of the group applies not only to the rights contained in the Declaration, but any human right. They shall not be subject to any discrimination as a consequence of exercising their rights. This principle is important, because Governments or persons belonging to majorities are often tolerant of persons of other national or ethnic origins until such time as the latter assert their own identity, language and traditions. It is often only when they assert their rights as persons belonging to a group that discrimination or persecution starts. Article 3.1 makes it clear that they shall not be subjected to discrimination for manifesting their group identity. 3.2  No disadvantage shall result for any person belonging to a minority as a consequence of the exercise or non-exercise of the rights set forth in the present Declaration. 54. While article 3.1 provides that persons belonging to minorities shall not be subjected to discrimination for exercising, individually or collectively, their minority rights, article 3.2 makes it clear that they shall also not be disadvantaged in any way for choosing not to belong to the minority concerned. This provision is directed both towards the State and the agencies of the minority group. The State cannot impose a particular ethnic identity on a given person (which is what the apartheid regime in South Africa sought to do) by the use of negative sanctions against those who do not want to be part of that group; nor can persons belonging to minorities subject to any disadvantage persons who on objective criteria may be held to form part of their group but who subjectively do not want to belong to it. While, under conventional law, responsibility for human rights compliance normally rests with the State, the Declaration in this respect implies duties - at least morally - for persons representing minorities. Furthermore, States would be under a duty to prohibit the taking of measures by minorities to impose their particular rules on any