78 communities associated in CAVIDA, and the women head of household living in Turbo, in accordance with Article 21, in relation to Article 1.1 of the American Convention. The Forced Displacement and the State's Obligation to Ensure and Respect Rights Without Discrimination Due to Race, Color or any other Ground 354. As mentioned before, in the course of its in loco visit to Colombia in December 1997, the IACHR received statements evidencing active and passive discrimination by the State and from third parties, and took account of a systematic discrimination, both official and unofficial. In its Third Report, the Commission indicated that "offensive stereotypes in the media, the arts and popular culture tend to perpetuate negative attitudes towards blacks and these often unconscious views are commonly reflected 374 in public policy when governments at all levels distribute limited State resources" and there was a recognition both by the State and society that Afro-Colombians had been victims of racial 375 discrimination." 355. In the current case, before the displacement, the systematic discrimination referred afflicted the Cacarica Afro-descendant communities traditionally settled in the Department of Chocó, an area particularly compromised at the time by the internal armed conflict. During the displacement, the discrimination had an even greater impact on the displaced persons. The Commission recalls that in 2007, the IACHR observed that the Afro-Colombians are particularly affected by the violence caused by the conflict and the scale of violence affecting them remains hidden due to a lack of distinct estimations 376 allowing an appreciation of the ways they are affected in comparison to the rest of the population. 356. Article 1.1 of the American Convention prohibits discrimination of any kind, a concept including unjustified distinctions for reasons of race, color, national or social origin, economic status, birth or any other social condition. 357. For its part, Article 24 of the Convention, which enshrines the right to equality before the law and to receive equal protection of the law, without discrimination, has been interpreted in its reach by the Inter-American Court in the following terms: The prohibition against discrimination so broadly proclaimed in Article 1.1 with regard to the rights and guarantees enumerated in the Convention thus extends to the domestic law of the States Parties, permitting the conclusion that in these provisions the States Parties, by acceding to the 377 Convention, have undertaken to maintain their laws free of discriminatory regulations. 358. In this respect, the Inter-American has stressed that "[n]on-discrimination, together with equality before the law and equal protection of the law, are elements of a general basic principle related 378 to the protection of human rights." 374 Annex 15. IACHR. Third Report on the Situation of Human Rights in Colombia, Ch. XI: The Rights of Black Communities. OEA/Ser.L/V/II.102 Doc. 9 rev. 1, February 26, 1999, para. 20. At: http://www.cidh.org/countryrep/Colom99en/table%20of%20contents.htm. 375 Annex 15. IACHR. Third Report on the Situation of Human Rights in Colombia, Ch. XI: The Rights of Black Communities. OEA/Ser.L/V/II.102 Doc. 9 rev. 1, February 26, 1999, para. 19. At: http://www.cidh.org/countryrep/Colom99en/table%20of%20contents.htm. 376 Annex 11. IACHR Preliminary Observations after the visit of the Rapporteur on the Rights of Afro-descendants and Against Racial Discrimination to the Republic of Colombia, para. 79 In: http://www.cidh.org/countryrep/ColombiaAfrodescendientes.sp/ColombiaAfros2009cap3-4.sp.htm#1. 377 I/A Court H.R. Proposed Amendments to the Naturalization Provisions of the Constitution of Costa Rica, Advisory Opinion, OC-4/84 of January 19, 1984. Series A No. 4, para. 54. In the same sense, see IACHR, Report No. 40/04, Indigenous Maya Communities in the Toledo District v Belice, October 12, 2004, paras.162 et seq. 378 I/A Court H.R. Judicial Condition and Rights of the Undocumented Migrants, Advisory Opinion, OC-18/03 of September 17, 2003, Series A. No. 18, para. 83. The Human Rights Committee has established in the identical sense that "[n]on-discrimination, together with equality before the law and equal protection of the law without any discrimination, constitute a basic and general principle relating to the protection of human rights." Annex 100. Human Rights Committee, General Comment No. 18: NonContinues…