A/HRC/34/56 67. The Special Rapporteur was informed of many more cases around the world where artistic freedom was curtailed in the name of fundamentalist interpretations of religion by State and non-State actors; for example when, in 2015, the director and head of Novosibirsk State Opera and Ballet Theatre was fired for having staged Wagner’s opera Tannhauser, said to offend Orthodox believers and desecrate “a symbol revered by Christians”; 26 or when singers were not allowed to perform by Christian festivals or were dropped from Christian record labels in the United States of America because of their sexual orientation. 27 The Special Rapporteur notes the reported ban in April 2016 of all outdoor concerts in the West Aceh province of Indonesia on a recommendation from a group of Muslim scholars. 28 There are also many reports about the “climate of growing intolerance in India where those who challenge orthodoxy or fundamentalism have become increasingly vulnerable”, 29 where a fundamentalist group has offered to cut off the tongues of writers who insult Hinduism and where rationalist writers, such as Malleshappa Kalburgi, have been assassinated with impunity.30 68. It is impossible to list all the artists killed by diverse fundamentalists and extremists. Notable recent cases include the 2014 assassination by Al-Shabaab of Saado Ali Warsame, a singer and member of the Somali parliament known for appearing onstage bareheaded, and the 2016 slaying of Amjad Sabri, a Pakistani Sufi devotional singer in 2016 for which the Pakistani Taliban claimed responsibility on the basis of alleged “blasphemy”.31 69. Despite such threats, artists and intellectuals have continued to play key roles in challenging diverse fundamentalists and extremists. For example, in response to what they perceived as “rising intolerance and growing assault on free speech”, coupled with violence against intellectuals, approximately 40 leading Indian writers from many different ethnic and linguistic backgrounds returned their literary awards in protest. 32 B. Attacks against intellectuals and cultural rights defenders 70. Fundamentalist and extremist movements have often targeted intellectuals, in particular those who have opposed them. Their aim is to decapitate society, wiping out its culture and frightening others into silence. Past examples include the widespread assassinations of Algerian intellectuals by fundamentalist armed groups during the 1990s.33 71. The recent spate of jihadist attacks on writers, publishers and freethinkers in Bangladesh and the placing of others on a death list represents a continuation of this phenomenon. This has included the February 2015 murders of Washiqur Rahman Babu and Avijit Roy, secular bloggers and journalists, as well as the publisher of Mr. Roy’s work, 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 Arts Freedom, “Russia: Theatre director fired for staging opera that offended church”, 2 April 2015. FreeMuse, “USA: Christian music festival drops band due to gay singer”, 11 September 2016. FreeMuse, “Indonesia: West Aceh bans outdoor concerts”, 11 April 2016. PEN writers’ statement of solidarity made at the eighty-first PEN International Congress, on 17 October 2015 in Quebec City. South Asia Citizens Web, “Growing intolerance: a letter to the President of India by Creative and Academic Community of West Bengal”, 16 October 2015, and Indian Cultural Forum, “National protest marking one year since M.M. Kalburgi’s assassination” (available from http://indianculturalforum.in/2016/09/02/national-protest-marking-one-year-since-m-m-kalburgisassassination/). NPR Music, “Why was a prominent Muslim musician gunned down in Pakistan?”, 26 June 2016. Available from www.npr.org/2016/06/26/483231557/why-was-a-prominent-muslim-musiciangunned-down-in-pakistan. BBC News, “How India’s writers are fighting intolerance”, 13 October 2015. See UNESCO, Violence: A UNESCO Notebook (1995). 15