A/HRC/31/27 12. The human rights monitoring mission in Ukraine, deployed in March 2014, continued to pay close attention to the rights of persons belonging to minorities, including in its regular human rights reports. For example, in February 2015, the mission reported that, although incidents of violent attacks against minorities remained rare, cases of discrimination against Roma had been reported and allegations of religious minorities being targeted in areas controlled by armed groups received. It also noted that the human rights situation for some Crimean Tatars in the Autonomous Republic of Crimea, in particular political and human rights activists and community leaders, had steadily deteriorated. In September 2015, the Assistant Secretary-General, during an interactive dialogue with the Human Rights Council, observed that violations of the human rights of Crimean Tatars continued to be committed by the de facto authorities of the Autonomous Republic of Crimea. 13. In Iraq, OHCHR reactivated in March 2015 the committee appointed by the conference held in March 2014 on promoting the protection and respect of the rights of the diverse religious and ethnic minority communities living in Iraq. The committee, appointed to draft a set of concrete recommendations based on the road map adopted at the conference, had been unable to convene because of the conflict ongoing in the country. In July, OHCHR, in cooperation with the United Nations Assistance Mission for Iraq and the Alliance of Iraqi Minorities, reported to the Human Rights Council that ethnic and religious groups in Iraq had endured discrimination and violence for a long time and, as a result of the ongoing armed conflict, the communities had become more vulnerable, and many had suffered gross violations of their human rights. In September, OHCHR together with the organization of a former OHCHR minority fellow, conducted a series of human rights training sessions, with a particular focus on the protection of minorities in the Wassit Governorate. 14. In its report submitted to the Human Rights Council at its thirtieth session (A/HRC/30/48), the Independent International Commission of Inquiry on the Syrian Arab Republic reported that Syrians of all backgrounds had been the subject of war crimes and crimes against humanity. The Commission also noted that some communities had been specifically targeted, with discriminatory intent, on the grounds of their actual or perceived religious and/or ethnic backgrounds, by the so-called “Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant (ISIL)” and Jabhat Al-Nusra. 15. On 25 February 2015, the High Commissioner issued a press statement in which he called upon Myanmar to redouble its efforts to revise its legislation and policies to protect the Rohingya and other minorities. The message was reinforced by OHCHR advocacy with legislative and executive authorities aimed at increasing understanding within the Government and parliament in Myanmar of the need to adopt legislation in compliance with international law and standards. In September 2015, when the Deputy High Commissioner presented an oral update to the Human Rights Council pursuant to Council resolution 29/21, she welcomed advances on a number of important human rights issues, even though they had not been matched with progress in addressing institutionalized discrimination against the Rohingya and other minorities. She called for urgent effective measures to combat prejudice, racism and religious intolerance. 16. In September 2015, the High Commissioner presented an oral update to the Human Rights Council at its thirtieth session on the investigation conducted by OHCHR into alleged serious violations and abuses of human rights and related crimes by both parties in Sri Lanka during the period covered by the Lessons Learnt and Reconciliation Commission, and to establish the facts and circumstances of such alleged violations and of the crimes perpetrated with a view to avoiding impunity and ensuring accountability (see A/HRC/30/61). In the report, OHCHR described serious human rights violations, abuses and related crimes that had affected tens of thousands of individuals as well as whole 4