A/HRC/49/44 conflict or insecurity effectively.144 “Informal” justice mechanisms used at the community level also may have broken down during conflict or lack sufficient independence or human rights compliance to satisfy justice needs. Perhaps most critically, States may lack the will to combat impunity, especially where authorities are complicit or responsible for violating the rights of religious or belief minorities. Indian authorities have allegedly failed to address impunity for human rights violations 145 in Kashmir - including extra-judicial killings, enforced disappearances and rape - and have enacted special laws to impede accountability and obstruct victims’ access to remedies.146 Civil society in Nigeria has asserted that “wilful State negligence, at best, or complicity, at worst” contributes to the growing insecurity facing farmer and herder communities, citing the Government’s failure to protect communities from violence and their “unwillingness” to investigate legitimate allegations.147 58. Some religious or belief minorities want perpetrators to face the criminal justice system, yet may become disillusioned with or disempowered by the process. For instance, some victims of ISIL say that they feel invisible in the State’s prosecution of perpetrators under Iraq’s 2005 Anti-Terror Law 148 for crimes like “membership of” or “association with” a terrorist group, rather than the specific crimes committed against them, obscuring their experiences and perpetrators’ patterns of targeting certain communities. 59. Disillusionment may also stem from a Government’s limited or ineffective efforts to provide remedies or an overall breakdown of institutional trust that dissuades religious or belief minorities from pursuing any formal remedies whatsoever. Even if parties may not prevent minorities from seeking justice as part of the peace strategy in Iraq, many are cynical about the overall process.149 Authorities’ lack of efforts to reconstruct religious and cultural sites that perpetrators co-opted, defaced, or destroyed may further erode minorities’ trust and sense of belonging to their homeland. 150 A sense of civic belonging is also important for peacebuilding. In Nigeria, a Mercy Corps survey found that a decrease in social cohesion including intergroup trust - was “associated with a 43% to 60% increase in people’s willingness to endorse violence,” 151 further undermining peacebuilding efforts and institutional trust. 60. The role of the police, often the first link in the formal justice chain, is critical for ensuring access to effective remedies. Police officers in Pakistan and Israel have reportedly tried to avoid, ignore or actively discourage complaints from religious or belief minorities to “avoid problems,” including where Government actors are allegedly responsible. 152 According to Minority Rights Group, over 85% of Israeli investigations into settler violence are closed without indictments and less than 2% of complaints submitted by Palestinians against settler attacks result in a conviction.153 61. As they seek remedies, religious or belief minority survivors of SGBV may face stigma from within and outside of their community. For instance, in recent cases of alleged rape within the Ahmadi community, it was reported to the Special Rapporteur that women were refused permission to go to the Pakistani police by intra-community rules.154 If the woman proceeds, she risks exile from her community, including her family. At the police station, she risks structural discrimination against Ahmadis within the justice system, particularly given the present environment of escalating intolerance and insecurity. Separately, interlocutors allege that some pastors and parents of Christian women in Pakistan 144 145 146 147 148 149 150 151 152 153 154 16 e.g. Pakistan, Iraq, Nigeria, West Papua (Indonesia), India, Sri Lanka, the OPT, and Libya. https://www.ohchr.org/Documents/Countries/IN/KashmirUpdateReport_8July2019.pdf. https://www.hrw.org/reports/2006/india0906/4.htm. https://www.crisisgroup.org/africa/west-africa/nigeria/262-stopping-nigerias-spiralling-farmer-herderviolence. https://www.ohchr.org/Documents/Countries/IQ/UNAMI_Report_HRAdministrationJustic e_Iraq_28January2020.pdf, p.4. Bilateral-Iraq expert. Bilateral-Iraq expert. https://www.mercycorps.org/research-resources/religion-identity-conflict-northern-nigeria. https://www.hrw.org/node/294323/printable/print https://minorityrights.org/country/palestine/. Consultation-Pakistan; and https://www.samaaenglish.tv/news/2022/01/ahmadi-women-seekleaderships-explanation-on-rapes-ask-tough-questions/