E/CN.4/2003/66/Add.1 page 25 141. The authority of the State, which was flouted for over a decade, is being progressively restored. Considerable efforts are being made to deal with and deflect the violence without compromising pluralism in its democratic form. Disturbances within the mosques, for example, are increasingly being contained. It is nonetheless clear that the establishment of any kind of democracy is a commitment presupposing a modicum of order, implies that extremism and holier-than-thou attitudes towards religion or belief must be rejected, and requires - if necessary by a display of political and legal will - the institution of a democratic culture inseparable from tolerance and non-discrimination. 142. The reforms embarked on by the Algerian State are likely to provoke serious resistance if they are likely to interfere directly or indirectly, actually or in people’s minds, with the religious sensitivities of a large part of the population; this calls for legitimate caution but is no excuse for deferring change that has become essential, far less an excuse for inertia. It is not the role of the State simply to keep abreast of society or stand for the social status quo. The State is also responsible for prompting and guiding change. The law does not need to be restricted to articulating the current situation. It can also be looked upon as an important vehicle for change, one whose power can be mobilised to wear down resistance and encourage the emergence of new mindsets, attitudes and ways of behaving. Algeria appears to be aware of this possibility, but its excessive caution and occasional hesitations do not help to make the reform process irreversible or set out the options clearly enough. 143. The Algerian Constitution provides a variety of means for eliminating all forms of intolerance and discrimination based on religion or belief. It guarantees freedom of conscience. It proclaims that men and women are equal, and that human rights should be respected. Algeria has also become party to a considerable number of international agreements on human rights, both general and agreements relating to specific issues or categories. President Bouteflika, like the head of Government, calls for international human rights conventions to be respected. Yet it has to be said that the language of the Constitution is not always accorded its rightful scope, particularly where the rights of women are concerned. The declarations and reservations that Algeria has entered to various international agreements deprive them of some of their important aspects. Algeria needs to ensure that all its legislation and regulations are consistent with the Constitution, on the one hand, and with international agreements, on the other. 144. Algeria’s problems have less to do with freedom of religion or belief than with the use made of it. The partisan political use of religion as a tool and the takeover of religious affairs by extremists claiming inspiration from Islam largely explain the country’s problems since the end of the 1980s. Exploiting genuine economic and social difficulties, particularly those faced by young Algerians, challenging a largely discredited political class, taking advantage of the rudimentary religious learning of many Algerians and turning to their own advantage certain inequitable features of international relations, the extremists have managed to bring about a reversal in the national character dictated solely by an overtly backward-looking interpretation of Islam by imams whose religious learning is often patently scant. Freedom of conscience is thus in the custody of religious police determined to shape society as they envisage it, to impose what they regard as good and combat what they regard as evil. The population is increasingly regimented, and those who