Minorities and effective political participation: a survey of law and national practices 2010, para. 42
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The right to effective participation is further upheld in provisions within existing regional human rights treaties. These include the African Charter on Human and Peoples' Rights, the Protocol to the African Charter on Human and Peoples' Rights on the Rights of Women in Africa, the American Convention on Human Rights and the Inter-American Convention on the Prevention, Punishment and Eradication of Violence against Women. The Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms (European Convention on Human Rights) protects the right to free elections through its Protocol No. 1 (art. 3) and the Framework Convention for the Protection of National Minorities creates an obligation for States to ensure the effective participation of persons belonging to national minorities (art. 15). Comparable provisions on the prohibition of discrimination are also contained in the regional human rights treaties.