A/HRC/49/44 members – negatively impacting the Baha'i population and resulting in only one Jew reportedly remaining in the country, from a population of approximately between 1,5002,000 Jews in 2016.45 One Yemeni Baha'i, currently living in exile, recounted that he was forced to decide between indefinite prison or leaving his country forever. 46 The Tatmadaw in Myanmar has reportedly arbitrarily detained, tortured, and murdered religious leaders and influencers from ethno-religious minorities.47 Monitors report that a muezzin (a person who calls Muslims to prayer) was reportedly hung inside a mosque to demoralize communities. And a Kachin Christian pastor's body was found handcuffed and beaten. 48 In Afghanistan, the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (“ISIL”) affiliated group, Islamic State–Khorasan Province, has attacked Sikh and Hindu communities, killing several prominent leaders. 49 In Nigeria, the Central African Republic, West Papua, Sudan, and Yemen, prominent Christian figures reportedly received death threats, intimidation, or threats of being charged with apostasy (which may carry the death penalty). 25. During conflict or insecurity, actors often destroy, desecrate, occupy or raid religious sites to destroy sacred objects and literature, conscious of their significance to minority religious communities and impeding their ability to manifest their religion or belief. 50 Destruction of these sites is often part of a strategy to erase "whatever does not accord with their vision," frequently affecting minorities and dissenters within majorities. 51 In Myanmar, thirty-four Christian churches and three Islamic religious sites were reportedly destroyed or damaged between 1 February and 30 November 2021. 52 In Sudan, assailants allegedly attacked one church four times in two months.53 In Yemen, armed forces reportedly targeted Houthi Shi'a religious sites, destroying or overtaking them, sometimes deploying hateful rhetoric in the process. Perpetrators also reportedly killed worshippers and committed sexual violence (including against religious influencers) while attacking sacred sites. In October 2021, an ISIL suicide bomber struck a Shi'a Muslim Mosque in northern Afghanistan, killing 46 people. 26. The Special Rapporteur received reports of forced conversions to compel assimilation and abandonment of faith identities. Evidence suggests that forced conversions of minorities have occurred in Nigeria, Myanmar, Afghanistan, Pakistan, and Sudan.54 In 2018, twelve Christian men in Sudan were reportedly accused of apostasy, arrested, severely tortured, and pressured to recant their Christian faith.55 Between March and April 2020, seven Christian women were allegedly kidnapped in Northern Nigeria and forcibly converted to Islam. In Myanmar, the military forcibly married and converted Christian Kachin women to Buddhism,56 while members of the Arakan Rohingya Salvation Army has forcibly married and converted Hindu women to Islam (in a rare instance of one religious minority targeting another in this manner).57 Furthermore, in Pakistan, people emboldened by an environment of impunity, discrimination, and violence against minorities abducted and forcibly married minority faith women after coercing their conversion to Islam. 58 45 46 47 48 49 50 51 52 53 54 55 56 57 58 https://www.refworld.org/docid/56a145d6754.html, p.10; Consultation-Yemen. Consultation-Yemen. Submission-Alliance Defending Freedom. Submission-International Commission of Jurists (“ICJ”). Submissions-Bundesamt für Migration und Flüchtlinge; and Coordination des Associations et des Particuliers pour la Liberté de Conscience-United Sikhs. e.g. Myanmar (Submission-ICJ); Sudan (A/HRC/WG.6/39/SDN/2, p.5); Yemen; OPT; Libya; Nigeria; Afghanistan. A/71/317, paras.35-36. Submission-ICJ. https://www.csw.org.uk/2020/03/18/press/4585/article.htm. See also A/HRC/WG.6/39/SDN/2, p.5. Eg https://undocs.org/A/74/342, para.26. https://www.csw.org.uk/2018/11/02/press/4157/article.htm. https://undocs.org/A/74/342, para.26. https://www.amnesty.org/en/latest/news/2018/05/myanmar-new-evidence-reveals-rohingya-armedgroup-massacred-scores-in-rakhine-state/. Consultation - Pakistan (Christian); https://thesouthasiacollective.org/wpcontent/uploads/2022/01/SASM2021.pdf 7