A/HRC/61/49 Sansal was released by presidential pardon, while remaining concerned about the charges that had been brought against him. The Special Rapporteur also addressed the alleged deterioration in the enjoyment of fundamental freedoms and in the civic space in Slovakia, including in cultural institutions;18 (c) The right to academic freedom, in the context of the suppression of student protests in Serbia19 and the United States;20 (d) The impact of climate change on cultural rights, regarding infrastructure projects in the Gulf of California in Mexico;21 (e) The right to participate in sports as an element of cultural life, regarding anti-terrorism measures used in the context of the 2024 Summer Olympics and Paralympics; 22 (f) Violations of cultural rights in the context of armed conflict and occupation, including the destruction of cultural heritage, attacks against communities and the cessation of the activities of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East;23 (g) The intentional destruction of cultural heritage, and the related rights to participate in decisions concerning heritage, regarding the destruction and desecration of a mass grave site in Tehran,24 and forced evictions, expropriations and home demolitions in Samarkand, Uzbekistan, in an area protected under the Convention for the Protection of the World Cultural and Natural Heritage (World Heritage Convention);25 (h) The disappearance of Tibetan nomenclature from the signage at the Guimet Museum in France.26 The Special Rapporteur welcomes the response of France, highlighting the importance of considering the views of related communities, respecting scientific freedom and shielding cultural institutions from political interference. She also communicated with the United States regarding the alleged promotion of a patriotic and sanitized view of history in the context of museums, memorials and cultural institutions; 27 (i) New laws or constitutional amendments that could give rise to cultural rights restrictions, for example the Constitutional Amendment (Declaration of Papua New Guinea as a Christian Country) Law;28 (j) Attacks against human rights defenders addressing cultural rights issues, raised in the context of mining activities in Indonesia, 29 the petrochemical industry in India30 and collaboration with United Nations human rights mechanisms; 31 (k) The misuse of anti-extremist legislation in Belarus to prosecute political activists and human rights defenders for actual or perceived dissent; 32 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 4 See communication SVK 1/2025. See communication SRB 6/2025. See communications USA 11/2025 and OTH 37/2025; and USA 17/2025. See communications MEX 4/2025, SGP 3/2025, USA 12/2025, OTH 38/2025, OTH 39/2025, OTH 40/2025, OTH 41/2025 and OTH 42/2025. See communication FRA 3/2025. See communications ISR 24/2024, ISR 25/2024, ISR 1/2025 and ISR 3/2025. See communication IRN 15/2025. See communication UZB 4/2025. See communications OTH 89/2025, CHN 19/2025 and FRA 7/2025. See communication USA 26/2025, related to communication USA 5/2025. See communication PNG 1/2025. See communications IDN 6/2025, FRA 8/2025, CHN 16/2025, OTH 91/2025, OTH 92/2025, OTH 93/2025, OTH 94/2025, OTH 97/2025, OTH 98/2025 and OTH 99/2025. See communications IND 13/2024, ARE 3/2024, SAU 6/2024, OTH 153/2024, OTH 154/2024, OTH 155/2024, OTH 156/2024, OTH 157/2024 and OTH 158/2024. See communications LAO 3/2025 and FRA 11/2025. See communication BLR 1/2025. GE.26-01310