A U.N. human rights expert warns growing tensions between religious communities will only worsen if governments try to restrict freedom of religion.
The newly appointed Special Rapporteur on freedom of religion or belief, Asma Jahangir, says in a report to the General Assembly governments must play "a delicate role" to ensure religious tensions do not transform into violent confrontations.
"Increasing polarization between various shades of opinion and across religious lines has to be addressed at a national level," she said. "Open discourse at the regional and international levels is also necessary."
Jahangir said some states unduly restricted freedom of religion when they introduced anti-terrorism measures, thereby running the risk of breeding further intolerance.
In the report, based mostly on the work of her predecessor, Abdelfattah Amor, Jahangir criticized the move of some nations to restrict the practice of certain religious rites or ceremonies in the belief that those rites encourage intolerance.
"Such measures would be counter-productive and would be violative of the international norm of freedom of religion or belief," she said.