A/HRC/37/49/Add.2 interest of “public security”. On the other hand, many citizens felt that their right to freedom of religion or belief was restricted and violated in the name of fighting extremism. 50. Campaigns against terrorism and extremism have included the closure of mosques and the arrest of Muslims not associated with terrorist or extremist groups but who simply sought to practise their religion outside of the ways sanctioned by the Government. The expression of deep religious conviction was equally restricted. 51. The Special Rapporteur found that there was no clear definition of extremism, which left its interpretation overly vague. He also found that there was a tendency to associate any form of extremism with religious extremism. The Prosecutor General’s Office together with other ministries and agencies prepared a draft law on countering extremism, which defines such concepts as “extremism”, “extremist activity” and “extremist organization”, among others. Article 5 of the draft law establishes that the main directions for countering extremism are to increase awareness of the law and culture of the population, build resistance against extremism in society and implement measures to prevent extremism. That includes eliminating the root causes of extremism, providing early warning, detecting and curtailing activities of extremism, and ensuring international cooperation in the field of combating extremism. 52. Article 3 of the draft law provides that “extremist activity (extremism)” could be understood as the activity of religious organizations and public associations, mass media or other legal entities, as well as individuals, in planning, organizing, preparing or committing actions aimed at: • Changing the foundations of the constitutional system, violating the territorial integrity and sovereignty of the country; • Justifying terrorism or calling for terrorist activities publicly; • Creating, leading or participating in an organized armed group; • Organizing and participating in an armed insurrection for extremist purposes; provoking national, racial, ethnic or religious enmity, as well as social strife related to violence or calls for violence; • Promoting propaganda of exclusivity, superiority or inferiority of a person (or social group) on the basis of social, racial, ethnic, religious or linguistic affiliation or attitude towards religion; • Violating the rights, freedoms and legitimate interests of a person because of his or her social, racial, national, ethnic, religious or linguistic affiliation or attitude towards religion; • Obstructing citizens from exercising their electoral rights and the right to participate in a referendum or violating the secrecy of voting, involving or threatening to use violence; • Obstructing the lawful activity of State bodies, local self-government bodies of citizens, election commissions and other legal entities, using or threatening to use violence against State officials and their close relatives to coerce them into changing the nature of such activities or in revenge for their implementation; • Crimes based on political, ideological, racial, ethnic or religious hatred or enmity or on grounds of hatred or enmity towards any social group, or out of revenge for lawful actions of other persons, in order to conceal another crime or to facilitate its commission; • Producing, storing and disseminating extremist materials; • Capturing and assigning power; • Committing mass riots, hooliganism and acts of vandalism based on political, ideological, racial, national or religious hatred or enmity, as well as on grounds of hatred or enmity towards any social group; • Creating, leading and participating in an extremist group or organization; • Producing, storing for the purpose of distribution or demonstration the attributes and symbols of extremist organizations; 10