A/78/306 participation. 29 Furthermore, the Committee recommended that legislation explicitly prohibiting racial profiling by law enforcement officers at the national and provincial levels be adopted and that action be taken to prevent, identify and punish attitudes of racism and racial discrimination in the judicial system. 30 The Committee also made recommendations regarding the adoption of measures to monitor and combat the dissemination of racist hate speech, and the provision of training for the police, prosecutors and judges on appropriate methods for identifying, recording, investigating and prosecuting racially motivated hate crimes and hate speech. 31 56. During the reporting period, the Human Rights Committee in its concluding observations made a number of recommendations per taining to minorities and their rights. For example, the Committee noted the need for the States parties to take specific measures to combat all forms of discrimination and violence against religious and belief minorities, including by amending existing le gislation to ensure protection and guarantee the right to freedom of religion or belief for everyone, eliminate discriminatory policy practices against religious minorities, and ensure the effective protection of religious minorities, including by investig ating allegations of violence and sectarian attacks and bringing perpetrators to justice. 32 57. Regarding hate speech, the Human Rights Committee called on States to strengthen efforts to ensure full protection against discrimination, both in law and in practice, against persons of African descent and Indigenous people. It stated that States parties must take measures to prevent all hate speech, and incitement to hatred and violence or other alleged offences motivated by prejudice and stereotyping, including when such offences occur in the media or on the Internet, and must respond to them promptly and effectively. The Committee further noted that hate speech could amount to persecution aimed at ethnic and religious minorities and, in that regard, States should ensure that any such acts are promptly, independently and effectively investigated, that perpetrators are held accountable, with penalties commensurate with the seriousness of the crimes, and that victims have access to full reparations. 33 58. On the issue of ethno-religious tensions, the Committee underscored the importance of States parties creating opportunities for open dialogue between various ethnic and religious groups, allowing for public discussions on existing tensions and conflict, promoting inter-ethnic and interreligious harmony and tolerance and overcoming prejudices and negative stereotypes, including in schools and universities and in the media. 34 D. Universal periodic review 59. In the course of its third (2017–2022) and fourth (2022–2027) cycles, which both included part of the reporting period of the present report, the universal periodic review peer review process issued important recommendations to States on measures that could be undertaken to combat discrimination and exclusion . On the basis of such __________________ 29 30 31 32 33 34 23-15674 See CERD/C/ARG/CO/24-26, CERD/C/AZE/CO/10-12, CERD/C/BHR/CO/8-14, CERD/C/BEN/CO/1-9, CERD/C/BWA/CO/17-22, CERD/C/BRA/CO/18-20, CERD/C/FRA/CO/22-23, CERD/C/NER/CO/22-25, CERD/C/PHL/CO/21-25, CERD/C/PRT/CO/18-19, CERD/C/RUS/CO/25-26, CERD/C/SVK/CO/13, CERD/C/SUR/CO/16-18, CERD/C/TJK/CO/12-13, CERD/C/USA/CO/10-12 and CERD/C/ZWE/CO/5-11. See, for example, CERD/C/ARG/CO/24-26, paras. 22–23. Ibid., para 23. See CCPR/C/EGY/CO/5, CCPR/C/ETH/CO/2, CCPR/C/IRL/CO/5, CCPR/C/KGZ/CO/3, CCPR/C/PAN/CO/4, CCPR/C/PER/CO/6, CCPR/C/RUS/CO/8, CCPR/C/LKA/CO/6, CCPR/C/TKM/CO/3 and CCPR/C/ZMB/CO/4. See, for example, CCPR/C/ETH/CO/2, paras. 45 and 46. See, for example, CCPR/C/LKA/CO/6, paras. 38–39. 15/17