A/53/279 to them in connection with the fifty-fourth session of the Commission on Human Rights: Afghanistan, Albania, Angola, Azerbaijan, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Comoros, Gabon, Georgia, Iran (Islamic Republic of), Latvia, Mauritania, Mongolia, Mozambique, Myanmar, Nepal, Nicaragua, Nigeria, Pakistan, Portugal, Qatar, Russian Federation, Somalia, Sudan, United Arab Emirates, Uzbekistan, Yemen and Yugoslavia. V. Conclusions and recommendations 84. It must be recognized that, as the communications of the Special Rapporteur indicate, manifestations of intolerance and discrimination based on religion and belief, including violent manifestations, continue to occur throughout the world. 85. However, the Special Rapporteur has observed, through the various categories of violations developed in the course of the analysis, the following trends in matters of religion and belief: (a) State policies against religion and policies designed to control religious matters in the name of a political ideology have declined, even though, on the one hand, such phenomena do persist in several countries and, on the other, problems arising from such policies, including the restitution of religious property confiscated under previous regimes, still persist in others; (b) State policies against minorities in matters of religion and belief, especially against non-recognized communities such as sects or new religious movements, are on the rise; (c) More and more policies and practices of intolerance and discrimination in the field of religion and belief are being implemented by non-State entities. On the one hand there are the religious communities, which operate on two levels – between communities and within communities. The representatives of such communities and their followers first turn on members of their own faith, within the same branch or in a different branch; this is illustrated by the status of women as reflected in the sixth category of violations and the status of converts as reflected in the third category of violations. These representatives and their followers then mobilize against communities of different faiths. The second category of non-State actors, that sometimes overlaps with the first category, concerns politicalcum-religious parties or movements such as the Taliban. These two categories raise the issue of the relationship between politics and religion, and the use of these to foment intolerance and discrimination, culminating in religious extremism; (d) Policies and practices that discriminate against women, because of their status which is determined by men’s interpretation of religion and religious traditions, have increased. It should be stressed that this trend affects all religions and beliefs and occurs in one form or another throughout the world. 86. Concerning these trends, and bearing in mind Commission on Human Rights resolutions 1998/18 on the Implementation of the Declaration on the Elimination of All Forms of Intolerance and of Discrimination Based on Religion or Belief and 1998/74 on Human rights and thematic procedures, the Special Rapporteur would like to make the following recommendations. 87. First of all, the Special Rapporteur has noticed, since his appointment, that his mandate seemed to be limited to the management of the manifestations of intolerance and discrimination in matters of religion and belief. The Special Rapporteur’s role was restricted to a posteriori interventions. He therefore considered it necessary and urgent to establish a role of prevention. To that end, he launched the mechanism of in situ visits, supplemented by a visit follow-up procedure for the recommendations made in the mission reports. The Special Rapporteur also established an urgent appeals procedure. He conducted a survey on problems relating to freedom of religion and belief from the standpoint of the curricula and textbooks of primary or elementary and secondary educational institutions designed to help shape an international educational strategy for combating all forms of intolerance and discrimination based on religion or belief. Recommendations were also made with respect to the technical cooperation programme of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (E/CN.4/1995/91). All these activities and recommendations contribute to and are aimed at preventing intolerance and discrimination in general. 88. As far as more specific questions are concerned, the Special Rapporteur wishes to make the following comments and recommendations. 89. Religious extremism, regardless of whether or not it has a genuinely religious basis, is apparent or latent, adopts, provokes or sustains violence or manifests itself in less spectacular forms of intolerance, constitutes an unacceptable assault on both freedom and religion. No society, religion or faith is immune from extremism. However, when extremism resorts to a frenzy of wanton terrorism and becomes a hideous monster that kills in the name of God and exterminates in the name of religion, when it engages in the most despicable acts of barbarity, and knows no bounds in its cruelty, then silence 13