A/HRC/55/44 scientific diversity, real inclusivity of all stakeholders, including Indigenous Peoples and civil society organizations, transparency in debates and outcomes and the prohibition of conflicts of interest.68 Effective communication that bridges the gap among the language and priorities of scientists, policymakers and the general population is of paramount importance. In that function, journalists have a crucial role to play and should be guaranteed access, information and freedom of speech. 3. Participation in benefits and in preventing harms 57. In paragraph 56 of its general comment No. 25 (2020), the Committee stressed that participation included the right to information and participation in controlling the risks involved in scientific processes and their applications. In view of the unequal distribution of benefits and risks within and among societies, the Special Rapporteur underscores that participation must entail a conversation on both benefits and risks and whom they affect. In particular, focusing on the participation modalities of vulnerable and marginalized groups, including Indigenous Peoples, peasants and those located in remote areas, is essential. 58. The recognition of communities or knowledge previously excluded, such as Indigenous science and traditional knowledge, and benefit-sharing are key elements of participation. Participation can facilitate a collaborative and inclusive approach that enables the responsible exploration of the opportunities to benefit scientific progress and its applications, checked against specific risks for specific communities. Benefit-sharing includes sharing in the material benefits or products of scientific advancements and access to scientific knowledge and education and developing one’s critical mind and faculties associated with doing science.69 All of those achievements must be shared with everyone in all parts of the world without discrimination and without restrictions based on commercial interests. The only caveat that the Special Rapporteur would raise relates to the right of Indigenous Peoples, deriving from their right to self-determination and the recognition of historical injustices committed against them, to decide on the level to which they open up their traditional knowledge to the world. 59. The right to participation in science also includes the right to participate in anticipating the harms resulting from science, in accordance with States’ obligation to prevent harm and the precautionary and the due diligence principles (see sect. V). In that respect, it is important to be wary of the self-validation of science by means of impact assessments, as their technical nature does not fully address questions of wider human rights and dignity. Participation in decision models, rather than mere impact assessments, can offer better ways of predicting and preventing harms. 4. Right not to participate in science 60. An important aspect of the right to participate in science is the right not to participate. The issue of consent is an important one and must always be taken into consideration, based in particular on article 7 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, providing that no one shall be subjected without one’s free consent to medical or scientific experimentation. Guaranteeing informed consent is also a fundamental dimension of the right to health and requires adopting policies, practices and protocols that are respectful of autonomy, self-determination and human dignity.70 61. More widely, the right not to participate derives from considering the right to access to and participation in science as a cultural right. As has always been stressed under the mandate, people always enjoy their right to participate or not to participate in one or several communities, to freely develop their multiple identities, to access their cultural heritage as well as that of others and to contribute to the creation of culture, including through the contestation of dominant norms and values within the communities they choose to belong to as well as those of other communities.71 68 69 70 71 14 See, for example, contribution from Hungary. General comment No. 25 (2020), para. 10. A/64/272, para. 93. See, for example, A/HRC/14/36, para. 10. GE.24-01813