A/HRC/36/61 overcrowding. Its results should be carefully reviewed by the Ministry of Justice to determine whether the programme could, when accompanied by appropriate public education and awareness-raising programmes, limit the number of prisoners while ensuring the maintenance of law and order. The Ministry of the Interior should continue to work on a holistic response to the poor conditions in prisons and the problems caused by overcrowding. Although doing so would involve a significant expense, the rights of all detainees must be fully protected. C. Indigenous peoples 25. The Special Rapporteur reviewed the situation of indigenous peoples in her previous report (see A/HRC/33/62, paras. 11-18). As of May 2017, 124 indigenous communities have been recognized as such by the Ministry of Rural Development, 109 have been recognized as legal entities by the Ministry of the Interior and 14 communities have been granted communal land titles (those 14 communities hold 459 communal titles). This is a modest increase over the previous year. The Ministry intends to issue 50 titles by the end of 2018, but the complexity and cost of obtaining communal land titles (approximately $70,000 per title) impede the process. However, while communal land titles can provide protection for indigenous communities, they cannot be used as collateral for loans and therefore reduce the opportunities for communities to access financing and to develop economically. 26. In October 2016, the Special Rapporteur met Suoy community groups and received petitions from other indigenous groups. It was clear that land titles continued to be a problem. Progress remained slow and indigenous peoples continued to draw the Special Rapporteur’s attention to the cumbersome and complicated procedure for securing land titles in Cambodia. (All petitions received were taken by OHCHR Cambodia for processing.) Many of the complaints received on land cases had been raised before judicial and non-judicial bodies, senior government ministers, the national commission for land dispute resolution and the parliamentary committees on human rights and justice. Alleged victims were apparently appealing to multiple bodies and were finding the legal and administrative mechanisms complex and ineffective. 27. Members of the Suoy indigenous community encountered additional problems when some members successfully registered individual land titles under one directive while other members of the community were seeking community land title for a reduced area of claimed land. Many Suoy people claimed they had lost their farmland to economic land concessions, had received inadequate compensation and were destitute. 28. The Special Rapporteur recommends that the Government consider simplifying the communal land titling process to reduce the number of steps required and that it allocate additional funding for the development of indigenous communities. She suggests that the Government review current laws and policies to ensure the fulfilment of its obligations under the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples and that it disseminate and implement the Declaration at the local level. D. Minorities 29. Minority groups are entitled to specific protection under article 27 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights. In addition, article 31 of the Constitution provides that Khmer citizens are equal before the law and enjoy the same rights, liberties and duties regardless of race, colour, sex, language, belief, religion, political tendencies, birth origin, social status, wealth or other situation. 30. During the reporting period, the Special Rapporteur examined the situation of minority groups, including ethnic and religious minorities living in Cambodia, in part because she received expressions of concern on the issue of statelessness. Her preliminary findings are outlined below. 8