A/64/271 level of local government where, according to the experts, the message of anti-racism was not getting through. C. 1. Thematic issues addressed by the Special Rapporteur through his participation in conferences, seminars and other meetings Incitement to racial or religious hatred 26. Since his last report to the General Assembly (A/63/339), the question of incitement to racial or religious hatred has been raised by the Special Rapporteur through various reports and statements which are summarized below. 27. At the ninth session of the Human Rights Council, the Special Rapporteur submitted, pursuant to Council resolution 7/19, a report drafted by his predecessor on “the manifestations of defamation of religions and in particular on the serious implications of Islamophobia on the enjoyment of all rights” (A/HRC/9/12). 28. In the report, the analytical framework presented by the former mandate holder to the Human Rights Council in the past is summarized and updated. In particular, a clear call is made to Member States to shift the discussion in international forums from the idea of “defamation of religions” to the legal concept of “incitement to national, racial and religious hatred, hostility or violence”, which is grounded in international legal instruments. In that regard, the report contains a detailed examination of the current normative framework on the question of incitement to hatred, showing that protection against this kind of hate speech has been crafted at length in international law, including in articles 19 and 20 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, and in article 4 of the International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination. 29. On 12 November 2008, the Special Rapporteur participated in a conference on “Human rights in culturally diverse societies: challenges and perspectives”, organized by the Council of Europe. On that occasion, he addressed the issue of “hate speech”, which is used as a convenient short term to describe the legal notion of advocacy of national, racial or religious hatred that constitutes incitement to discrimination, hostility or violence, as contained in article 20 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights. 30. In particular, the Special Rapporteur referred to the expert seminar on the links between articles 19 and 20 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, organized by the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR), in October 2008. The seminar brought together a number of academics and experts, who identified the key challenges and put forward some recommendations. When applying articles 19 and 20 of the Covenant, they pointed to the need of a case-by-case approach, therefore taking into account, for instance, the history of violence or persecution against a particular ethnic or racial group, which can be a meaningful indicator of their vulnerability. Further, the experts were of the view that when article 20 of the Covenant was triggered, this generally indicated a failure of the State to fulfil other obligations, in particular the right to non-discrimination. Regarding the application of hate speech laws, the seminar also identified some objective criteria to avoid arbitrary application of these laws. Some of these criteria include: (a) the public intent of inciting discrimination, hostility or violence must be present for hate speech to be penalized; (b) any limitations on 8 09-45097