A/HRC/55/35 statelessness determination and protection and the elaboration of a national plan for the reduction of statelessness.65 61. In its concluding observations on Kuwait, the Human Rights Committee expressed concern about the discriminatory measures and practices against Bidoon, the stateless people in the country. The Committee called upon Kuwait to ensure that no one became or remained stateless and to provide full protection against discrimination in all spheres to Bidoon and other stateless people in the country.66 L. Religious or belief minorities and faith actors 62. In July 2022 and October 2023, the Human Rights Committee adopted Views on three individual communications, finding that, respectively, Tajikistan and the Russian Federation had violated the rights of Jehovah’s Witnesses, a religious minority in both countries. In these three cases,67 the Committee considered that the authors’ rights to freedom of religion or belief and to freedom of association had been violated. 63. In September, OHCHR together with the NGOs Helping Hands Foundation, the Al Baraem Association and Vivat International held a side event during the fifty-fourth session of the Human Rights Council on a Faith for Rights approach to promoting sustainable peace. OHCHR highlighted the objective of fostering peaceful societies that uphold human dignity and equality for all, including the human rights of persons belonging to religious or belief minorities. 68 OHCHR also noted that recommendations of the Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women increasingly referred to the need to engage with faith-based actors, including through the Faith for Rights framework, to address areas in which religion and the rights of women had to be bridged. Participants recommended countering religious hatred against minorities, and avoiding the instrumentalizing of religions and beliefs and of their followers for electoral purposes or political gains. 64. In 2023, the human rights monitoring mission in Ukraine continued to document limitations to freedom of religion or belief targeting multiple religious communities in the Autonomous Republic of Crimea and the city of Sevastopol, Ukraine, temporarily occupied by the Russian Federation (Crimea),69 who continued to be prosecuted under a broad and ill-defined prohibition on proselytizing activities under legislation of the Russian Federation. All congregations of the Jehovah’s Witnesses religious group in Crimea remained under a blanket prohibition as “extremist organizations”.70 65. OHCHR also raised concerns that the Government of Ukraine and local authorities had taken several measures against the Ukrainian Orthodox Church, including the termination by the Ministry of Culture and Information Policy of the lease agreement of the State-owned Kyiv Pechersk Lavra, citing violations of the agreement.71 66. In its concluding observations on the Islamic Republic of Iran, the Human Rights Committee reiterated its concerns about numerous reports indicating that religious minorities were victims of State-sanctioned human rights violations, including discrimination, arbitrary detention, torture, harassment and confiscation of property solely for practising their faith. The Committee was concerned by the criminalization of blasphemy and by the fact that apostasy continued to be punishable with the death penalty. The Committee raised its concern at the continued and systematic violations of rights and discrimination against the Baha’i religious minority. The Committee recommended that the State party ensure respect for the 65 66 67 68 69 70 71 14 CERD/C/ITA/CO/21, paras. 22 and 23. CCPR/C/KWT/CO/4, paras. 12 and 13. Adyrkhayev et al. v. Tajikistan (CCPR/C/135/D/2483/2014), Pavlenko et al. v. Russian Federation (CCPR/C/139/D/2765/2016) and Yurlov et al. v. Russian Federation (CCPR/C/139/D/2925/2017). See https://www.ohchr.org/en/faith-for-rights. General Assembly resolution 74/168. See https://www.ohchr.org/sites/default/files/documents/hrbodies/hrcouncil/coiukraine/23-10-04OHCHR-36th-periodic-report-ukraine-en.pdf, para. 119; and A/HRC/44/21, para. 35. See https://www.ohchr.org/sites/default/files/documents/hrbodies/hrcouncil/coiukraine/23-10-04OHCHR-36th-periodic-report-ukraine-en.pdf, para. 114 (and footnote 89). GE.23-26212