A/HRC/34/53/Add.2 “special importance and leading role of the Orthodox Christian religion and, respectively, of the Moldovan Orthodox Church in the life, history and culture of the Republic of Moldova” (art. 15.5), was seen as justifying a privileged treatment of the Moldovan Orthodox Church over other religious groups.12 41. Some interlocutors further criticized the political interference by the representatives of the Moldovan Orthodox Church and recalled the fact that, on 27 April 2016, the Metropolitan of the Moldovan Orthodox Church had been invited to Parliament, where he had called for the abolition of the Equality Law. 13 42. The Special Rapporteur met with representatives of the Moldovan Orthodox Church to seek their views. They stated that the Orthodox Church had not received any contribution from the Government to build temples and that their funding came from donations and fundraising events. They stressed their strong opposition to the Equality Law and emphasized that, in their view, the Orthodox Church, despite being the majority in the country, is the one discriminated against by minority groups. 43. Several members of the various religious minorities expressed their concerns over their negative portrayal in the media, through broad generalizations of perceived characteristics of the group as a whole. Some of them also noted instances of hate speech and referred to the lack of proper sanctioning of hate speech, which they described as a common practice. 44. A study on equality perceptions and attitudes in the Republic of Moldova14 revealed that the Muslim community is one of those that suffer the most from severe stereotyping, including their identification as “aggressive”, “fanatic”, “terrorist” and “extremist”. The Special Rapporteur received reports by some representatives of the Muslim community of incidents of religious profiling by law enforcement officers when some individuals who had visited Saudi Arabia for pilgrimage purposes had been subjected to searches and confiscation of books at the airport upon their return.15 45. Representatives of the Muslim community also stated that they face obstacles regarding obtaining permission to build mosques, despite the fact that there is no legal impediment. To date, there is no mosque in the Republic of Moldova, which has a negative impact on the right of Muslims to exercise their freedom of religion. It was stated that Muslims rely on informal venues, including those of non-governmental organizations and associations, to meet and pray. 46. Increasing acts of vandalism in Jewish cemeteries, instances of robberies in synagogues, including in the Orhei synagogue in March 2016, and anti-Semitic graffiti were reported by representatives of the Jewish community. It was noted that not all perpetrators of those crimes had been arrested and prosecuted. 12 13 14 15 See also A/HRC/19/60/Add.2, para. 28. Transcript of the speech available in Moldovan from http://parliament.md/LinkClick.aspx?fileticket=oXEckM3h3es%3D&tabid=128&mid=506&language =en-UShttps://promolex.md/1489-declaratie-cu-privire-la-neadmiterea-declaratiilor-discriminatoriiin-cadrul-sedintelor-parlamentului-republicii-moldova/?lang=en. See Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR), UNDP and the Equality Council, “Study on Equality Perceptions and Attitudes in the Republic of Moldova” (2015), p. 60, available from http://md.one.un.org/content/unct/moldova/en/home/publications/jointpublications/studiul-privind-percepiile-i-atitudinile-fa-de-egalitate-in-repu.html. Contrary to the recommendation of the Human Rights Committee in its concluding observations (see CCPR/C/MDA/CO/3, paras. 11 and 12 (c)). 11