E/CN.4/2006/5/Add.4 page 17 84. There are also a number of ongoing cases, including those related to tax matters, where religious groups or communities of belief have reported instances of discrimination. In this regard, the Special Rapporteur was told that, under the law of 9 December 1905, certain groups or movements can be exonerated from tax as long as they exclusively exercise a religion, an assessment that certain interlocutors have assimilated to a form of recognition of the religious character of a group. 85. Finally, some groups complained about difficulties and obstacles to building places of worship and lack of access to detention facilities. C. Human rights law 86. The question of cult groups or new religious movements has often been debated in the context of international human rights mechanisms. It is often claimed that measures taken against these groups are in full compliance with human rights law because their purpose is to protect individuals against groups or communities that want to limit their members’ right to freedom of conscience. 87. Nevertheless, the question of the fight against sectes raises an issue under the right to freedom of religion or belief, as protected by international standards. Following the adoption of the above-mentioned About-Picard Law, the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe, in its resolution 1309 (2002) emphasized that, “[a]lthough a member State is perfectly at liberty to take any measures it deems necessary to protect its public order, the authorized restrictions on the freedoms guaranteed by [a]rticles 9 (freedom of thought, conscience and religion), 10 (freedom of expression) and 11 (freedom of assembly and association) of the ECHR are subject to specific conditions […] [and] invite[d] the French Government to reconsider this law …”. 88. Abdelfattah Amor, the Special Rapporteur’s predecessor, elaborated on his position on this issue at different times and in relation to different countries. In a 1997 report, Amor stated that “[i]n actual fact, the fairly widespread hostility towards sects can be largely explained by the excesses, the breaches of public order and, on occasion, the crimes and despicable conduct engaged in by certain groups and communities which trick themselves out in religion, and by the tendency among the major religions to resist any departure from orthodoxy. The two things must be treated separately. Sects, whether their religion is real or a fiction, are not above the law. The State must ensure that the law - particularly laws on the maintenance of public order and penalizing swindling, breach of trust, violence and assaults, failure to assist people in danger, gross indecency, procurement, the illegal practice of medicine, abduction and corruption of minors, etc. - is respected. In other words, there are many legal courses open and they afford plenty of scope for action against false pretences and misdirection. Beyond that, however, it is not the business of the State or any other group or community to act as the guardian of people’s consciences and encourage, impose or censure any religious belief or conviction” (E/CN.4/1997/91, para. 99).