A/HRC/15/53 28. With regard to incitement to acts of discrimination against individuals based on their religion or belief, the Special Rapporteur would like to once again refer to article 20 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, which prohibits any advocacy of national, racial or religious hatred that constitutes incitement to discrimination. 29. In addition to the above, in its resolution 64/164, the General Assembly urged “States to step up their efforts to protect and promote freedom of thought, conscience and religion or belief, and to this end … to ensure that no one is discriminated against on the basis of his or her religion or belief when accessing, inter alia, education, medical care, employment, humanitarian assistance or social benefits, and to ensure that everyone has the right and the opportunity to have access, on general terms of equality, to public services in one’s country, without any discrimination on the basis of religion or belief”. B. Attacks on religious sites (a) Cases received by the Special Rapporteur 30. On 22 January 2009, the Apostolic Nunciature in the city of Caracas, Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela, was reportedly attacked when members of an organization called “La Piedrita” threw gas canisters into the mission’s house. Reportedly, the attackers also left pamphlets insulting Catholic leaders. On 30 January 2009, 15 unidentified armed men forced their way into the Tiferet Israel Synagogue in the city of Caracas. They threw Torah scrolls on the floor, stole the synagogue’s computers and allegedly spray-painted the walls with anti-Semitic graffiti, such as “Damn the Jews”, “Jews out of here”, “Death to all” and “Israel assassins”. Earlier in January 2009, the message “Property of Islam” had been sprayed on its walls. 31. On 18 February 2009, about 200 Government security forces, police and plainclothed agents reportedly surrounded the Hosseinieh of the Nematollahi-Gonabadi Sufi order, located in the Takhteh Foulad Cemetery in Isfahan, Islamic Republic of Iran, and demolished the building using bulldozers and loaders. 32. On 22 August 2009, anti-religious and threatening or hateful messages were allegedly written in an Islamic centre in South Carolina, United States of America. Worshippers found “Death to Muslims” written on the floor. It was reportedly the third incident at the Islamic Centre in recent years. 33. In November 2009, more than 20 Muslim graves were allegedly vandalized in a cemetery in Manchester, United Kingdom. Reportedly, only Muslim graves were targeted. This was the third time that the graves had been damaged after similar attacks took place in 2009. 34. On 6 December 2009, a mosque in Melilla, Spain, was reportedly desecrated with graffiti saying “Viva Franco”, “No Moors” and “One, Great and Free”, etc. That was the first time in years that a religious building had been attacked in Melilla. 35. On 31 December 2009, an attack was reportedly perpetrated by an unknown assailant against a mosque in Malmö, Sweden. Shots were fired through the window of the building; however nobody was seriously injured during the incident. Around five people, including the Imam, were in an office following evening prayers. 36. According to reports, on 27 January 2010 — on the occasion of the International Day of Commemoration in Memory of the Victims of the Holocaust — police discovered that the Jewish cemetery of Cronenbourg in Strasburg, France, had been vandalized. Eighteen graves had reportedly been painted with Nazi swastikas and 13 others had been pushed over. On one tomb, the police discovered the inscription “Juden Raus” (Jews out). 8 GE.10-14999