E/CN.4/2006/5/Add.2 page 23 113. The Government should also abide by its basic obligation to ensure the protection and security of religious groups which may be targeted and which should be entitled to practise their religions freely and without any obstacles, including those created by non-State actors. The Government should reassess the efficiency of its mechanisms in order to be able to intervene in a timely and proper manner when such violence occurs. Early warning mechanisms should also be strengthened. 114. The mechanisms created by the Government to promote interreligious dialogue should be strengthened and extended. In particular, they should ensure that religious leaders of all communities can participate and involve the civil society. Mechanisms at the local level should be created in as many places as may require them because of the composition of the population, past experience, or any other indication of possible religious tensions. 115. The Government should also increase its support for such initiatives coming from the civil society and disseminate principles of good practice. Notes 1 The umbrella organization for Muslims of the north of Nigeria. 2 The words “traditional religions” refer, in this report, to traditional African religions. 3 Ethnic and Religious Rights (an NGO publication), September 2004, p. 3. 4 The Ahmadiyyas fear that an indication of the religious affiliation in the census could lead to demands to declare them non-Muslims. Some Muslim leaders have indeed expressed the belief that Ahmadiyyas should not be considered Muslims. 5 While under several authoritative interpretations the terms of article 18 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights are meant to include the right to “change” religion, the article does not expressly contain this right. See general comment of the Human Rights Committee No. 22, para. 5 (“The Committee observes that the freedom to ‘have or to adopt’ a religion or belief necessarily entails the freedom to choose a religion or belief, including the right to replace one’s current religion or belief with another or to adopt atheistic views, as well as the right to retain one’s religion or belief.”); see also Manfred Nowak, CCPR Commentary (2nd revised edition), 2005, p. 414. 6 See E/CN.4/2005/61, para. 75; E/CN.4/2004/63, para. 148. 7 Hadd punishments are fixed and only applied under very strict and restricted requirements of evidence. 8 The offence of zina consists of acts of sexual intercourse outside marriage. It includes adultery. 9 Personal law includes laws regarding inheritance, divorce, marriage, custody, etc.