A/HRC/13/23 Contents Paragraphs Page I. Introduction............................................................................................................. 1 4 II. Activities of the independent expert on minority issues ......................................... 2–17 4 III. IV. GE.10-10198 A. Country visits ................................................................................................. 2–4 4 B. Other activities................................................................................................ 5–17 4 Forum on Minority Issues ....................................................................................... 18–26 7 A. Follow-up to first session of the Forum on Minority Issues ........................... 19–23 7 B. Second session of the Forum on Minority Issues ........................................... 24–26 8 Minorities and effective political participation: a survey of law and national practices .................................................................................................... 27–88 8 A. Introduction .................................................................................................... 28–30 9 B. The right of minorities to effective participation............................................ 31–34 9 C. The right to effective participation in international human rights law............ 35–51 10 D. Preconditions for and obstacles to effective political participation ................ 52–64 14 E. Existing forms and mechanisms for effective political participation.............. 65–87 16 F. Concluding remarks........................................................................................ 88 21 3