given the grave violations of such freedom existing in the world and the obvious need to provide assistance for persecuted religious minorities in many areas of the globe; 130. Calls on the Council and Commission to take into account religion and the dialogue with religious authorities and bodies engaged in inter-faith dialogue in conflict prevention, conflict resolution and reconciliation; 131. Remains deeply concerned that discrimination based on religion or belief still exists in all regions of the world, and that persons belonging to particular religious communities, including religious minorities, continue to be denied their human rights in many countries, such as North Korea, Iran, Saudi Arabia, Somalia, the Maldives, Afghanistan, Yemen, Mauritania, Laos, Uzbekistan, Eritrea, Iraq, Pakistan and Egypt; condemns the Chinese authorities for the persecution of individuals who practise their religion outside officially sanctioned channels, including Christians, Muslims, Buddhists and Falun Gong practitioners; urges China to ratify the ICCPR as it promised; urges the Chinese authorities to refrain from their oppressive policy in Tibet, which could eventually lead to the annihilation of the Tibetan religion and culture; condemns the Iranian authorities for the persecution of individuals belonging to religious minorities, including Christians, Bahá’í, and Muslims who have converted to another or no religion; urges the Iranian authorities to protect religious minorities in accordance with their obligations under the ICCPR; urges the authorities of the Russian Federation to impose a moratorium on the implementation of the 2002 Law on Fighting Extremist Activity, which is extensively misused to persecute peaceful religious minority groups; expresses its concern about the situation of the Montagnard Christian minority living in the Central Highlands of Vietnam; reminds the Vietnamese authorities that the rights of minorities include freedom to practise their religion without restriction, freedom of association and expression, the right of peaceful assembly, the equal right to own and use land and the right to participate fully and effectively in decision- making regarding issues that affect them, including with respect to economic development projects and re-settlement issues; 132. Urges the EU to develop a toolkit on the advancement of the right to freedom of religion or belief in its external policy, to regard freedom of religion or belief as fundamental, to include a checklist on the necessary freedoms pertaining to the right of freedom of religion or belief in order to assess whether they are being respected and to include mechanisms to identify infringements of freedom of religion or belief, in order to enhance the promotion of freedom of religion or belief in the work of civil servants, especially in the European External Action Service, as well as to involve civil society organisations in the preparation of the toolkit; 133. Welcomes the EU’s continuous stance of principle in relation to the UNGA and UNHRC resolutions on combating defamation of religions; welcomes the resolution on elimination of all forms of intolerance and discrimination based on religion or belief tabled by the EU; encourages the EU to continue its striving for a balanced approach between freedom of expression and a prohibition of incitement to religious hatred; encourages the EU to engage in a constructive dialogue with the Organisation for Islamic Conference and other supporters of the principle of defamation of religions; 134. Stresses that international human rights law recognises freedom of religion or belief regardless of registration status, so registration should not be a mandatory precondition for practising one's religion; points out with concern, furthermore, that in Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan and Vietnam religious groups need to register with the government and operate under government-controlled management boards, which interfere with their religious autonomy and restrict their activity; 135. Calls on Russia to put a moratorium on the implementation of the 2002 Law on Fighting Extremist