A/64/159
direct impact on their communities, affecting either positively or negatively the
religious harmony in a given society. She also referred to disturbing indicators about
rifts within the Muslim community in Kosovo, as well as to reports about threats
and attacks on Muslim religious leaders for opposing radical religious approaches.
The Special Rapporteur would like to reiterate that coercion and violence in the
name of religion cannot be accepted and that she expects the relevant authorities to
take swift action to counter this worrying trend.
4.
Forthcoming missions
50. The Special Rapporteur is grateful that she has been invited by the
Government of the Lao People’s Democratic Republic and by the Government of the
Republic of Chile to visit their countries. She intends to undertake these two country
visits in November 2009 and January 2010, respectively. She is also grateful for the
invitation letter the mandate recently received from the Government of Bangladesh.
An updated list of the Special Rapporteur’s pending requests to undertake country
visits is available online on the website of the Office of the United Nations High
Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR). 25
C.
Participation in conferences and meetings
51. The Special Rapporteur has held numerous formal and informal meetings with
representatives of States, religious and belief communities as well as civil society
organizations in order to reflect on the situation of freedom of religion or belief at
the national and international levels. These meetings were mainly held during
country visits or at United Nations Headquarters in New York and Geneva.
52. At the national level, she was invited to speak about the current situation of the
right to freedom of religion or belief at the annual “Rassemblement pour les droits
humains” organized by the Canton of Geneva on 6 October 2008. Furthermore, the
Special Rapporteur delivered a public lecture at a conference on “Religions and
religious freedom: human rights perspectives in the field of tension arising from
mission and conversion”, organized jointly by the German Commission for Justice
and Peace and the Centre for Interreligious Studies at the University of Bamberg,
Germany (18-20 February 2009).
53. At the international level, the Special Rapporteur was involved in the
preparatory process leading up to the Durban Review Conference and the
Conference itself. She addressed the Preparatory Committee at its second
substantive session on 6 October 2008 and participated in a joint contribution with
13 other mandate-holders 26 in order to provide substantive input to the review
process of the Durban Declaration and Programme of Action.
54. During the Durban Review Conference, the Special Rapporteur addressed the
Main Committee on 23 April 2009. She regretted that eight years after the World
Conference against Racism, Racial Discrimination, Xenophobia and Related
Intolerance, held in Durban, South Africa, her mandate continued to receive
frequent and worrisome reports of religious intolerance and acts of violence against
members of virtually all religious or belief communities. Of particular concern are
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26
09-40869
See www2.ohchr.org/english/bodies/chr/special/visits.htm.
A/CONF.211/PC/WG.1/5.
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