E/CN.4/1990/46 page 56 Muslim community in Bulgaria and the mass exodus which had taken place after May 1989 were one of the many aspects of politicals cultural, ethnic and social tensions in the relations between Bulgaria and Turkey. Therefore, in the Special Rapporteur's view, bilateral negotiations seem to be the best way of guaranteeing respect for the religious rights and freedoms of the Muslim minority in Bulgaria and for regulating the flow of Muslim Bulgarians across the border to Turkey. In the view of the Special Rapporteur, such negotiations should give due regard to the rights of the persons concerned as stipulated in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, in the Declaration on the Elimination of All Forms of Intolerance and of Discrimination Based on Religion or Belief, in the International Covenants on Civil and Political as well as on Social, Economic and Cultural Rights, and in other relevant human rights instruments. Finally, the Special Rapporteur deplored the failure to keep alive the protocol on the development of bilateral relations between the two countries signed in Belgrade on 23 February 1988. 99. Subsquently the Special Rapporteur was informed of the decision taken by the Turkish authorities at the end of August 1989 to terminate the exceptional practice, in effect since the beginning of June 1989, of allowing Bulgarian citizens to enter Turkey without a visa. The Special Rapporteur was further informed that, in the months following the above-mentioned decision, more than 10 per cent of the 300 9 000 Bulgarians who had crossed the border into Turkey during the summer had already returned to the homeland. 100. The Special Rapporteur was pleased to note that the two parties had held discussions with the Secretary-General of the United Nations and that they had invited a discreet fact-finding mission by a representative of the Secretary-General to visit their countries. He also wished to express his satisfaction with the recent initiation of bilateral talks between Bulgaria and Turkey. 101. During his second visit to Geneva, the Special Rapporteur met with representatives of Indonesia and the Syrian Arab Republic, with whom he discussed matters relating to his mandate. III. ANALYSIS OF THE INFORMATION COLLECTED 102. Since his appointment, the Special Rapporteur has been able to gather a considerable amount of information regarding the factors hampering the implementation of the Declaration, the infringements of the rights defined in the Declaration and the various situations in which religious intolerance and discrimination can lead to the violation of other human rights. The Special Rapporteur has pointed out that the most important factors hampering the implementation of the Declaration are: the existence of legal provisions that run counter to the spirit and letter of the Declaration; practices by governmental authorities contradicting not only the principles embodied in international instruments but even provisions enshrined in domestic law which prohibit discrimination on religious grounds; the persistence of political, economic and cultural factors which result from complex historical processes and which are at the basis of current expressions of religious intolerance. 103. A large number of incidents brought to the attention of the Special Rapporteur, which involved clashes between members of various religious communities, appear to have resulted from the sectarian and intransigent attitude of the followers of a particular religion or belief. In addition to