A/HRC/22/51 spontaneously. Even then, they typically occur, however, against a background of widespread prejudices that may escalate into political paranoia, sometimes deliberately stoked by politicians. At the same time, minorities can become targets of public contempt, for instance, by being vilified as allegedly failing to honour any moral principles. In response to strangely combined sentiments of paranoia and contempt, two sources of aggressiveness can merge into a toxic mix, i.e. aggressiveness from a feeling of being threatened and aggressiveness from the pretence of one’s own moral superiority. 40. While in some cases one can clearly distinguish between perpetrators and victims, in other situations applying such a distinction appears to be complicated or even outright impossible. It may also happen that a religious community whose members suffer terribly from persecution in one country is actively involved in human rights abuses in another country. Sometimes minorities exercise pressure against internal critics or dissidents in order to keep their ranks closed, possibly resulting in the violation of the rights of internal minorities or individual members. 2. Specific areas of violations 41. The following violations of the rights of persons belonging to religious minorities constitute a non-exhaustive list of patterns observed by the mandate holders during their country visits and in communications sent to States. (a) Unnecessary bureaucratic restrictions 42. Religious minorities are often confronted with disproportionate bureaucratic requirements which, instead of facilitating freedom of religion or belief, have the effect of imposing discriminatory burdens and unjustifiable restrictions. 9 In some countries minority communities have to register on an annual basis to be recognized by the administration. 10 Members of affected groups have complained about registration procedures becoming more and more costly and time-consuming. Failure to register, or re-register periodically, could lead to legal vulnerability that also exposes the religious minorities to political, economic and social insecurity.11 Furthermore, application procedures for being allowed to construct places of worship – churches, mosques, prayer halls, synagogues, temples etc. – can be extremely complicated; in some cases they have been delayed over decades.12 (b) Denial of an appropriate legal status 43. Most religious communities – albeit not all of them – wish to have the status of a collective legal personality. Such a status position may be needed for them to be able to undertake important community functions, such as opening bank accounts, purchasing real estate, constructing houses of worship, employing professionals (including professional clergy), establishing denominational schools and running their own community media. Without an appropriate legal status, the development of a communitarian infrastructure and the long-term survival prospects of a religious minority may be in serious peril. 9 10 11 12 In Angola, the Muslim community encountered difficulties in obtaining the necessary registration as the law required 100,000 signatures in order to legalize a religious community (A/HRC/4/21/Add.1, para. 18). In Paraguay, religious or belief communities have to register annually with the Vice Ministry of Worship, while the Catholic Church is exempted from this requirement (A/HRC/19/60/Add.1, para. 34). The Belarusian Evangelical Church was unsuccessful in seeking re-registration under the 2002 Religious Law and was subsequently liquidated (A/HRC/4/21/Add.1, para. 53). Chin Christian Minorities in Myanmar allegedly cannot build or renovate churches or erect crosses due to the multi-tiered permissions required and the lengthy process involved (A/HRC/22/67). 11