A/HRC/8/52 page 174 organized and carried out policies aimed at the methodical liquidation of political, trade union and media opposition forces, the response had been reparations that took those parameters as well as the political and sociological context in which the disappearances had occurred into account. In Algeria, however, where the State had been faced with a terrorist attack on such a massive scale that the security forces had been ill-prepared to deal with it and where many people were killed defending their endangered homeland, the effort required to overcome the crisis was necessarily different. That was why a study group must be organized within the framework of the Council to consider different ways of surmounting crises in the light of the specific circumstances of each situation. Otherwise, by seeking to apply the same remedy to different situations without distinction, the Council ran the risk of acting like the sorcerer’s apprentice. 522. Freedom of expression was guaranteed by the Algerian Constitution. The restrictions contained in that instrument were recognized in the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights and were reflected in legislation throughout the world. Article 45 of the Charter for Peace and National Reconciliation must be understood as establishing the right of the Algerian people to have its desire for the success of the effort to bring about peace and reconciliation respected, a desire that had been expressed outright by an overwhelming majority. That right - and it was indeed a right enjoyed by 19 million Algerian citizens - had to be respected. Those who violated that right were liable to prosecution, and that consequence was spelled out in article 45. That rule was applicable to all citizens, and all citizens were equally obliged to observe it, just as they were all other rules that governed the functioning of society. That being said, no one had ever been prosecuted under article 45 of the Charter. 523. The Algerian Constitution expressly guaranteed the inviolability of freedom of thought, conscience and religion in article 37, which stipulated: “Freedom of belief and opinion is inviolable.” Moreover, that freedom could in no case be used as grounds for discrimination under the law. 524. In that connection, article 29 of the Constitution stipulated that “[a]ll citizens are equal before the law. There shall be no discrimination by reason of birth, race, sex, opinion or any other personal or social status or circumstance”. In Algeria, and contrary to what had been alleged, Act No. 63-278 of 28 July 1963, establishing the list of official holidays, recognized Christian and Jewish holidays in addition to Muslim holidays as paid holidays for persons of those faiths. The Algerian delegation wondered whether such tolerance existed in the countries where the headquarters of the major international non-governmental organizations were located. Furthermore, since independence, celebrations in observance of those holidays were broadcast live on the national radio without distinction. 525. Order No. 06-03 of 28 February 2006, concerning the conditions and rules governing the practice of faiths other than Islam, had been the subject of a number of comments. Article 2 of that text expressly provided that “the Algerian State guarantees freedom of religious practice consistent with respect for the Constitution, the present Order, the laws and regulations currently in force, public order, and the fundamental freedoms of third parties. The State also guarantees