ICCPR Article 27 — Rights of Minorities

Summary

Article 27 provides that in states with ethnic, religious or linguistic minorities, persons belonging to such minorities shall not be denied the right to enjoy their own culture, to profess and practise their own religion, or to use their own language. General Comment 23 (1994) is the HRC's authoritative interpretation. The HRC has found violations in cases of forced assimilation and cultural destruction.

Relevance to the diaspora

Art. 27 supports Tamil cultural and linguistic rights claims in Sri Lanka and in diaspora host countries; diaspora organisations use it in shadow reports to the HRC to document suppression of Tamil cultural expression, language use in courts and administration, and destruction of cultural sites in the North and East.

Key provisions

• Art. 27 — right of minorities to enjoy culture, practise religion, use language
• HRC General Comment 23 (1994) — positive state obligations to protect minority rights
• Kitok v. Sweden (1988) — early Art. 27 case involving indigenous peoples

Primary source

Related entries

• → UN Declaration on the Rights of Persons Belonging to National or Ethnic, Religious and Linguistic Minorities 1992 (UN)
• → International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination (ICERD) 1965 (UN)
• → ICCPR Article 1 — Right of Self-Determination (UN)