A/HRC/4/21 page 15 Furthermore, some religious minorities are adversely affected by manifestations of rejection or violence from non-State actors and by threats to their very existence as a specific community. When religious minorities are groups that are considered so-called non-traditional or new religious movements, the members of these communities may be the object of suspicion and suffer greater limitations to their right to freedom of religion or belief. 44. The first mandate-holder, d’Almeida Ribeiro, already in 1990 stated that “aspects having to do with the antiquity of a religion, its revealed character and the existence of a scripture, while important, are not sufficient to make a distinction [between religions, sects and religious associations]. Even belief in the existence of a Supreme Being, a particular ritual or a set of ethical and social rules are not exclusive to religions but can also be found in political ideologies. So far, a satisfactory and acceptable distinction has not been arrived at”. (E/CN.4/1990/46, para. 110.) His successor in the mandate, Abdelfattah Amor, added that “[r]eligions cannot be distinguished from sects on the basis of quantitative considerations, saying that a sect, unlike a religion, has a small number of followers. This is not in fact always the case. It runs absolutely counter to the principle of respect and protection for minorities, which is upheld by both domestic and international law and morality. Besides, following this line of argument, what are the major religions if not successful sects?”. (E/CN.4/1997/91, para. 95.) The second mandate-holder further emphasized that the issue of sects or new religious movements is complicated by the fact that international human rights instruments provide no definition of the concepts of religion, sect or new religious movement: “Added to this legal dimension is the general confusion regarding the term ‘sect’ in particular. Although the idea of a sect was originally a neutral one and meant a community of individuals constituting a minority within a religion and having split from it, it often now has a pejorative connotation so that it is frequently regarded as synonymous with danger, and sometimes a non-religious dimension when it is identified as a commercial enterprise. The term ‘sect’ is therefore in need of further clarification, as are the terms ‘religions’, ‘new religious movements’ and ‘commercial enterprise’. It is crucial to look at this phenomenon objectively so as to avoid the two pitfalls of either infringing the freedom of religion and belief or exploiting freedom of religion and belief for purposes other than those for which it has been recognized and protected.” (E/CN.4/1998/6, paras. 116-117) 45. The Special Rapporteur would like to join her predecessors’ analysis concerning the complexity of defining religion and belief. The pertinent international human rights standards seem to take the problem of finding a satisfactory definition of the “protected religion” into account by providing for a broad view of this concept. The Human Rights Committee in its general comment No. 22 (1993) rightly argued: “The terms ‘belief’ and ‘religion’ are to be broadly construed. Article 18 is not limited in its application to traditional religions or to religions and beliefs with institutional characteristics or practices analogous to those of traditional religions. The Committee therefore views with concern any tendency to discriminate against any religion or belief for any reason, including the fact that they are newly established, or represent religious minorities that may be the subject of hostility on the part of a predominant religious community.” Furthermore, the Human Rights Committee reiterated that article 18 of the ICCPR “protects theistic, non-theistic and atheistic beliefs, as well as the right not to profess any religion or belief” (para. 2). This formula has already been quoted in various United Nations reports (E/CN.4/Sub.2/1987/26, para. 13; E/CN.4/1990/46, para. 110) and it is also used as a definition in the Madrid Final Document on School Education in relation with Freedom of Religion and Belief, Tolerance and Non-discrimination (E/CN.4/2002/73, Appendix).