A/HRC/9/12 page 2 Summary The present report is submitted pursuant to Human Rights Council resolution 7/19 of 27 March 2007 entitled “Combating defamation of religions”, in which the Council invited the Special Rapporteur on contemporary forms of racism, racial discrimination, xenophobia and related intolerance to report to it at its ninth session on all manifestations of defamation of religions and in particular on the serious implications of Islamophobia on the enjoyment of all rights. This report is to be read in conjunction with the previous reports that the Special Rapporteur has submitted to the Human Rights Council, namely: the report on the manifestations of defamation of religions and in particular on the serious implications of Islamophobia on the enjoyment of all rights (A/HRC/6/6); the report on incitement to racial and religious hatred and the promotion of tolerance (A/HRC/2/3) submitted to the Council jointly with the Special Rapporteur on freedom of religion or belief; the reports submitted to the Commission on the situation of Muslims and Arab peoples in various parts of the world with special reference to physical assaults and attacks against their places of worship, cultural centres, businesses and properties in the aftermath of the events of 11 September 2001 (E/CN.4/2003/23, E/CN.4/2005/19 and E/CN.4/2006/17); and the report entitled “Defamation of religions and global efforts to combat racism: anti-Semitism, Christianophobia and Islamophobia” (E/CN.4/2005/18/Add.4). In accordance with the Human Rights Council’s request, the Special Rapporteur will focus in this report on the phenomenon of Islamophobia. However, he wishes to point out that this does not imply the establishment of any hierarchy in the forms of discrimination to which the different religions are subject. As he noted in his previous reports, strategies to combat antiSemitism, Christianophobia and Islamophobia should promote the idea that it is necessary to treat these different phobias in the same way and to avoid establishing any priorities with regard to combating all forms of discrimination. The purpose of this report is therefore to summarize and update the main analyses, conclusions and recommendations of the Special Rapporteur in the various thematic reports on the defamation of religions submitted to the Council and the Commission. The Special Rapporteur draws attention to some of the main recommendations in his previous report, submits three new proposals to the Human Rights Council and concludes by expressing the hope that the Council will invite Member States to promote dialogue among cultures, civilizations and religions, having particular regard to: (a) The need to accord equal treatment to combating defamation of religions in all its forms so as to avoid establishing any hierarchy in the different manifestations of discrimination, even if they may vary in nature and degree depending on historical, geographical and cultural context; (b) The deep historical and cultural roots of all forms of defamation of religions and the corresponding need to combine legal measures with an intellectual, cultural and ethical approach that takes account of the processes, mechanisms and representations at the origin of these manifestations of discrimination over time;