A/HRC/12/38 page 12 35. The three mandate holders acknowledged that there had been, in recent years, challenges with regard to the dissemination of expressions offending certain believers. This was not a new phenomenon and had historically concerned countries in all regions of the world and various religions and beliefs. The events of 11 September 2001 had, however, exacerbated tensions in intercommunity relations. In that context, the three mandate holders suggested that a clear distinction be made between three types of expression: (a) expressions that constitute an offence under international law; (b) expressions that are not criminally punishable but may justify a civil suit; and (c) expressions that do not give rise to criminal or civil sanctions but still raise a concern in terms of tolerance, civility and respect for the religion or beliefs of others. They nonetheless strongly emphasized that freedom of expression and the demands of a pluralist, tolerant, broad-minded and democratic society needed to be taken into consideration in all cases being examined. Freedom of expression has to be understood in the positive sense. The guarantee of freedom of expression equally for all constitutes a form to combat racism and discrimination. The three experts added that there was a need to generate, with the exercise of freedom of expression, an atmosphere of respect and understanding between peoples, cultures and religions. 36. Whereas the debate concerning the dissemination of expressions offending certain believers had, throughout the years, evolved around the notion of “defamation of religions”, the three mandate holders welcomed that the debate seemed to be shifting to the concept of “incitement to racial or religious hatred”. They recalled the difficulties in providing an objective definition of the term “defamation of religions” at the international level, which makes the whole concept open to abuse. At the national level, domestic blasphemy laws can prove counterproductive, since this could result in de facto censure of all inter- and intra-religious criticism. Indeed, many of these laws afford different levels of protection to different religions and have often proved to be applied in a discriminatory manner. The three experts mentioned that there were numerous examples of persecution of religious minorities or dissenters, but also of atheists and non-theists, as a result of legislation on religious offences or overzealous application of laws that are fairly neutral. 37. Whereas some had argued that “defamation of religions” could be equated to racism, the three Special Rapporteurs cautioned against confusion between a racist statement and an act of “defamation of religion”. In this regard, they fully concurred with the affirmation from the International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination that “any doctrine of superiority based on racial differentiation is scientifically false, morally condemnable, socially unjust and dangerous”. However, there is not necessarily an analogy to be drawn with regard to religious issues. Indeed, several religions are characterized by truth claims or even by superiority claims - which have been traditionally accepted as part of their theological grounds. Consequently, the elements that constitute a racist statement may not be the same as those that constitute a statement “defaming a religion” as such. To this extent, the legal measures, and in particular the criminal measures, adopted by national legal systems to fight racism may not necessarily be applicable to “defamation of religions”. 38. The three experts deemed it necessary to anchor the debate on these issues in the relevant existing international legal framework, provided for by the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights. Whereas the Covenant provides for freedom of expression, it also clearly defines limitations to it, for example in articles 19 and 20. Furthermore, article 20, paragraph 2, of the Covenant requires States to prohibit expressions if they amount to advocacy of national,