A/HRC/46/30 I. Introduction1 Following the terrorist attacks of 11 September 2001 and other horrific acts of terrorism purportedly carried out in the name of Islam, institutional suspicion of Muslims and those perceived to be Muslim has escalated to epidemic proportions. Numerous States – along with regional and international bodies – have responded to security threats by adopting measures that disproportionately target Muslims and define Muslims as both high-risk and at risk of radicalization. Drawing upon long-entrenched imperialist essentializations of Muslims as cultural “others”,2 laws, policies and practices have also perpetuated harmful stereotypes and tropes that depict Muslims and their beliefs and culture as a threat. The consequences for human rights, in particular the right to freedom of thought, conscience and religion or belief, have been stark. Experts and human rights monitors report that widespread negative representations of Islam, fear of Muslims generally (not just “Muslim” extremists and terrorists) and the aforementioned security and counter-terrorism policies have served to perpetuate, validate and normalize discrimination, hostility and violence towards Muslim individuals and communities. 3 Rights monitors assert that States directly restrict the right to freedom of religion or belief of Muslims; curtail enjoyment of this right by limiting Muslims’ other fundamental rights; and securitize Muslim communities and/or their organizations. Members of Muslim communities themselves, especially those living as minorities, recount alarming tolerance or indifference to their experiences of anti-Muslim bias, discrimination and violence. Among the concerns they have raised are: violent attacks and impunity for such attacks, including those causing mass casualties; industrial-scale internment designed to coercively change beliefs; disproportionate restrictions on the ability of Muslims to manifest their beliefs; limits on access to citizenship; and socioeconomic exclusion and pervasive stigmatization of Muslim communities. In such climates of exclusion, fear and distrust, Muslims report that they often feel stigma, shame and a sense that they belong to “suspect communities” that are being forced to bear collective responsibility for the actions of a small minority. In India, for example, approximately half of police personnel reportedly believe that Muslims are “likely” to be prone to committing crimes, 36 per cent believe that Muslims are “somewhat” prone to committing crimes and 14 per cent believe that Muslims are “very much” prone to committing crimes.4 In surveys conducted in Europe in 2018 and 2019, an average of 37 per cent of the population reported that they held unfavourable views of Muslims.5 In 2017, some 30 per cent of respondents to a survey conducted in the United States of America viewed Muslims in a negative light. 6 In Myanmar, unchecked Buddhist nationalists peddling the view that Islam threatens to “overrun” the country and that Buddhists must stand up and “save” their way of life have contributed to egregious atrocities against Rohingya Muslims. Human rights monitors and affected communities stress that many Muslims feel under pressure to conceal or underplay their religious identity to make themselves less identifiable as Muslims or seem more “moderate” in an effort to reduce State and public suspicion, to avoid attacks and to exercise their agency and human rights. At the governmental level, 1 2 3 4 5 6 2 Rose Richter, Christine Ryan and Jennifer Tridgell carried out outstanding research and analysis for the present report, as did Benjamin Greenacre, Zurab Archuashvili and Sarah Aruanno. The Special Rapporteur is also grateful to Chian Yew Lim and Damianos Serefidis at OHCHR for their excellent support in facilitating research and to Essex Human Rights Centre Clinic students Ulkar Aliyeva, Nicholas Bush, Keiu Kikas and Vanessa Lazo for their valuable research. Edward Said, Orientalism (New York, Pantheon Books, 1978). A/HRC/46/36, para. 11, and A/73/362. www.commoncause.in/uploadimage/page/Status_of_Policing_in_India_Report_2019_by_ Common_Cause_and_CSDS.pdf, p. 119. https://edition.cnn.com/interactive/2018/11/europe/antisemitism-poll-2018-intl/; www.pewforum.org/2018/10/29/eastern-and-western-europeans-differ-on-importance-of-religionviews-of-minorities-and-key-social-issues; www.pewresearch.org/global/2019/10/14/minoritygroups/. www.pewforum.org/2017/02/15/americans-express-increasingly-warm-feelings-toward-religiousgroups/.