E/CN.4/2001/0063 page 48 that there is a body of sufficiently well-established rules and a set of principles shared by all the nations and all the States members of the international community, which suggests an openness to theoretical acceptance of a right to freedom from aggravated discrimination. At the international level, most of these principles are dispersed throughout the human rights instruments adopted since the United Nations came into being. The universal instruments are generally more advanced than the regional texts in this regard. The universal instruments address the issue of racial and religious discrimination in depth. Some of them even explicitly define the overlap between race and religion, either in the course of defining the form of discrimination under consideration, or in determining the scope ratione personae of the various instruments. The definition of ethnic and religious minorities, in particular the concepts of ethnicity and minority, brought out these links. A study of the facts has also shown that the overlap between racial and religious discrimination is not merely imagined. No region in the world and no religion, whether major or minor, traditional or non-traditional, monotheistic or polytheistic, is immune to aggravated discrimination. In his recommendations aimed at strengthening protection against aggravated discrimination, the Special Rapporteur suggested consolidating existing means and mechanisms to take account of aggravated discrimination. It is necessary to begin working within the framework of existing mechanisms towards, for example, the adoption of a resolution dealing specifically with aggravated discrimination. Special treatment might also be considered: prioritizing the consideration of cases of discrimination by the various human rights bodies and organizations, for example, or establishing urgent procedures and mechanisms for cutting deadlines for States to reply to complaints or allegations of discrimination of this kind. The Special Rapporteur has specifically recommended improving legal protection, especially under criminal legislation. Each State should provide, if necessary and in accordance with its constitutional system, constitutional and judicial guarantees to ensure that freedom of religion or belief and membership of a minority or an ethnic and religious group are protected in a concrete manner by explicit provisions. It would be highly desirable for some States to enact general legislation based on international standards. States must make efforts to enact legislation or to modify existing legislation, as appropriate, in order to prohibit all discrimination based on identification of individuals with multiple groups. Most importantly, positive criminal legislation should be enacted, not only imposing severe penalties on single forms of discrimination, but above all defining a new offence of concomitant racial and religious discrimination, which should carry a specific penalty, and naturally one that is heavier than that imposed for single forms of discrimination. United Nations bodies (General Assembly, Commission on Human Rights, etc.) could prepare model legislation for the guidance of States in enacting domestic legislation, as