A/HRC/19/60/Add.1
In this context, the Special Rapporteur encourages the Government (a) to ensure that
the principle of non-discrimination on grounds of religion or belief is implemented in a
thorough and systematic manner, including in questions of financial subsidies for
denominational institutions, such as universities run by one particular religious community;
(b) to reconsider and reform the existing requirement of annual registration of non-Catholic
religious or philosophical communities; (c) to continue to support the Interreligious Forum,
initiated in 2009, while ensuring the open and transparent participation of all interested
groups and sectors of society, including of indigenous peoples; (d) to pay systematic
attention to possible regional de facto monopolies of denominational schools run by one
particular religious community, especially in rural areas, where public, non-denominational
schools are rare; (e) to critically review existing regulations concerning official ceremonies
in the police, the military and other State institutions with a view to ensure that no member
of those institutions is urged, de jure or de facto, to attend religious practices against their
will; (f) to pay more systematic attention to the structural vulnerability of members of
indigenous peoples, especially in rural areas; and (g) to continue to recognize the right to
conscientious objection in law and practice, including through the independent functioning
of the newly established National Council on Conscientious Objection, ensuring a fair and
transparent procedure and avoiding any punitive effects within the alternative non-military
public service.
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