E/CN.4/1990/46 page 21 "In May 1989 it was reported that only 14 Baha'is remained in prison and that this represented a significant improvement in comparison with the situation in 1986, when 780 Baha'is were held in prison. "The authorities allegedly continued to discriminate against members of the community in many respects. The reported acts of discrimination and arbitrariness included the refusal by the authorities to pay pensions to those Baha'is who had been expelled from government posts in the early 1980s, to admit Baha'i children to universities, to deliver to members of the community passports or permits to leave the country and to give to Baha'is the necessary official authorization to inherit property. However, it was recognized that recently some confiscated property had been returned to Baha'i owners, in particular shopkeepers who had been allowed to reopen their shops, and that the community had been given permission again to use its cemeteries for burials. "It has also been reported that since 1980 many Christians have been persecuted and expelled from the country and that, moreover, public appeals have been launched for forced islamisation; these policies had particularly affected Armenian Christians." 51. As at 20 December 1989, the Special Rapporteur had not received a reply to the above-mentioned communication nor to any other communication previously transmitted. Iraq 52. In a communication dated 21 July 1988 to the Iraqi Government (E/CN.4/1988/44, para. 44) the following information was transmitted by the Special Rapporteur: "According to reports, some 80 mosques, Shiah religious schools and seminaries have been closed in the course of the past 15 years in various towns, including Najaf, Baghdad, Kirkuk and Karbala, and religious leaders detained, exiled or executed. "A number of Muslim theologians, such as (two names provided), are said to have been among those executed. "It is alleged that 90 members of the (name provided) family, composed of descendants of a former leader of the Shiah community in Iraq, were arrested in 1983 and that some 18 members of that family have been killed." 53. On 18 January 1989, the Permanent Mission of the Republic of Iraq sent its comments to the Special Rapporteur concerning the above-mentioned information. The communication stated that freedom of religion and conscience was legally and constitutionally guaranteed, although Islam was the State religion, and added the following: "1. Iraq is firmly committed to freedom of religion and belief. In fact, this principle is embodied in its Constitution of 1970, article 4 of which guarantees such freedom, while stipulating that 'Islam is the State religion', since the majority of the population of Iraq are Muslims. Freedom of religious observance is guaranteed under that