A/HRC/28/66 11. Furthermore, homophobic and transphobic violence against lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) persons may also be perpetrated in the name of religion. Those perceived as LGBT may be targets of organized abuse, including by religious extremists. 5 Violence against LGBT persons includes brutal gang rapes, so-called “curative” rapes and family violence owing to their sexual orientation and gender identity. 6 There is a strong connection between discrimination in law and practice, and incitement to violence in the name of religion and violence itself. Violence against women and against LGBT persons is often justified and given legitimacy by discriminatory laws based on religious laws or supported by religious authorities, such as laws criminalizing adultery, homosexuality or cross-dressing. The Human Rights Committee has noted with concern hate speech and manifestations of intolerance and prejudice by religious leaders against individuals on the basis of their sexual orientation, in a broader context of acts of violence, including killings of LGBT persons.7 There have also been reports of direct violence exercised by religious authorities against LGBT persons, although many of them are religiously interested in practising. B. Overcoming simplistic interpretations Inadequacy of isolating “religion” as a factor in conflict descriptions 1. 12. The experience that religion is invoked in civil wars, communal violence, terrorist acts or other violent conflicts causes some observers to use the label “religion” broadly and loosely when analysing those phenomena. Multidimensional violent conflicts are often described along religious lines. Although such descriptions may capture some relevant elements of the phenomena, they fail to understand the complexity of the issues. Headlines such as “religious violence”, “religious civil war” or “sectarian conflicts” tend to obfuscate the significance of non-religious factors, in particular political factors, for an adequate understanding of the core problems. 13. Non-religious factors that deserve to be taken seriously may include intricate historic legacies of a country, a climate of political authoritarianism, military interventions, extreme poverty, social, cultural, economic and political discrimination, exclusion and marginalization, inequalities, caste hierarchies, ethnic fragmentation, rapid demographic changes, patriarchal values and a “macho” culture, migration processes, a widening gulf between urban and rural areas, the breakdown of meaningful public discourse, lack of intergroup communication, endemic corruption and political cronyism, widespread disenchantment with politics, general loss of trust in weak or inexistent public institutions, and a culture of impunity and denial for past serious violations of international human rights and humanitarian law. Any specific incident of violence in the name of religion warrants a careful, contextualized analysis of all relevant factors, including the broader political environment. It will thereby become clear that religion is almost never an isolated root cause of violent conflicts or attacks. 14. An isolated focus on religion in descriptions of violence, conflicts and civil wars often creates the risk of nourishing fatalistic attitudes. The impression that seemingly “perpetual” religious or denominational differences lie at the root of respective problems can exacerbate feelings of helplessness and lead to inaction. However, if it is wrongly assumed that certain violent conflicts have their decisive root causes in religious strife that allegedly started centuries or even millennia ago, this will likely distract attention from the 5 6 7 See A/HRC/19/41, para. 21. See A/HRC/14/22/Add.2, paras. 38 and 89. See CCPR/C/RUS/CO/6, para. 27. 5