discriminatory regarding the exercise of any of the rights guaranteed in the Convention is per se incompatible with it83. 79. Regarding the principle of equality before the law and non-discrimination, the Court has stated84 that “the notion of equality springs directly from the oneness of the human family and is linked to the essential dignity of the individual. That principle cannot be reconciled with the notion that a given group has the right to privileged treatment because of its perceived superiority. It is equally irreconcilable with that notion to characterize a group as inferior and treat it with hostility or otherwise subject it to discrimination in the enjoyment of rights which are accorded to others not so classified.” The Court’s case law has also indicated that at the present stage of development of international law, the fundamental principle of equality and non-discrimination has entered the realm of jus cogens. The juridical framework of national and international public order rests on this principle and permeates the entire legal system.85 80. Moreover, the Court has mentioned that “the States must abstain from carrying out any action that, in any way, directly or indirectly, is aimed at creating situations of de jure or de facto discrimination.”86 The States are obliged “to take affirmative measures to reverse or change discriminatory situations that exist in their societies to the detriment of a specific group of persons. This implies the special obligations to protect that the State must exercise with regard to acts and practices of third parties who, with its tolerance or acquiescence, create, maintain or promote discriminatory situations.”87 81. The American Convention, like the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, does not include an explicit definition of the concept of “discrimination.” Based on the definitions of discrimination in Article 1(1) of the International Convention on the Elimination of all Forms of Racial Discrimination88 and Article 1(1) of the Convention on the Elimination of all Forms of Discrimination against Women,89 the Human Rights Committee of the United Nations has defined discrimination as: 83 Cf. Proposed Amendment to the Political Constitution of Costa Rica related to Naturalization. Advisory Opinion OC-4/84, January 19 1984. Series A No. 4, para. 53 and Case of Indigenous Community Xákmok Kásek. v. Paraguay. Merits, Reparations and Costs. Judgment of August 24, 2010 Series C No. 214, para. 268. 84 Cf. Advisory Opinion OC-4/84, supra note 83, para. 55. Cf. Juridical Condition and Rights of the Undocumented Migrants. Advisory Opinion OC-18/03, of September 17, 2003. Series A No. 18, para. 101 and Case Indigenous Community Xákmok Kásek, supra note 83, para. 269. 86 Cf. Advisory Opinion OC-18/03, supra note 85, para. 103 and Case of Indigenous Community Xákmok Kásek, supra note 83, para. 271 87 Cf. Advisory Opinion OC-18/03, supra note 85 para. 104; Case of Indigenous Community Xákmok Kásek, supra note 83, para. 271; and UN, Human Rights Committee, General Comment No. 18, Non- discrimination, November 10, 1989, CCPR/C/37, para. 6. 85 88 Article 1.1 of the International Convention on the Elimination of all Forms of Racial Discrimination states: “In this Convention, the term "racial discrimination " shall men any distinction, exclusion, restriction or preference based on race, color, descent, or national or ethnic origin which has the purpose or effect of nullifying or impairing the recognition, enjoyment or exercise, on an equal footing, of human rights and fundamental freedoms in the political, economic, social, cultural or any other field of public life.” 89 Article 1.1 of the International Convention on the Elimination of all Forms of Discrimination against Women states: “For the purposes of the present Convention, the term "discrimination against women " shall men any distinction, exclusion or restriction made on the basis of sex which has the effect or purpose of impairing or nullifying the recognition, enjoyment or exercise by women, irrespective of their marital status, on a basis of equality of men and women, of human rights and fundamental freedoms in the political, economic, social, cultural, civil or any other field”. 28