A/HRC/13/40 29. Another early warning sign at the societal level would be the degree and persistence of religious tensions. Such tensions may exist either between different religions or among branches of the same religious or belief community. In this regard, a rise in militant extremism and a refusal to engage in any debate about religious issues may suggest further polarization along religious lines in the future. Another indicator for such polarization would be a situation where some non-State actors deliberately exclude members of other religious or belief communities from certain economic and social activities or employment opportunities. In addition, the ghettoization of certain religious communities or compartmentalization of various groups into distinct zones may perpetuate a lack of understanding and fear of others, thus creating a potential source of conflict between communities. C. International or external factors 30. International or external factors may also contribute, either directly or indirectly, to discrimination and violence on the grounds or in the name of religion or belief. One early warning sign would be the adverse impact of actors who are based outside the country concerned, for example, foreign Governments, armed groups based in neighbouring countries, refugee groups or diasporas with vested interests. 31. Such foreign actors may have a motivation to create divisions between religious groups in the country concerned or even to perpetrate genocidal violence. According to article II of the Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide, the term “genocide” means any of the following acts committed with intent to destroy, in whole or in part, a national, ethnic, racial or religious group, such as: (a) killing members of the group; (b) causing serious bodily or mental harm to members of the group; (c) deliberately inflicting on the group conditions of life calculated to bring about its physical destruction in whole or in part; (d) imposing measures intended to prevent births within the group; and (e) forcibly transferring children of the group to another group. It is the obligation of the international community to remain vigilant, particularly in detecting any early warning signs of intent to commit genocide or acts of genocide. 32. There are also a number of external factors that might further aggravate the situation in a given country and adversely affect the enjoyment of freedom of religion or belief. Such external factors could be related to upcoming elections, for example, discriminatory voter registration, hate campaigning on religious lines and divisive vote-bank politics. A coup d’état or any other change of the Government outside of a constitutionally sanctioned process may also spark a deterioration in the situation of religious minorities. Tensions that subsist over a long period of time may be another early warning sign, in particular if they are linked to past conflicts over places of worship, land, power or religious identity. In addition, natural disasters may trigger demands from some religious groups to curb socalled “unethical conversions”, as was the case in some countries following the tsunami of December 2004 in the Indian Ocean. Other external factors might be significant flows of refugees or displaced persons resulting from a pattern of religious discrimination and encroachment on the traditional lands of minority communities, or enforced removal of these members from their lands. IV. General patterns and issues of concern 33. The Special Rapporteur would also like to provide an overview of some general patterns and issues of concern related to her mandate. In this context, she wishes to distinguish between: (a) discrimination and violence “on the grounds of religion or belief”, i.e., based on the religious affiliation of the victim; and (b) discrimination and violence “in GE.09-17648 11