A/HRC/22/51/Add.1 83. The de facto authorities should diligently investigate allegations of vandalism of religious sites and cemeteries in the northern part. This should help to build a trustful relationship with religious minorities, in particular Christian minorities, living in the northern part. 84. The de facto authorities should handle heritage claims of Christian minorities in the northern part, including real estate issues, in a fair and transparent manner. This would be an important signal for the Christian minorities that they have longterm prospects in the region. 85. The de facto authorities should respect the right of religious leaders to visit their communities in the northern part without undue restrictions. 86. Religious and moral instruction, largely based on Islamic teachings, in public schools in the northern part should always be connected with an option for an exemption. Exemption procedures should be easy and must not have de jure or de facto punitive effects. 87. The right to conscientious objection to military service should be recognized. Conscientious objectors should have the option to perform alternative civilian service which should be compatible with their reasons for conscientious objection and have no punitive effects. D. Recommendations addressed to other stakeholders 88. Projects which may contribute to improving the relations between different religious and/or ethnic communities should be further strengthened. An example is the commendable work done by the Bi-Communal Technical Committee on Cultural Heritage. In dealing with sensitive issues which affect the identities of different communities, the Bi-Communal Technical Committee on Cultural Heritage successfully builds up sustainable trust. Another example is the Committee on Missing Persons in Cyprus, whose bi-communal teams are involved in exhumation work and anthropological analysis to look into cases of persons reported missing in the intercommunal fighting as well as in the events of July 1974 and afterwards. 89. Civil society organizations are encouraged to continue the important work on building trust between the southern and northern parts and different communities, based on international human rights standards. In an island torn by conflicting political narratives, civil society organizations can facilitate a “neutral space” for dialogue, communication and cooperation. Active and equal participation of women in civil society programmes should be part of the quality management of civil society programmes. 90. Interreligious communication, both at the level of religious leaders and at the grass-roots levels, should be encouraged and promoted. For instance, religious leaders from the southern and northern parts should be encouraged to collaborate more in the maintenance and repair of religious sites and places of worship. Women should always play an active part in interreligious dialogue initiatives and programmes. 91. When negotiating and implementing peace agreements, all actors involved should adopt a gender perspective, including measures that support local women’s peace initiatives and indigenous processes for conflict resolution, and that involve women in all of the implementation mechanisms of the peace agreements, in line with Security Council resolution 1325 (2000). For example, according to the views of the 20