A/HRC/22/51/Add.1 7. The Special Rapporteur held a briefing and exchanged with members of the diplomatic community based in Cyprus as well as representatives of various United Nations entities. The Special Rapporteur would also like to warmly thank the United Nations Peacekeeping Forces in Cyprus (UNFICYP) for their valuable logistical support in relation to the visit. He is also grateful for the meetings with the Special Representative of the Secretary-General, and with the Special Advisor of the Secretary-General on Cyprus. II. International human rights standards 8. The right to freedom of religion or belief is enshrined in various international human rights instruments.2 The Republic of Cyprus has ratified the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights and other international human rights instruments, including the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, the International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination, the Convention on the Rights of the Child, and the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women. 9. The Republic of Cyprus has also ratified the Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment, whose article 3 provides that “no State Party shall expel, return (“refouler”) or extradite a person to another State where there are substantial grounds for believing that he would be in danger of being subjected to torture.” This would apply to members of religious minorities who face or risk religious persecution. The Republic of Cyprus has also ratified the 1951 Geneva Convention relating to the Status of Refugees, which enshrines the principle of non-refoulement in its article 33. 10. The Special Rapporteur is also guided in his mandate by other relevant declarations, resolutions and guidelines of various United Nations bodies, including those of the Human Rights Council, the Commission on Human Rights, the General Assembly and the treaty bodies, in particular the Human Rights Committee. Of these instruments, of particular relevance for the mandate are articles 2, 18 and 26 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights as well as the 1981 Declaration on the Elimination of All Forms of Intolerance and of Discrimination Based on Religion or Belief (1981 Declaration). 11. In addition, the Special Rapporteur takes into account human rights instruments adopted at the regional level containing provisions relating to freedom of religion or belief, such as the European Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms, to which the Republic of Cyprus is a party, in particular its article 9. In its policy towards minorities, the Republic of Cyprus is also bound by the Council of Europe’s Framework Convention for the Protection of National Minorities. 12. The legal framework of the Special Rapporteur’s mandate also includes relevant provisions of international humanitarian law, including the four Geneva Conventions of 12 August 1949 and their Additional Protocols as well as the 1954 Hague Convention for the Protection of Cultural Property in the Event of Armed Conflict. As emphasized by the Human Rights Committee, the application of international humanitarian law and international human rights law is not mutually exclusive, but complementary.3 2 3 See E/CN.4/2005/61, paras.15-20, and E/CN.4/2006/5, annex, for an overview of the mandate’s legal framework, and the “Rapporteur’s Digest on freedom of religion or belief”, available from http://www.ohchr.org/EN/Issues/FreedomReligion/Pages/Standards.aspx Human Rights Committee general comment no. 31 (2004) on the nature of the general legal obligation imposed on States parties to the Covenant, para. 11. 5