A/HRC/12/50 (a) Violations of the rights referred to in paragraph 1 above continue to occur, often with impunity, including extrajudicial killing, arbitrary detention, torture, intimidation, persecution and harassment, threats and acts of violence and of discrimination, including gender-based violence and discrimination, increased abuse of legal provisions on defamation and criminal libel as well as on surveillance, search and seizure, and censorship against persons who exercise, seek to promote or defend these rights, including journalists, writers and other media workers, Internet users and human rights defenders; (b) These above-mentioned violations are facilitated and aggravated by the abuse of states of emergency; (c) Threats and acts of violence, including killings, attacks and terrorist acts, particularly directed against journalists and other media workers in situations of armed conflict, have increased and are not adequately punished, in particular in those circumstances where public authorities are involved in committing those acts; (d) High rates of illiteracy continue to exist in the world, especially among women, and reaffirms that full and equal access to education for girls and boys, women and men, is crucial for the full enjoyment of the right to freedom of opinion and expression; (e) Media concentration is a growing phenomenon in the world and can limit a plurality of views; 4. Also expresses its concern that incidents of racial and religious intolerance, discrimination and related violence, as well as of negative racial and religious stereotyping continue to rise around the world, and condemns, in this context, any advocacy of national, racial or religious hatred that constitutes incitement to discrimination, hostility or violence, and urges States to take effective measures, consistent with their obligations under international human rights law, to address and combat such incidents; 5. Calls upon all States: (a) To respect and ensure the respect for the rights referred to in paragraph 1 above; (b) To take all necessary measures to put an end to violations of these rights and to create the conditions to prevent such violations, including by ensuring that relevant national legislation complies with their international human rights obligations and is effectively implemented; (c) To ensure that victims of violations of the rights referred to in paragraph 1 above have an effective remedy, to investigate effectively threats and acts of violence, including terrorist acts, against journalists, including in situations of armed conflict, and to bring to justice those responsible in order to combat impunity; (d) To ensure that persons exercising the above-mentioned rights are not discriminated against, particularly in employment, housing, the justice system, social services and education, with particular attention to women; (e) To facilitate the full, equal and effective participation and free communication of women at all levels of decision-making in their societies and in national, regional and international institutions, including in mechanisms for the prevention, management and resolution of conflicts; (f) To enable children to exercise their right to express their views freely, including through school curricula that encourage the development of and respect for different opinions, and to have their views taken into account in all matters affecting them, 33