A/55/280 V. Contribution to the World Conference against Racism, Racial Discrimination, Xenophobia and Related Intolerance 107. Pursuant to resolution 1999/78 on racism, racial discrimination, xenophobia and related intolerance and resolution 1999/39 on the implementation of the Declaration on the Elimination of All Forms of Intolerance and of Discrimination Based on Religion or Belief, the Special Rapporteur was invited to participate actively in the preparatory process for the World Conference against Racism, Racial Discrimination, Xenophobia and Related Intolerance by formulating recommendations concerning religious intolerance that would have a bearing on the Conference and by initiating studies. 108. To that end, he undertook a first study entitled “Racial discrimination and religious discrimination: identification and measures”, the preparation of which was announced at the fifty-sixth session of the Commission on Human Rights. 109. In the above-mentioned resolution 2000/33, the Commission noted that the Special Rapporteur has undertaken a study on religious discrimination and racism and looks forward to its presentation at the first session, to be held in May 2000, of the Preparatory Committee for the World Conference and encourages the Special Rapporteur to contribute further to the preparations for the Conference, to be held in 2001, by forwarding to the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights his recommendations on religious intolerance which have a bearing on the Conference. 110. From 1 to 5 May 2000, the Special Rapporteur participated in the Preparatory Committee for the Conference and, in particular, submitted his study (A/CONF.189/PC.1/7). 111. In it, he explains that when the right to freedom of religion and the right to belong to an ethnic group or to a minority are infringed in the case of a single person or group of persons, the violation is not just a superimposition or ordinary addition of offences or discriminations. It is not just a question of multiple offences. The combination of the two offences creates a new, more serious, offence — an aggravated discrimination — which, while of varying intensity, is by its very nature a separate concept. 112. On the basis of the legal and factual elements of the issue of religious discrimination aggravated by racial discrimination, the Special Rapporteur draws the following preliminary conclusions: (a) None of the international instruments studied contains any special provisions establishing a specific legal regime or special treatment covering acts of aggravated discrimination, particularly those that affect minorities; (b) Nevertheless, a study of the various provisions leads to the conclusion 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; (c) Minorities are sometimes granted specific rights under the internal legislation and even under the Constitution. Yet, many forms of discrimination, particularly those relating to religion, are directly or indirectly enshrined in those Constitutions and affect ethnic groups in particular; (d) A study of the facts has shown that the overlap between racial and religious discrimination is a common phenomenon that is especially grave and often has very tragic consequences; (e) The instruments studied would appear to be out of phase with reality. At any rate, they do not appear to accept the full consequences of their own recognition of the links between race and religion. 113. The Special Rapporteur therefore recommends: A. Strengthening protection against aggravated discrimination 114. International protection. It seems clear that legislative provisions, whatever their nature or origin, should anticipate and take into account the possibility of aggravated discrimination. The first step in strengthening international protection is to consolidate existing means and mechanisms. The international community’s work could be reinforced by adopting the following measures: (a) Existing instruments should anticipate the possibility of aggravated discrimination. It might be useful to begin working within the framework of existing mechanisms towards, for example, the 25