A/HRC/25/58 2, of the Covenant, while interpreting it consistently in conjunction with other human rights, in particular article 18 (freedom of religion or belief) and article 19 (freedom of expression) of the Covenant.18 57. The Rabat Plan of Action acknowledges that “there has been a number of incidents in recent years, in different parts of the world, which have brought renewed attention to the issue of incitement to hatred.”19 As one of the reasons for this renewed attention, the text of the plan cites the challenge “to contain the negative effects of a manipulation of race, ethnic origin and religion and to guard against the adverse use of concepts of national unity or national identity, which are often instrumentalized for, inter alia, political and electoral purposes.”20 2. The interdependence between freedom of religion or belief and freedom of expression 58. The Rabat Plan of Action places great emphasis on the need to uphold a climate of free communication and public discourse based on freedom of expression, freedom of religion or belief and various other freedoms. It establishes a high threshold for imposing limitations on freedom of expression, for identifying incitement to hatred and for the application of article 20 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights. It furthermore underlines that “freedom of expression is essential to creating an environment in which constructive discussion about religious matters could be held.”21 The Rabat Plan of Action explicitly endorses what the Human Rights Committee has clarified in its general comment No. 34, namely that prohibitions enacted under article 20, paragraph 2, of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights must comply with the strict requirements of article 19, paragraph 3, as well as such articles as 2, 5, 17, 18 and 26 of the Covenant.22 Accordingly, the guarantees of freedom of expression as enshrined in article 19 of the Covenant can never be circumvented by invoking article 20. Prohibitions must be precisely defined and must be enacted without any discriminatory intention or effect. In addition, the Rabat Plan of Action presents a six-part test for assessing whether concrete acts of speech that are aggressive or antagonistic to certain religious or ethnic groups actually amount to “incitement to discrimination, hostility or violence” and are serious enough to warrant prohibitive measures.23 The six test questions concern: (a) the social and political context; (b) the speaker, for example his or her status and influence; (c) the intent of a speech act, as opposed to mere negligence; (d) its content or form, for example style or degree of provocation; (e) the extent of the speech, for example its public nature and the size of its audience; and (f) the likelihood and imminence of actually causing harm.24 59. In its assessment of existing legislation and jurisprudence on this issue, the Rabat Plan of Action observes a broad variety of statutes and case law, often enacted on an ad hoc basis and lacking in consistency. This can lead to arbitrary reactions and also to overreactions, with chilling effects on freedom of expression or on free manifestations of 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 16 In this context, the Rabat Plan of Action, inter alia, refers to Human Rights Council resolution 16/18. The Plan of Action furthermore draws on the Human Rights Committee’s general comment No. 34 (2011) on the freedoms of opinion and expression. Both documents have also dealt with article 20, paragraph 2, of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, which constitutes the main reference norm within the Rabat Plan of Action, as already indicated in its title. A/HRC/22/17/Add.4, annex, appendix, para. 7. Ibid., para. 9. Ibid., para. 10. General comment No. 34, para. 48, which is also quoted in the Rabat Plan of Action, para. 17. This test was proposed to the OHCHR expert workshops by the non-governmental organization Article 19: Global Campaign for Free Expression and later adopted into the Rabat Plan of Action. For more details, see the Rabat Plan of Action (A/HRC/22/17/Add.4, annex, appendix), para. 29.