A/HRC/61/50 and sacred places, thereby respecting their world view and traditions.102 In Peru, the State engages in active cooperation with diverse religious communities to ensure respect for minority burial practices through the Interreligious Council of Peru. The religious communities consider the consultation process a good practice with, for example, the Baha’i community appreciating the prompt provision of necessary guidelines and the Jewish community stating that local authorities facilitated their burial rites and ceremonies. 103 78. In some rural areas in Haiti, interfaith committees organize inclusive vigils bringing together Catholics, Protestants and practitioners of Voodoo. Efforts to rehabilitate historic cemeteries in Léogane and Jacmel illustrate a growing respect for the diversity of religious practices. Such local interfaith dialogue, based on mutual respect and the promotion of a shared heritage, could become an example of social cohesion for other regions of the country.104 79. In Bangladesh, some civil society organizations have started a digital registry that maps all existing cemeteries, graveyards, cremation grounds and burial sites in the country.105 80. In Bosnia and Herzegovina, consultation between authorities and religious communities on death and burial issues is neither systematic nor institutionalized. The Ministry of Human Rights and Refugees acknowledges the absence of a national department or mechanism to coordinate with faith communities, and the insufficient involvement of civil society, minorities and non-religious groups. This results in uneven cemetery management, legal ambiguities, unintentional violations of religious customs and offence caused at the municipal level. However, there are local initiatives for joint action, including multi-faith cemetery visits by religious leaders embodying collective remembrance; cooperation in the protection and preservation of cemeteries where faith leaders collectively condemn vandalism and desecration and assist each other in restoration; solidarity between communities; and a multi-faith presence at commemorations and memorial anniversaries, sending a powerful message of unity that respect for death and memory transcends faith.106 81. Morocco proposes as best practices its respect for religious diversity and funeral rights through State-supported maintenance and protection of cemeteries, the reported restoration of 167 Jewish cemeteries and Christian burial grounds across Morocco, the modernization of burial certification and transport while ensuring religious accommodation, and inclusive consultation mechanisms through the Supreme Council of Ulema and the National Council of the Moroccan Jewish Community for cemetery management and funeral regulations.107 82. Bahrain reportedly has a grievance framework to protect the right to bury according to belief, in consultation with non-State actors, and the allocation of worship and burial to many faiths.108 83. The Government of Uzbekistan indicates that there are no policies formally guaranteeing structured consultation mechanisms with minority or non-religious belief communities (atheists, humanists, Indigenous groups) on funeral rights. Nevertheless, it reports that burial rites for all religious organizations proceed freely. 109 84. Colombia has reportedly made progress through the Comprehensive Public Policy on Freedom of Religion and Worship, institutionalizing dialogue mechanisms through round tables promoting participation by various faith communities – including from Indigenous and minority religious groups – ensuring interfaith dialogue and coordination on funeral rights and helping disseminate information on national and local regulations on religious freedom and burial practices.110 102 103 104 105 106 107 108 109 110 16 Confidential input. Submission from Peru. Submission from Fedna Antoine. South Asia Forum for Freedom of Religion or Belief. Submission from Bosnia and Herzegovina. Submission from Morocco. Submission from National Institution for Human Rights, Bahrain. Submission from Uzbekistan. Submission from Colombia. GE.25-21055

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