11.6 Are there provisions requiring public media airtime for voter information/ education? States Must Take Necessary Steps to Give Effect to Rights ICCPR, Art. 2(2): Where not already provided for by existing legislative or other measures, each State Party to the present Covenant undertakes to take the necessary steps, in accordance with its constitutional processes and with the provisions of the present Covenant, to adopt such laws or other measures as may be necessary to give effect to the rights recognized in the present Covenant. UNCAC, Art. 13(1): Each State Party shall take appropriate measures, within its means and in accordance with fundamental principles of its domestic law, to promote the active participation of individuals and groups outside the public sector, such as civil society, non-governmental organizations and community-based organizations, in the prevention of and the fight against corruption and to raise public awareness regarding the existence, causes and gravity of and the threat posed by corruption. This participation should be strengthened by such measures as: (b) Ensuring that the public has effective access to information; (c) Undertaking public information activities that contribute to nontolerance of corruption, as well as public education programmes, including school and university curricula; (d) Respecting, promoting and protecting the freedom to seek, receive, publish and disseminate information concerning corruption. That freedom may be subject to certain restrictions, but these shall only be such as are provided for by law and are necessary. UNSC Res. 2065 (2012): [The Security Council] urges the Independent Media Commission to ensure compliance with the Media Code of Practice, and emphasizes the need for media practitioners to remain committed to providing professional, independent, and factual coverage and to promoting public education and dialogue during the electoral period. CCPR, GC 25, p. 11: Voter education and registration campaigns are necessary to ensure the effective exercise of article 25 rights by an informed community. p. 12: Positive measures should be taken to overcome specific difficulties, such as illiteracy, language barriers, poverty, or impediments to freedom of movement which prevent persons entitled to vote from exercising their rights effectively. Information and materials about voting should be available in minority languages. Specific methods, such as photographs and symbols, should be adopted to ensure that illiterate voters have adequate information on which to base their choice. States parties should indicate in their reports the manner in which the difficulties highlighted in this paragraph are dealt with. 11.7 Are electoral laws and electoral materials translated into minority and local languages and made widely available? States Must Take Necessary Steps to Give Effect to Rights; Freedom from Discrimination and Equality under the Law ICCPR, Art. 2(2): Where not already provided for by existing legislative or other measures, each State Party to the present Covenant undertakes to take the necessary steps, in accordance with its constitutional processes and with the provisions of the present Covenant, to adopt such laws or other measures as may be necessary to give effect to the rights recognized in the present Covenant. ICCPR, Art. 26: All persons are equal before the law and are entitled without any discrimination to the equal protection of the law. In this respect, the law shall prohibit any discrimination and guarantee to all persons equal and effective protection against discrimination on any ground such as race, colour, sex, language, religion, political or other opinion, national or social origin, property, birth or other status. UNCAC, Art. 13(1): Each State Party shall take appropriate measures, within its means and in accordance with fundamental principles of its domestic law, to promote the active participation of individuals and groups outside the public sector, […] in the prevention of and the fight against corruption and to raise public awareness regarding the existence, causes and gravity of and the threat posed by corruption. This participation should be strengthened by such measures as: (b) Ensuring that the public has effective access to information. ICCPR, Art. 27: In those States in which ethnic, religious or linguistic minorities exist, persons belonging to such 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. 164 International IDEA