A/HRC/25/58/Add.1 The Special Rapporteur also identifies a number of serious challenges, including harassment and persecution of persons suspected of “witchcraft”, and harmful practices such as female genital mutilation that are inflicted in the name of “tradition”, “custom”, “culture” and sometimes “religion”. He emphasizes the fact that such harmful practices can never be justified by invoking freedom of religion or belief, and he calls upon religious leaders to speak out publicly against these practices. In his conclusions, the Special Rapporteur draws on the recommendations made by the Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Sierra Leone, many of which still need to be fully implemented. He also recommends that States, religious leaders and the international community pay more attention to Sierra Leone and its culture of inter- and intra-religious open-heartedness. 2