A/HRC/22/51 of the country. When manifesting their religious or belief convictions, persons belonging to minorities may run the risk of being accused of “blasphemy,”44 a charge which in some countries carries harsh sanctions, including even the death penalty. At times the mere possession of certain religious literature has given rise to criminal prosecution leading to long-term imprisonment. Furthermore, members of minorities have been tried for engaging in non-coercive communicative outreach activities which some Governments negatively brand as “proselytism”.45 There are even cases in which persons who had converted away from the dominant religion of the country were accused of “apostasy”46 and condemned to death, in disregard of, inter alia, the right to conversion, which constitutes an inextricable part of religion or belief. In general, the threat of criminal sanctions typically has farreaching intimidating effects on members of religious minorities, many of whom may decide to hide their convictions or refrain from practising their religion or belief. (m) Denial of asylum 54. As a result of discrimination, repression and persecution, some members of religious minorities decide to leave their country of origin and try to find a new home elsewhere. When applying for asylum, however, they may again experience being unwelcome and may not even be granted a fair hearing of their asylum claims. There are also cases in which persons belonging to religious minorities may face deportation or extradition, even in the face of obvious risks of persecution in their country of origin. 47 The Special Rapporteur would like to reiterate that extraditions or deportations which are likely to result in violations of freedom of religion or belief may themselves amount to a violation of human rights. In addition, such extraditions violate the principle of non-refoulement, as enshrined in article 33 of the 1951 Geneva Convention relating to the Status of Refugees. IV. Conclusions and recommendations A. Conclusions 55. In his daily work, the Special Rapporteur receives many reports of grave violations of freedom of religion or belief of persons belonging to religious minorities in all parts of the world. Such violations are perpetrated by States and/or non-State actors, often in a climate of impunity, and they may originate from different political, religious, ideological or personal motives. 56. Human rights violations against persons belonging to religious minorities include disproportionate bureaucratic restrictions; denial of appropriate legal status positions needed to build up or uphold a religious infrastructure; systematic 44 45 46 47 In Pakistan, the implementation of the blasphemy provisions has allegedly triggered a general atmosphere of fear (A/HRC/18/51, p. 38); for example, a member of the Christian minority was given a death sentence for blasphemy in 2010 (A/HRC/16/53/Add.1, paras. 326-335). In Egypt, members of the Ahmadiyah community were charged for holding and promoting “extremist ideas” (A/HRC/16/53/Add.1, paras. 99-106). In the Islamic Republic of Iran, Pastor Youcef Nadarkhani was found guilty of apostasy and given a death sentence in 2010 (A/HRC/18/51, p. 26; A/HRC/19/44, p. 41); in September 2012, however, he was released after three years in prison (http://www.ohchr.org/en/NewsEvents/Pages/DisplayNews.aspx?NewsID=12551&LangID=E). The United Kingdom rejected the asylum applications of a member of Falun Gong and two Iranian converts despite the threat of torture or death as apostates in their countries of origin (E/CN.4/2006/5/Add.1, paras. 390-392, A/HRC/7/10/Add.1, paras. 264-274; A/HRC/16/53/Add.1, paras. 399-407). 17