A/HRC/13/40 B. Discrimination and violence in the name of religion or belief 41. Another worrying pattern is discrimination and violence in the name of religion or belief. As emphasized in the preamble of the 1981 United Nations Declaration on the Elimination of All Forms of Intolerance and of Discrimination Based on Religion or Belief, it is essential to promote understanding, tolerance and respect in matters relating to freedom of religion and belief and to ensure that the use of religion or belief for ends inconsistent with the Charter of the United Nations, other relevant instruments of the United Nations and the purposes and principles of the 1981 Declaration is inadmissible. 42. Discrimination and violence in the name of religion or belief is at the heart of many conflicts which are — or are at least perceived to be — based on religious issues, often intertwined with particular ethnic, national, political or historical backgrounds. Since the creation of the mandate in 1986, various instances of discrimination and violence in the name of religion or belief have come to light both in thematic reports and during country visits or in the exchange of communications with States. The following examples from the exercise of mandate are designed to illustrate some forms of militant extremism and religious polarization, as well as the negative consequences that these phenomena may ultimately have for the enjoyment of human rights, including freedom of religion or belief. 43. In his annual report submitted to the Commission on Human Rights in 1993, the first mandate holder, Angelo Vidal d’Almeida Ribeiro, noted “how difficult it is to curb or eradicate the propagation of extremist and fanatical opinions and overcome the distrust opposing members of certain denominations. Although the phenomena of religious discrimination and intolerance are often caused by a variety of economic, social, political or cultural factors deriving from complex historical processes, they are frequently the result of sectarian or dogmatic intransigence. In view of their adverse effect on the stability of international relations, the Special Rapporteur is of the opinion that States should be vigilant in this regard and make determined efforts to combat religious discrimination and intolerance at all levels”.29 44. The second mandate holder, Abdelfattah Amor, emphasized that the nature of religious extremism is such as to jeopardize the right of individuals and of peoples to peace and to prejudice human rights as a whole.30 He noted that religious extremism acts as a cancer in a religious group of any denomination and that it affects the members of that religious group just as much as those of other religious groups.31 He added that extremism in any religion, wherever it appears, openly or latently, covertly or overtly, and potentially or explicitly violent, merits a hard look at the causes — including economic and social causes — and at its immediate and longer-term effects.32 Additional aspects of extremism include such phenomena as collective suicides by followers of certain groups, terrorist acts by new religious movements and the impact of suicide attacks with an alleged religious motivation.33 45. Recent examples of discrimination and violence in the name of religion or belief can be found in the Special Rapporteur’s two latest reports on communications.34 One of the examples given in those reports, which are obviously not exhaustive, refers to riots and attacks on places of worship perpetrated by members of a group who sought to impose their 29 30 31 32 33 34 14 E/CN.4/1993/62, para. 78. E/CN.4/1995/91, p. 148. E/CN.4/1996/95, para. 45. E/CN.4/1997/91, para. 92. See, for example, E/CN.4/1998/6, para. 151; A/52/477, para. 58; and E/CN.4/2003/66, paras. 93–104. A/HRC/13/40/Add.1 and A/HRC/10/8/Add.1. GE.09-17648