A/HRC/26/29 applied in June 2012 to prevent groups of five or more people from gathering in public areas. The Act was imposed following severe riots between Rohingya Muslims, a predominantly stateless ethnic group in western Rakhine State, and Buddhists in the area. The ban on public gatherings, however, has reportedly only been enforced against Rohingya. The ban has been extended numerous times, and was still in effect at the time of the drafting of the present report. The ban has also prevented Rohingya from gathering in local mosques to pray and celebrate religious festivals; Buddhists religious gatherings have reportedly not been disrupted. 3. Other legal provisions that have a disproportionate impact on the right to freedom of assembly of some groups 36. In some States, laws of general application may have a disproportionate impact on the assembly rights of certain groups, whether intentionally or inadvertently. For example, laws governing the prevention and combating of offences linked to information and communications technology have the potential to be applied in ways that hinder the organization of peaceful assemblies. Youth, being the largest demographic of social media users, are particularly affected by restrictive Internet access policies. The Special Rapporteur warns that restrictions to information and communications technologies should be applied exceptionally. The general norm should be to permit the open and free use of the Internet and other forms of communications (A/HRC/23/39, para. 76). 37. The Special Rapporteur has found that citizenship and residency status frequently affect assembly rights, often by design. As noted above, a number of States, including Singapore, Malaysia and Myanmar, formally deny the right to freedom of peaceful assembly to non-citizens. The Special Rapporteur finds no basis in international law for completely divesting non-citizens of their assembly rights. The right to freedom of peaceful assembly is particularly important for non-citizens and migrants, who may lack other mechanisms with which to advance their political, social and economic interests. 38. The Special Rapporteur also notes with concern that citizenship laws are, by their nature, frequently politicized and often drafted by dominant groups and thus provide an inherently problematic basis for denying the assembly rights of non-dominant groups. One of the more disturbing cases that the Special Rapporteur has examined is the situation of some 700,000 members of the Rohingya minority in Myanmar. The origins of the Rohingya people are controversial; some historians claim that the group dates back centuries, while others claim that the group largely comprises descendants of migrants who arrived during the British colonial period. Yet under Myanmar law, Rohingya are considered “non-nationals” and do not have citizenship rights. By extension, they have no right to peaceful public assembly under domestic law. 39. Problems can arise even in States where the assembly rights of non-citizens are protected by law. The Special Rapporteur has received reports that in Cyprus, for example, some private employment contracts prohibit migrants from engaging in political activity, effectively depriving that group of their right to peacefully assemble (and freely associate). Although provisions contained in private employment contracts do not represent direct restrictions from the State, the State does have an important and pivotal role in prohibiting such restrictions, that is, by rejecting such restrictions as valid contractual terms under domestic law. The Special Rapporteur recalls that Member States have a responsibility to facilitate and protect the right to freedom of peaceful assembly. States should closely examine their role in supporting, even if inadvertently, private restrictions on that right. State mechanisms and institutions must not be used to enable private actors to abrogate fundamental rights. 40. Persons with disabilities may be excluded from organizing and participating in assemblies, for example, due to laws and policies that fail to provide reasonable 12