A/HRC/13/48 F. Discrimination 83. Non-discrimination is a well-established fundamental human rights principle, explicitly referred to in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (art. 2), as well as in the Convention on the Rights of the Child and the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women. Article 4, paragraph 1 of the Declaration on the Rights of Persons Belonging to National or Ethnic, Religious and Linguistic Minorities (1992 Declaration on Minorities) spells out the responsibility of the State to ensure that persons belonging to minorities exercise fully and effectively all their human rights and fundamental freedoms without any discrimination and in full equality before the law. 84. The Special Rapporteur calls upon the Government to ensure that ethnic minorities are granted fundamental rights. The ethnic minorities in Myanmar should have the right to enjoy their own culture, to profess and practise their own religion, and to use their own language, in private and in public, freely and without interference or any form of discrimination, in accordance with the 1992 Declaration on Minorities. Policies that prevent teaching in ethnic languages in ethnic populated areas need to be changed. Ensuring the enjoyment of culture rights for ethnic minorities would contribute to the richness of Myanmar as a diverse and multi-ethnic country and would contribute to its political and social stability. 85. In the light of the 2008 Constitution, especially articles 34 (freedom of religion), 347 (equal rights of all persons before the law), and 348 (prohibition of discrimination based on race, birth, religion, official position, status, culture, sex and wealth), the Special Rapporteur urges the Government to undertake the amendment of domestic laws to ensure the full enjoyment of human rights without discrimination for all people in Myanmar. 86. During his last mission, the Special Rapporteur visited Northern Rakhine State. He is deeply concerned about the systematic and endemic discrimination faced by the Muslim community, known as the Rohingya, in this State. This discrimination, which is framed as an immigration problem, leads to basic and fundamental human rights being denied to this population. Measures taken against this population include restriction of movement, limitations on permission to marry, and forced labour. 87. The Special Rapporteur urges the Government to end the unacceptable discrimination, human rights abuses and resulting severe economic deprivation they face. This ethnic minority continues to be denied citizenship, under the 1982 Citizenship Act, which contravenes generally accepted international norms to ensure that there is no Statesanctioned discrimination on the basis of religion and ethnicity. The right of children to nationality and registration at birth are guaranteed by the Convention on the Rights of the Child. 88. Since 1994 the Myanmar authorities have refused to issue birth certificates to many Muslim children. As a consequence of their statelessness, these children face discrimination with regard to education, health care and employment. 89. Unlike other people of Myanmar, this Muslim community must apply for papers from Nasaka, the border and immigration forces in Northern Rakhine State, which checks for citizenship and age of majority, in order to get married. This process is reported to cost 40,000 kyat (about $40), which many Muslims cannot pay, and can take up to several years to complete. As a consequence, many Muslims are arrested and sentenced up to five years in prison for offenses relating to these requirements. The majority of the prison population of Buthidaung were Muslim, most of them for charges related to immigration or marriage offenses. However, the Supreme Court in 2009 overturned two convictions for illegal marriage. The Special Rapporteur urges the Government to consider these rulings and to 16 GE.10-11915