A/63/161 recommendations. However, she regretted that the performance of various state human rights commissions was uneven, as it depended very much on their composition and the importance the different Governments attached to their mandates. 18. The Special Rapporteur stressed that, even though India had a comprehensive legal framework to protect minority and religious rights, its implementation was proving difficult. She deplored the fact that law enforcement officials were often reluctant to take any action against organized groups that perpetrated violence in the name of religion or belief. 19. During her visit, she received numerous reports of attacks on religious minorities and their places of worship as well as of discrimination against disempowered sections of the Hindu community. In Uttar Pradesh, the Special Rapporteur received concrete reports of violence and rape as a reaction to intermarriages between members of different religions or castes. She also reported widespread violence in the Kandhamal district of Orissa, targeting primarily Christians in dalit and tribal communities. In Gujarat, more than 1,000 people were massacred in 2002 3 and there are credible reports of inaction by the authorities and alleged complicity by the state Government in those attacks. The Special Rapporteur also deplored the increasing ghettoization and isolation of Muslims in many areas of the country and expressed concern at the extended time frame of investigations in cases involving past communal riots, violence and massacres. 20. She recalled that in her predecessor’s report (ibid., para. 46), he expressed the fear that something in the nature of the 1992 Ayodhya incident would recur in the event of political exploitation of a situation. She emphasized that there is today a real risk that similar communal violence might happen again unless incitement to religious hatred and political exploitation of communal tensions are effectively prevented. Other issues of concern to the Special Rapporteur’s mandate include the legal link between scheduled caste status and religious affiliation, the impact of “anti-conversion laws” in several states, as well as the concerns voiced by Sikhs, Buddhists, Jains and atheists. C. Other activities 21. The Special Rapporteur issued press releases jointly with other special procedures mandate holders, expressing their concern at recent events and at the human rights situation in Myanmar (28 September 2007), Kenya (4 January 2008) and the Tibet Autonomous Region of China (10 April 2008). In another joint statement with the Special Rapporteur on contemporary forms of racism, racial discrimination, xenophobia and related intolerance and the Special Rapporteur for the promotion and protection of the right to freedom of opinion and expression, she condemned the distorted vision of Muslims in the online film “Fitna” and called for dialogue and vigilance (28 March 2008). 22. Furthermore, the Special Rapporteur participated in the fifteenth annual meeting of special procedures mandate holders and in several conferences or meetings pertinent to her mandate. For example, the Special Rapporteur addressed __________________ 3 8 Some sources estimate that more than 2,000 people were killed during the communal violence in Gujarat in 2002. 08-43442