A/70/255 I. Introduction 1. Pursuant to General Assembly resolution 68/172, the present report summarizes information on the implementation of the resolution and gives an overview of relevant activities undertaken to ensure the realization of the Declaration on the Rights of Persons Belonging to National or Ethnic, Religious and Linguistic Minorities. 2. In the Declaration, adopted on 18 December 1992, the General Assembly considered that the promotion and protection of the rights of persons belonging to national or ethnic, religious and linguistic minorities contributed to the political and social stability of States in which they lived. States and other stakeholders are guided by the Declaration on measures to take to guarantee minority rights with a view to realizing the principles laid down in the Charter of the United Nations and international and regional human rights instruments, including the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, in particular article 27 of the Covenant. 3. The provisions of the Declaration detail both the rights of persons belonging to minorities and the obligations of the State with respect to those rights. In doing so, the Declaration builds on various other human rights standards, including legally binding treaties. For example, recognizing that minorities are often at risk of being the targets of violence, article 1 of the Declaration stipulates that States should protect the existence of minorities. The article builds on the provisions of the Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide of 1948, which define genocide as “acts committed with intent to destroy, in whole or in part, a national, ethnical, racial or religious group”. The preamble of the Declaration also refers to the Convention. The former Working Group on Minorities of the Sub-Commission on Prevention of Discrimination and Protection of Minorities, in its commentary on the Declaration (E/CN.4/Sub.2/AC.5/2005/2), underlined the interlinkages between the Declaration and the Convention, but also noted that the protection of the existence of minorities went beyond the duty not to destroy or deliberately weaken minority groups and that it required respect for and protection of their religious and cultural heritage, essential to their group identity, including buildings and sites such as libraries, churches, mosques, temples and synagogues. The protection of existence and other guarantees in the Declaration are underpinned by the principle of non-discrimination; article 4 of the Declaration stipulates that States should take measures where required to ensure that persons belonging to minorities may exercise fully and effectively all their human rights and fundamental freedoms without any discrimination and in full equality before the law. In reality, discrimination on the grounds of, inter alia, ethnicity, race, religion and language remains a major hurdle to real respect of minority rights and often results in exclusion. Article 2 provides for the right of persons belonging to minorities to participate effectively in various aspects of life. Respect for the right to effective participation is key to protecting minority rights and to ensuring the fulfilment of many other fundamental human rights. 4. Under international law, States bear the primary responsibility for upholding minority rights and ensuring that persons belonging to minorities enjoy all human rights on an equal basis with others. Regrettably, contrary to the principles identified above, discriminatory laws and practices continued to be in effect in many countries throughout the reporting period, sometimes leading to massive violations of human rights, including violence that threatened the very existence of some 2/14 15-12580