A/HRC/27/29 public affairs, hold peaceful assemblies and meetings, criticize and oppose government actions, publish political material, campaign for election and advertise political ideas.21 27. Freedom of expression also includes the right to seek and receive State-held information, which should be provided without the need to prove a direct interest or personal involvement.22 The right to freedom of expression has been read as entailing positive obligations for States to publish and widely disseminate documents and information of significant public interest such as the content of policies and decisions affecting the public, or operational information concerning the functioning of public bodies (see E/CN.4/2000/63, para. 44). There are also positive obligations to guarantee easy, prompt, effective and practical access to government information.23 28. The existence of independent and diverse media sources, able to comment on and inform public opinion on political issues without censorship or restraint, has been recognized by international human rights mechanisms as an essential underlying guarantee that supports the right to political participation.24 The public also has a right to receive media output free from any interference.25 29. The right to education is recognized in virtually all international and regional human rights instruments. The role of the right to education in ensuring access to other human rights, including rights to participate in political and public affairs, has been repeatedly emphasized. Article 13 (1) of the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights provides that one of the objectives of education is to “enable all persons to participate effectively in a free society”. The Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights notes in its General Comment No. 13 (1999) that the realization of the right to education is essential for the promotion of human rights and democracy in that it enables all people to fully participate in their communities. 30. The mutually reinforcing nature of the human rights closely linked to political and public participation rights means that any measures directed towards guaranteeing equality in relation to electoral and other public participation rights must also be accompanied by strategies to ensure the full implementation of these supporting human rights.26 III. Restrictions on political participation rights 31. The Human Rights Committee has noted on several occasions that the right to vote and to stand for election within the meaning of article 25 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights “is not an absolute right and that restrictions may be imposed on it provided they are not discriminatory or unreasonable”.27 With regard to other political rights, such as the freedoms of assembly and association, opinion and expression, any restrictions must be prescribed by law, necessary and proportionate in the circumstances. It has been emphasized by several international human rights mechanisms that restrictions should remain the exception rather the rule, and that these limitations should never impair the essence of the right at issue (A/HRC/20/27 and A/66/290). 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 8 Human Rights Committee, General Comment No. 25, para. 26, and General Comment No. 34; and A/66/290. See Human Rights Committee, Communication No. 1470/2006, paras 7.4–7.6. Human Rights Committee, General Comment No. 34, para. 19. Human Rights Committee, General Comment No. 25, para. 25. Human Rights Committee, General comment No. 34, para. 13. Human Rights Committee, General Comment No. 25, paras. 12, 26 and 27. Human Rights Committee, Communication No. 932/2000. See also Communications No. 2155/2012, No. 1744/2007, No. 500/1992, No. 44/1979; and General Comment No. 25, paras. 4, 10, 11 and 14.