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Vienna Declaration and Programme of Action adopted at the World Conference
on Human Rights
The Vienna Declaration and Programme of Action was adopted at the World
Conference on Human Rights 25 June 1993.
19. Considering the importance of the promotion and protection of the rights of persons
belonging to minorities and the contribution of such promotion and protection to the political
and social stability of the States in which such persons live,
The World Conference on Human Rights reaffirms the obligation of States to ensure that persons
belonging to minorities may exercise fully and effectively all human rights and fundamental freedoms
without any discrimination and in full equality before the law in accordance with the Declaration
on the Rights of Persons Belonging to National or Ethnic, Religious and Linguistic Minorities.
The persons belonging to minorities have the right to enjoy their own culture, to profess and
practice their own religion and to use their own language in private and in public, freely and
without interference or any form of discrimination.
25. The World Conference on Human Rights calls on the Commission on Human Rights to examine ways
and means to promote and protect effectively the rights of persons belonging to minorities as set
out in the Declaration on the Rights of Persons belonging to National or Ethnic, Religious and
Linguistic Minorities. In this context, the World Conference on Human Rights calls upon the Centre
for Human Rights to provide, at the request of Governments concerned and as part of its programme
of advisory services and technical assistance, qualified expertise on minority issues and human
rights, as well as on the prevention and resolution of disputes, to assist in existing or potential
situations involving minorities.
26. The World Conference on Human Rights urges states and the international community to
promote and protect the rights of persons belonging to national or ethnic, religious and linguistic
minorities in accordance with the Declaration on the Rights of Persons belonging to National or
Ethnic, Religious and Linguistic Minorities.
Source: UN Doc. A/CONF.157/24. |
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