1. Article 27 of the Covenant provides that, in those States in
which ethnic, religious or linguistic minorities exist, persons
belonging to these minorities shall not be denied the right, in
community with the other members of their group, to enjoy their
own culture, to profess and practise their own religion, or to
use their own language. The Committee observes that this article
establishes and recognizes a right which is conferred on
individuals belonging to minority groups and which is distinct
from, and additional to, all the other rights which, as
individuals in common with everyone else, they are already
entitled to enjoy under the Covenant. 2. In some communications
submitted to the Committee under the Optional Protocol, the
right protected under article 27 has been confused with the
right of peoples to self-determination proclaimed in article 1
of the Covenant. Further, in reports submitted by States parties
under article 40 of the Covenant, the obligations placed upon
States parties under article 27