A/67/303 parties to “respect the rights and duties of the parents and, when applicable, legal guardians, to provide direction to the child in the exercise of his or her right in a manner consistent with the evolving capacities of the child”. The requirement to take into account the evolving capacities of the child reflects the insight that children themselves are rights-holders in international human rights law and, consequently, that their own convictions deserve respect. 32. This is further specified in article 12 (1) of the Convention, which provides that the views of the child have to be given “due weight in accordance with the age and maturity of the child”. Concerning the question of how to determine the maturity of the child, the Special Rapporteur is inclined to favour a case-by-case approach rather than any fixed age limits. The Committee on the Rights of the Child has also emphasized that “[t]he more the child himself or herself knows, has experienced and understands, the more the parent, legal guardian or other persons legally responsible for the child have to transform direction and guidance into reminders and advice and later to an exchange on an equal footing. This transformation will not take place at a fixed point in a child’s development, but will steadily increase as the child is encouraged to contribute her or his views”. 19 33. When convictions of the parents about religious or belief matters differ, the best interests of the child shall be a primary consideration. This also includes respect for his or her right to be heard and giving due weight to the views of the child in accordance with his or her age and maturity. It is important for the State to ensure that conflicts possibly arising from parents having different convictions are settled in an unbiased and non-discriminatory manner. 34. There can be no question that these provisions also apply to the right of conversion and its correlate, namely, the right not to be forced to convert or reconvert. Converts have the right for their new religious or belief affiliation to be respected in the religious upbringing of their children, in a manner consistent with the evolving capacities of the child. Any attempts, especially by the State or in State institutions, to alienate the children of converts from their family in religious or belief-related questions — for instance, by stipulating that children of converts must receive religious instruction in schools that goes against their will or the will of their parents — would thus infringe upon freedom of religion or belief and disregard the best interests of the child. C. Violations of freedom of religion or belief in the area of conversion 35. In his daily work, the Special Rapporteur regularly receives complaints of serious violations of freedom of religion or belief in relation to conversion in the four subcategories mentioned in the previous section. Typical targets include converts and their families or members of minorities or new religious movements who are subjected to pressure to convert or reconvert to mainstream religions or beliefs. Another problem concerns restrictions on the right to try to convert others by means of non-coercive persuasion which, in many countries, fall short of the criteria set out in article 18 (3) of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights. Moreover, both converts and persons trying non-coercively to convert others __________________ 19 12 See Committee on the Rights of the Child, general comment No. 12, CRC/C/GC/12, para. 84; see also A/64/159, para. 27. 12-46130