A/HRC/61/50 effort should be made to respect those wishes. As Judge Cançado Trindade recognized, human rights should protect not only the “project of life” but the “project of afterlife”, the harmony of the living and the dead rather than their duality, and recognition of the “spiritual damage” caused by violations.10 B. Other contributions of freedom of religion or belief to funeral rights 22. As discussed, funeral rights relate to a series of rights (see para. 9 above). However, none of them alone, nor all of them together, substitute the specific, eightfold contributions of freedom of religion or belief to funeral rights, which are: (a) Clarifying who the rights holders are; (b) Asserting the prohibition of coercion in the denial of burial rights; (c) Insisting on respect for the funeral rights and dignity of the deceased, next of kin and family, and community of practice irrespective of the circumstances, standing, status or other consideration; (d) Upholding non-discrimination and equality on the basis of religion or belief in relation to funeral rights; (e) Highlighting the self-definition and stated preferences of the deceased regarding their burial; (f) Protecting funeral rights as a manifestation of religion or belief, hence practices in community with others and in public; (g) Specifying that any limitations to the manifestation of funeral rights must be justified strictly in accordance with international standards (see para. 16 above); (h) Extending funeral rights to beyond the internment to manifestation of religion or belief in commemorations, including days of the dead and ancestor worship. IV. Key issues: restrictions and violations in law 23. Where freedom of religion or belief is not adequately reflected in the constitutional and legislative order of the State, this will have a strong impact on the enjoyment of funeral rights. At its most grave, the State itself is at the forefront of implementing exclusionary policies, targeting the funeral rights of particular religions and beliefs, and justifying the legality of such measures. These largely result from the denial of recognition of the right to freedom of religion or belief, which in turn means that the specificities of laws, observances and practices cannot even be taken into consideration. However, it also relates to the legislative frameworks providing for funeral rights which, although ostensibly neutral, in fact enforce restrictions on other religions and beliefs. A. Lack of recognition 24. State obligation and facilitation roles regarding funeral rights are not possible where there is no recognition or at least acknowledgement of the religion or belief of the deceased, whether de jure or de facto. Observances and practices around death and the deceased are almost always in community with others and in public. Hence some recognition, or at least acknowledgement, of the religion or belief community concerned is necessary to enable those observances and practices.11 As has been argued by the European Court of Human Rights, non-registration should not lead to restrictions on manifestation of religion or belief in burial 10 11 GE.25-21055 Inter-American Court of Human Rights, Moiwana Community v. Suriname, Judgment, 15 June 2005, separate opinion of Judge A.A. Cançado Trindade, paras. 67–81. Study of Discrimination in the Matter of Religious Rights and Practices (United Nations publication, 1960), p. 58. 5