E/CN.4/1990/46 page 17 proselytism. In this context, non-Orthodox believers who reportedly practise or proselytize their religion are frequently prosecuted. Indeed, between 1983 and 1988 about 2,000 persons were arrested for these reasons and 400 of them condemned. "It has also been reported that Jehovah's Witnesses who attend State schools are often harassed and subjected to psychological pressure." 44. On 8 December 1989, the Permanent Mission of Greece communicated the reply of the Greek Government to the Special Rapporteur's letter of 10 November 1989: "As rightly pointed out in the Special Rapporteur's note, there is an official church in Greece, the Oriental Greek Orthodox Church. This is stipulated in article 3 of the Constitution. National and historical reasons have made such a provision indispensable in all the country's constitutions ever since the inception of Greece as a State. May we note that the common thread throughout these constitutions has been the establishment of the rule of law and respect for human rights and fundamental freedoms, including the basic freedom of religion or belief. "The freedom of religion or belief for those who do not happen to be of Greek Orthodox Faith is in no way jeopardized or otherwise indirectly impaired by the fact of the existence of an official church. All religious communities can freely exercise their religion individually or in community with other members of the same faith, subject only to the limitations of public order, morals, the fundamental freedoms of others, etc., in the spirit of article 18 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights. However, as rightly pointed out, there does exist one more important caveat - proselytism is prohibited: proselytism with regard to all religions including, it needs to be stressed, proselytism on the part of the Greek Orthodox Church. Within the Greek setting, proselytism has been defined as being adverse to freedom of opinion, as intruding into one's privacy - another of the well-known traditional human rights - and, perhaps, above all, as prejudicial to one's freedom of choice and personal development. "As for the figure of some 2,000 being persecuted, most were apparently taken to court for attempts at proselytism, although the number of those having attempted proselytism is deemed to be far greater. It is worth noting that only one in four of the cases brought to court ended up being condemned - some 400 - an indication of how sparingly this provision of the Greek Constitution is applied by the courts as well as by the law enforcement agencies. "On the question of alleged harassment or psychological pressure against Jehovah's Witnesses in schools, nothing of the sort has been reported, although it could be that the well-known tendency of members of this particular religious community to propagate their religious faith in order to convince others may perhaps have been the cause of some friction among pupils in some schools."