E/CN.4/2006/5/Add.3 page 21 Persecution of religious minorities – Acts of religious intolerance 111. The right to freedom of religion or belief is a universal right enjoyed by all human beings and therefore by members of all religious communities, whether old or new and whether they have been established in a country for a long time or recently. 112. In this context, the Special Rapporteur condemns all acts of religious violence and intolerance that have been committed in Sri Lanka against any religious communities, but also within religious communities. These acts depending on the circumstances constitute violations, or unlawful limitations of the right to freedom of religion or belief. 113. In the face of such events, the Government of Sri Lanka has to fulfil its positive obligation to protect the right to freedom of religion or belief of all its citizens, irrespective of the religious community to which they belong. These positive obligations include, first and foremost, the prompt investigation of any act of religious violence or intolerance, the prosecution of all perpetrators and the awarding of compensation to the victims of these violations. 114. The Special Rapporteur considers that in most of the cases that have been brought to her attention and despite the information provided by the Permanent Mission, these obligations have not been satisfactorily fulfilled by the Government. Moreover, the implementation of these obligations should constitute an essential priority in guaranteeing the enjoyment of the fundamental right to freedom of religion or belief of all Sri Lankan citizens and a prerequisite for maintaining the high level of religious tolerance and harmony that has so far prevailed in Sri Lanka. Religious tensions 115. Like many observers, the Special Rapporteur had the feeling that while religious minorities felt vulnerable, the Buddhist majority seemed to feel insecure. Members of the Buddhist community indeed often voiced their concerns with respect to the behaviour of members of certain religious minorities. Nevertheless, the Special Rapporteur considers that the allegations of “unethical” conversions have rarely been precise and largely overestimated. 116. The Special Rapporteur deplores in particular the lack of precision in the claims that have been made against certain religious groups. The resulting confusion has led to generalized condemnation of those groups. This lack of caution has provoked among the population a dangerous pattern of blaming certain religious groups as a whole; a groundless conviction that certain groups are per se the perpetrators of wrongdoing. 117. One of the main characteristics of a State that is governed by the rule of law is that only those persons in respect of whom there are clear indications that they have personally committed wrongful acts are prosecuted according to the laws of the land. A society where individuals are considered wrongdoers merely because they are or – even worse – thought to be members of the same community as persons who may indeed have committed wrongful acts, is displaying clear and dangerous signs of becoming a place where there is discrimination and persecution of a certain group, with terrifying consequences.