E/CN.4/1988/45 page 22 A. 1. Infringements of the rights defined in the Declaration Infringements of the right to have, to manifest and to practise the religion or belief of one's choice (arts. 1 and 6 of the Declaration) 40. There are various examples of the persistence of infringements in this area. Sometimes the very right to have the religion or belief of one's choice is challenged. For instance, it is reported that young members of ethnic tribes with a Buddhist majority in the Chittagong Hill Tracts of Bangladesh were forcibly converted to Islam during Army operations; that, in Rwanda, members of the Jehovah's Witnesses sect are exposed to serious difficulties because that religion is not officially recognized and is regarded as illegal; and that, in Nepal, a number of Buddhists have been sentenced to one month's imprisonment for converting to Christianity. 41. Most often, it is the practical manifestations of religion or belief that are penalized. One example that may be mentioned is the allegation that Christians belonging to the Church of the New Testament were arrested in Singapore for preaching the gospel. It is further alleged that, in Czechoslovakia, a Slovak Catholic priest was put on trial for performing religious rites without obtaining official authorization and was found guilty of "impeding the control of the Church by the State". Another priest was reportedly deprived of permission to perform the duties attached to his office and a third priest penalized for hearing a confession without official permission. In India, Sikh activitists are said to have been arrested in order to prevent a religious assembly from being held. 42. There have been frequent complaints concerning infringements of the right to maintain places of worship. In particular, it is alleged that mosques in India have, in practice, been converted into Hindu temples. In Bangladesh, Buddhist temples in the Chittagong Hill Tracts region were destroyed by the authorities. In Australia, despite the existence of a 1972 law prohibiting the destruction of aboriginal holy places, a United Kingdom company has drawn up plans for the establishment of a uranium mine on sites regarded as holy by the Punmu and Pangurr aboriginal communities. Similarly, in the United States of America, notwithstanding a 1972 law calling upon the Administration to take account of Indian religious practices, a number of mining concessions are in danger of hampering the use of places regarded as holy by the Hopi and Havasupai peoples, in particular. 43. The allegations received sometimes describe infringements of the right to establish and maintain appropriate charitable or humanitarian institutions. For instance, the Vietnamese community of the Mother Coredemptrix Congregation, where a course of religious education was being given, was reportedly occupied by the authorities, its buildings surrounded and its possessions seized. 44. Other complaints concern infringements of the freedom to disseminate religious publications - for instance, the complaint concerning the arrest of Christians of the Church of the New Testament in Singapore for distributing liturgical literature. Similarly, it is reported that Czech Catholics in possession of religious literature, more especially a number of biblical volumes, were arrested and that, in Romania, an Orthodox Christian priest involved in distributing bibles was imprisoned.