A/HRC/27/29 7. Article 25 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, as well as the interpretive General Comment and jurisprudence adopted by the Human Rights Committee, define the obligations of States parties in connection with the right to take part in the conduct of public affairs, vote and be elected at genuine periodic elections, and have equal access to public service positions. Conditions and restrictions on direct and indirect political and public participation are permitted under international human rights law only when these are objective, reasonable and non-discriminatory.3 8. A number of other international human rights instruments also contain specific guarantees in relation to equal rights to political and public participation. These include the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (art. 21); the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (art. 8); the International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination (art. 5 (c)); the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women (arts. 7 and 8); the Convention on the Rights of the Child (art. 15); the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (arts. 4 (3), 29, 33 (3)); the International Convention on the Protection of All Migrant Workers and Members of Their Families (arts. 41 and 42); the Declaration on the Rights of Persons Belonging to National or Ethnic, Religious and Linguistic Minorities (art. 2 (2)); the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples (arts. 5 and 18); the Durban Declaration and Programme of Action (art. 22); the Declaration on the Rights to Development (arts 1.1, 2 and 8.2); and the Declaration on the Right and Responsibility of Individuals, Groups and Organs of Society to Promote and Protect Universally Recognized Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms (art. 8). At the regional level, equal political rights are protected in several instruments, including Protocol No. 1 to the European Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms (art. 3), the American Convention on Human Rights (art. 23) and the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights (art. 13). A. Electoral rights: the right to vote and to stand for elective office 9. The principle of universal and equal suffrage for all adult citizens constitutes one of the cornerstones of modern democracies. The importance of inclusivity, political pluralism and equality is underlined in Article 25 (b) of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, which recognizes the right of every citizen “[t]o vote and to be elected at genuine periodic elections which shall be by universal and equal suffrage”. 10. At the time that the Covenant was adopted, most States agreed that the scope of “universal” suffrage could be subjected to reasonable restrictions that allowed certain individuals or groups such as children, non-citizens, persons lacking legal capacity, prisoners and convicted felons to be deprived of political rights. More recently, however, human rights mechanisms have stated that wide-reaching restrictions or deprivations of electoral rights may not be compatible with guarantees of equality and non-discrimination under international law.4 11. The electoral rights guaranteed in article 25 (b) cover direct and indirect forms of political participation in all levels of government. Direct participation includes casting a 3 4 4 Human Rights Committee, General Comment No. 25, paras. 3–4. See, for example, Committee on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, General Comment No. 1 (2014); Human Rights Committee, Communication No. 1410/2005; CCPR/C/USA/CO/3 and Rev.1; and the International Convention on the Protection of the Rights of Migrant Workers and Members of Their Families, article 42. See also Manfred Nowak, U.N. Covenant on Civil and Political Rights: CCPR Commentary, 2nd rev. ed. (Kehl am Rhein, Engel, 2005), p. 576.