A/78/207 investigate those responsible. Public prosecutors must uphold the rule of law and fight impunity by prosecuting those responsible for violence and discrimination. 42. Where the constitutional or legislative environment does not align with international standards on freedom of religion or belief, law enforcement officials are often the primary material authors of violations and discrimination based on religion or belief. 41 The mandate holder regularly receives reports of arrests, detentions and prosecutions for crimes, including apostasy and blasphemy, that are incompatible with international human rights standards; 42 of impeded access to places of worship; and of the prevention of free and peaceful expression, assembly and association. Public prosecutors reportedly use their powers to pursue the criminalization of individuals on the basis of their religion or belief and actively intervene to prevent the recognition of minority religious communities. 43 43. Prejudicial attitudes among officials can be the source of, or aggravate, human rights violations. There have been a significant number of cases demonstrating failure by States to live up to their due diligence obligations to intervene and protect individuals or groups from violence. 44 The failure to respond to threats, 45 to attacks on places of worship, to the murder or attempted murder of worshippers, religious leaders 46 and human rights defenders 47 and to gender-based violence (both online and offline), 48 including forced marriages and conversions, 49 which constitute just a few such examples, contributes to a culture of impunity. Reported situations have also included security officials who, far from protecting the rule of law, actively revictimized and harassed survivors of terrorist attacks and thei r families. 50 44. Mandate holders have drawn attention to the misappropriation of security and counter-terrorism laws to justify surveillance, judicial harassment and the criminalization of individuals, including human rights defenders, on the basis of th eir actual or perceived religion or belief. The association of religious or belief traditions with terrorism, in turn, has extremely harmful effects, fortifying prejudicial attitudes that underlie many of the violations described in the present report. 45. Persons deprived of their liberty are especially vulnerable to violations of freedom of religion or belief and should “continue to enjoy their rights to manifest their religion or belief to the fullest extent compatible with the nature of the constraint”. 51 Nonetheless, commonplace violations raised by mandate holders include the desecration of religious items during interrogation; the imposition of obligatory religious rituals or prohibitions on religious worship; forced shaving or the imposition of religious attire; denial of access to religious materials; and violations __________________ 41 42 43 44 45 46 47 48 49 50 51 10/24 OHCHR, communications sent to the Governments of Bangladesh (BGD 1/2022), Hungary (HUN 1/2022), India (IND 2/2022, IND 5/2022 and IND 7/2022), the Is lamic Republic of Iran (IRN 15/2022, IRN 17/2022, IRN 22/2022 and IRN 27/2022), Israel (ISR 8/2022), Maldives (MDV 1/2022), Nepal (NPL 5/2022), Pakistan (PAK 2/2022, PAK 3/2022, PAK 6/2022 and PAK 2/2023), Saudi Arabia (SAU 5/2022) and Viet Nam (VNM 4/2022 and VNM 5/2022) and to the de facto authorities in Afghanistan (OTH 108/2022) and Myanmar (OTH 11/2022) . OHCHR, communications sent to the Governments of Maldives (MDV 1/2022) and Pakistan (PAK 2/2022 and PAK 3/2022). Submission provided by Attalaki. OHCHR, communications sent to the Governments of Hungary (HUN 1/2022), India (IND 7/2022) and Maldives (MDV 1/2022). OHCHR, communication sent to the Government of Hungary (HUN 1/2022). OHCHR, communication sent to the Government of Bangladesh (BGD 1/2022). OHCHR, communication sent to the Government of India (IND 2/2022). OHCHR, communication sent to the Government of India (IND 7/2022). OHCHR, communication sent to the Government of Pakistan (PAK 6/2022). OHCHR, communication sent to the de facto authorities in Afghanistan (OTH 108/2022). Human Rights Committee, general comment No. 22 (1993), para. 8. 23-14116