the Agenda for Action on Democracy Support, contrary to what is stipulated in the said Council conclusions; International Humanitarian Law (IHL) 122. Welcomes the conclusions adopted by the Council in December 2009 on promoting compliance with IHL, in the same year that the 60th anniversary of the Geneva Conventions was celebrated; 123. Notes the adoption of the Updated EU Guidelines on promoting compliance with IHL in 2009; calls on the Council to integrate the implementation of the IHL guidelines more effectively with the other EU human rights guidelines and to improve the mainstreaming of IHL throughout the external action of the EU; 124. Welcomes the Report of the Independent International Fact-Finding Mission on the Conflict in Georgia (IIFFMCG – CEIIG) (the ‘Tagliavini Report’) issued on 30 September 2009, and supports its main observations and conclusions under international humanitarian law and human rights law, in particular the need to ensure accountability and reparation for all violations committed in August 2008, and expects that the extensive background information provided by the report can be used for legal proceedings at national and international level to finally ensure accountability for the crimes committed during the conflict between Russia and Georgia of August 2008; 125. Deeply regrets that during the armed conflict between Russia and Georgia over South Ossetia and Abkhazia in August 2008 the violations of international humanitarian law resulted in hundreds of casualties and tens of thousands of displaced individuals; recalls that to this day Russia has fulfilled only the first point of its six-point ceasefire agreement with Georgia; deplores the deliberate destruction of ethnic Georgian villages in South Ossetia and Abkhazia during and after the conflict; stresses that impunity for these violations persists to this day; Freedom of religion or belief 126. Underlines that freedom of religion or belief constitutes, amongst all human rights, an essential and basic right which must be respected, and that conditionalities related to respect for human rights which feature in the bilateral agreements with non-EU countries need to be enforced more strongly and more effectively; 127. Welcomes the Council conclusions on freedom of religion or belief adopted in November 2009; acknowledges the importance of freedom of religion or belief for the identity of religious and nonreligious individuals alike, given that belief, in whatever form it takes, is a vital component of personal and social belonging; calls on the Council and the Commission to adopt and implement practical measures to fight religious intolerance and discrimination and promote freedom of religion or belief worldwide as considered in the aforementioned conclusions; calls on the Council and the Commission to involve the EP, civil society organisations and other relevant actors in the process; 128. Calls on the HR/VP of the Commission to mainstream freedom of religion or belief in EU human rights policy and to give a thorough evaluation of the situation of freedom of religion or belief in the EU Annual Report on Human Rights; 129. Calls on the HR/VP to increase the number of staff working on issues concerning respect for freedom of religion or belief in external action and to create dedicated structures, especially in the context of the establishment of the European External Action Service; supports the identification of the issue of respect for freedom of religion or belief in the world as one of the priorities of the EEAS,