A/HRC/22/51 62. Positive measures enacted with the purpose of improving the situation of religious or belief minorities, including measures of “reasonable accommodation”, should be consistently based on respect for the self-understanding of the members of such communities, who are the natural interpreters of their best interests. Taking the self-understanding of human beings as the starting point for advocacy activities also requires sensitivity to possible internal diversities of convictions and interests within minorities. 63. The Special Rapporteur particularly recommends that States implement the Rabat Plan of Action on the prohibition of advocacy of national, racial or religious hatred that constitutes incitement to discrimination, hostility or violence. The Rabat Plan notes with concern that incidents which indeed reach the threshold of article 20 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights are not prosecuted and punished, while at the same time members of minorities are de facto persecuted, with a chilling effect on others, through the abuse of vague domestic legislation, jurisprudence and policies. The Rabat Plan contains a list of related recommendations and also refers to Human Rights Council resolution 16/18 as a promising platform for effective, integrated and inclusive action by the international community, which requires implementation and constant follow-up by States at the national level. 2. Domestic legal provisions 64. States should enact legislation to protect members of religious or belief minorities, with a clear understanding of the universal normative status of freedom of thought, conscience, religion or belief, a human right that covers individual, communitarian and infrastructural aspects as well as private and public dimensions of religion or belief. 65. States should hold consultations with representatives of religious or belief minorities when drafting legislation that could impact on their convictions and practices such as observation of holy days, dietary provisions, dress codes in public institutions, labour laws, participation in public or cultural life, etc. 66. States should repeal any criminal law provisions that penalize apostasy, blasphemy and proselytism as they may prevent persons belonging to religious or belief minorities from fully enjoying their freedom of religion or belief. 67. States should reform family law and personal status law provisions that may amount to de jure or de facto discrimination against persons belonging to religious or belief minorities, for example in inheritance and custody matters. 68. States should issue anti-discrimination legislation with a view to protecting persons belonging to religious or belief minorities effectively from any grounds of discrimination based on religion or belief in education, employment, housing, welfare systems, media, public positions, etc. In particular where religious or belief minorities suffer from a long history of structural discrimination, positive measures are required to reach out to members of such minorities, to encourage them to apply for positions and to promote their opportunities. 3. Administration and procedures 69. Administrative procedures for obtaining legal personality status should be established in a spirit of facilitating the full enjoyment of freedom of religion or belief for all religious or belief communities, including minorities. States should ensure that such procedures are facilitated in a quick, transparent, fair, inclusive and nondiscriminatory manner. In addition, they should favourably take into account the specific conditions of minorities, for example in defining quota and thresholds. 19