impact assessment they should involve human rights defenders and other potentially affected groups and stakeholders through meaningful consultations.36 32. While non-state actors can play an important role in ensuring that human rights defenders enjoy greater protection, including by supporting and promoting their activities, the prime responsibility and duty to promote and protect human rights, including those of human rights defenders, rests with the state.37 As such, states have an obligation to protect human rights defenders from abuses by non-state actors, including by taking effective legislative and other measures to prevent, investigate, punish and redress such abuses. 33. In accordance with the Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights, states should clearly set out the expectation that all business enterprises domiciled in their territory and/or jurisdiction respect human rights throughout their operations.38 The same can be said for other private actors, including political, social and religious groups or institutions and the media. As such, participating States should refrain from colluding with or contracting services by private individuals or other non-state actors who commit abuses against human rights defenders and should hold them to account. This is particularly pertinent when functions that traditionally pertain to state authorities are outsourced to private actors such as military and security companies and other groups. Where existing legislation, policies and practices are not sufficient to hold non-state actors to account, states should amend them or adopt new legislation and practices to that end. Equality and non-discrimination 34. Article 26 of the ICCPR stipulates: “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.” Furthermore, Article 2 of the ICCPR requires 36  The Special Representative of the UN Secretary General on business and human rights has also recommended that business enterprises, in their due diligence efforts, should consult with “credible, independent resources including human rights defenders”; see “Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights”, commentary to principle 18. 37  See UN Declaration on Human Rights Defenders, preambular para. 7. See also the Council of Europe’s “Declaration of the Committee of Ministers on Council of Europe action to improve the protection of human rights defenders and promote their activities”, adopted on 6 February 2008, preambular para. 9; and the UNGA Resolution A/RES/66/164, preambular para. 15. 38  “Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights”, principle 2. Concerning the actions of private companies abroad more specifically, the UN Human Rights Committee recalled this principle, for example, in its Concluding Observations on Germany, and encouraged the state party to set out clearly this expectation and also to take appropriate measures to strengthen the remedies provided to protect people who have been victims of activities of German business enterprises operating abroad. See “Concluding Observations on Germany”, UN Doc. CCPR/C/DEU/CO/6, 12 November 2012, para. 16. In the commentary to principle 26 about state-based judicial mechanisms when addressing business-related human rights abuses, the Guiding Principles recommend states specifically to ensure “that the legitimate and peaceful activities of human rights defenders should not be obstructed”. Guidelines on the Protection of Human Rights Defenders 33