A/HRC/15/53 report to the tenth session of the Human Rights Council (A/HRC/10/8). As such, she deplores that members of certain religious or belief groups are often denied access to employment or have faced obstacles thereto, both in Government institutions and private companies. She also referred to persistent inequalities and religious differentials in relation to employment. The question of discrimination based on religion or belief and its impact on the right to adequate housing was also raised. In this regard, she referred to a mission report by the Special Rapporteur on adequate housing as a component of the right to an adequate standard of living, and on the right to non-discrimination in this context, who had reported on several cases of land confiscation against members of the Baha’í faith in the Islamic Republic of Iran, which were often accompanied by threats and physical violence before and during related forced evictions (E/CN.4/2006/41/Add.2, paras. 81–85). Cases of direct and indirect discrimination based on religion or belief adversely affecting the right to health have also been reported by the Special Rapporteur on freedom of religion or belief in the same report. For instance, during her visit to India, reference was made to the bias in public services provisioning against areas with a high proportion of Muslims. As such, more than 10,000 villages with a high proportion of Muslims were without any medical facilities. (b) Observations by the Special Rapporteur on acts of discrimination, or incitement thereto, against individuals on the basis of their religion or belief 26. The Special Rapporteur strongly condemns all acts of discrimination, or incitement thereto, against individuals on the basis of their religion or belief. He recalls that they are clearly prohibited in international human rights law. Indeed, the principle of nondiscrimination is generally perceived as one of the most important in the field of human rights and is therefore enshrined in all core international human rights conventions. This includes: article 2 of the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights; article 2 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights; article 5 of the International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination; article 2 of the International Convention on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women; article 2 of the Convention on the Rights of the Child; article 1 of the Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment; article 7 of the International Convention on the Protection of the Rights of All Migrant Workers and Members of Their Families; article 5 of the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities; and articles 2 and 7 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. The Special Rapporteur would like to recall that, in accordance with international human rights law, States have the duty to refrain from discriminating against individuals or groups of individuals based on, inter alia, their ethnicity and/or religion or belief; prevent such discrimination, including from non-State actors; and take steps to ensure that, in practice, every person in their territory enjoys all human rights without discrimination of any kind. 27. Furthermore, the Declaration on the Elimination of all Forms of Intolerance and of Discrimination Based on Religion or Belief2 extensively addresses the principle of nondiscrimination. In particular, its article 2, paragraph 1, states that “no one shall be subject to discrimination by any State, institution, group of persons, or person on the grounds of religion or other belief”. Article 4 provides that “all States shall take effective measures to prevent and eliminate discrimination on the grounds of religion or belief in the recognition, exercise and enjoyment of human rights and fundamental freedoms in all fields of civil, economic, political, social and cultural life” and that they “shall make all efforts to enact or rescind legislation where necessary to prohibit any such discrimination”. 2 GE.10-14999 See General Assembly resolution 36/55 of 25 November 1981. 7