A/HRC/58/49 faith in Myanmar due to psychological torture and attempts by the State to change their religious identity.98 68. Past allegation letters have detailed reports of Sunni Muslims showing signs of torture, malnutrition and a lack of care in detention while also being prevented from accessing Sunni religious guidance in a prison where the majority of detainees were Sunni.99 Another reported that a person deprived of liberty was prevented from performing prayers, accessing religious books and observing religious practice along with others.100 Another allegation letter detailed that Muslim migrants in detention had been denied vegan, vegetarian or halal food, had been wrongly advised that their meals were halal and had not been provided with supplementary meals after religious fasting.101 69. While the lack of provision of the services mentioned above, such as access to a chaplain or a religious diet, might not necessarily lead to torture and ill-treatment, a combination of these factors, coercion and systemic denial of the right to freedom of religion or belief in such places might reach the threshold of ill-treatment. 70. It is highly surprising that so few legal cases related to these rights have been entertained by international bodies, given the number of violations reported by civil society organizations and the number of allegation letters received under the mandate. This discrepancy demonstrates the lack of information available to persons deprived of liberty concerning their rights, and that religion or belief is not taken seriously by such institutions. Far more needs to be done to address such violations and develop effective preventive measures to end impunity. Aggravated ill-treatment tailored to degrade people based on their religion or belief 71. Intent and motivation play important and often overlooked roles in determining violations of the prohibition of torture and ill-treatment. Ill-treatment is exacerbated when it is aimed at specifically affecting someone due to their personal characteristics, such as their race, gender and/or religion or belief. The aggravated nature of torture is not just dependent on the consequences of physical or psychological suffering but can be due to the intentionality and severity of the conduct. For instance, the knowledge that subjecting a victim to a certain form of ill-treatment will target their religion or belief may elevate the severity of the ill-treatment so as to make it an objective act of torture. 72. Motivations based on any form of discrimination are mentioned in universally applicable definitions of torture. 102 This means that inflicting severe pain or suffering intentionally, for any reason based on discrimination, is strictly prohibited. 73. The Istanbul Protocol lists several examples of torture methods, including what is defined as “behavioural coercion”, one example being “forced engagement in practices against the religion of the victim (e.g. forcing Muslims to eat pork)”.103 74. Perhaps due to the open-ended nature of the prohibition of torture and ill-treatment, jurisprudence is usually focused on the act of torture itself rather than the increased severity of an act due to the purposive targeting of one’s religion or belief. However, a few cases demonstrate that it is possible to take both rights into consideration, and that by doing so, the remedies provided for victims will become much more tailored. 75. The Human Rights Committee has found a violation of both rights in a case where the author “was forbidden from worshipping at Muslim prayer services, his prayer books were taken from him, and on two occasions his beard was shaven off”. While it is unclear whether these violations of freedom of religion or belief would alone amount to ill-treatment, it is not 98 99 100 101 102 103 14 Submissions from Myanmar Freedom of Religion or Belief Network and Christian Solidarity Worldwide. See communication IRQ 3/2024. See communication BHR 1/2021. See communication USA 18/2018. Convention against Torture, art. 1. Istanbul Protocol, as revised, para. 372 (x). GE.24-24412