A/HRC/43/48/Add.1
72.
Enhanced coordination across government ministries, agencies and institutions
is necessary for improving monitoring and for strengthening responses to challenges
to freedom of religion or belief. In this regard, the Special Rapporteur recommends
that the Government:
(a)
Continue to facilitate and encourage interfaith initiatives, sharing best
practice with international partners, and enhance police and local authority training,
capacity and confidence to communicate with religious or belief communities so that
issues are heard and confidence to report discrimination increased;
(b)
Strengthen the capacity of and cooperation between the antidiscrimination bureaux and the police, ensuring trained specialists are consistently
present to increase ease of reporting of incidents involving discrimination based on
religion or belief or incitement to hatred and to ensure that victims understand the
range of responses available to them;
(c)
Establish a focal point within the Government to tackle discrimination
based on religion or belief, including through efforts to identify and prosecute
discriminatory practices, as stipulated in international and national legal provisions;
(d)
Periodically review the sufficiency of the provisions of the Criminal Code
to identify provisions, processes and procedures that may perpetuate discrimination
based on religion or belief;
(e)
Use the guidance provided by the Rabat Plan of Action on the
prohibition of advocacy of national, racial or religious hatred that constitutes
incitement to discrimination, hostility or violence in order to strengthen mechanisms
for monitoring and responding to different forms of intolerance and discrimination on
religious or belief grounds and to actively respond to intolerant political speech that
risks incitement to hostility, discrimination and violence on the basis of religion or
belief.
73.
The Special Rapporteur further recommends that the Government:
(a)
Encourage representation of communities at all levels of government,
regardless of religion or belief, and work with civil society and media platforms to
promote positive images of and narratives about the members of newer Dutch
communities to combat stereotyping and discriminatory attitudes;
(b)
Continue to support initiatives that explore the root causes of
discrimination and intolerance in the Netherlands, as well as those that promote
religious literacy, and raise awareness about these initiatives;
(c)
Support initiatives aimed at combating antisemitism, anti-Muslim hatred
and other intolerance through training teachers to teach the importance of religion or
belief for Dutch citizens, encouraging student respect through exposure to and
dialogue with different religions or beliefs as part of or alongside citizenship education.
74.
Furthermore, the Government should consider revisiting the partial facecovering clothing ban to identify a more proportionate response to security concerns
that does not violate women’s rights to freedom of movement and to equally access
public services.
75.
The authorities should encourage open debate about the definition of Dutch
values to ensure that these standards are reflective of Dutch society as a whole, and to
prevent discriminatory perspectives from informing policies that are integral to
fostering social cohesion.
76.
Officials are encouraged to consider supporting programmes that strengthen
the capacity of staff responsible for working with individual asylum seekers to more
expertly develop measures for tackling conflicts that may arise between groups while
respecting freedom of religion or belief rights.
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