A/60/399 A. The question of conversion 40. The questions related to change of religion are at the very heart of the mandate on freedom of religion or belief. Violations and limitations of this aspect of the right to freedom of religion are unacceptable and still occur too often. In this section, the Special Rapporteur would like to give an overview of the problem as well as of the applicable standards. She wishes to emphasize that the complexity of the question, which includes many different situations, requires that it be examined further. 1. Types of situations reported under the mandate 41. The mandate of the Special Rapporteur on freedom of religion or belief has received numerous reports of situations related to the question of the right to have or adopt a religion of one’s choice, including cases of alleged forcible and so-called “unethical” conversions. On the basis of these reports, it is possible to identify four broad types of situations. It should be noted that certain cases may fall within more than one type of situation. (a) Situations, where state agents try to convert, re-convert or prevent the conversion of persons 42. These reports describe situations where State officials at different levels, often municipal, and different institutions (police, army) tried to convert members of religious groups, often of minority religious communities, or to force them to renounce their beliefs. They did so by threatening to kill them or their relatives, depriving them of their liberty, torturing and ill-treating them or threatening to dismiss them from their jobs. In some instances State officials tried to make believers renounce their religion and join a State-approved religion. (b) Situations, where religious conversion is prohibited by law and punished accordingly 43. The punishment for conversion can consist of arrest and trial for “apostasy”, imprisonment, and sometimes the death penalty. In some countries other penalties can be imposed, such as the suspension of all contracts and inheritance rights, the annulment of marriages, loss of property or the removal of children. Administrative requirements can also make it difficult to change one’s religion or belief: in a number of cases converts have found it impossible to obtain identity cards after having changed their religion. Where conversion is not actually prohibited by law, converts can be harassed or threatened by State and religious officials. (c) Situations where members of majority religious groups seek to convert or reconvert members of religious minorities 44. This includes cases where local members of the clergy lead attempts to convert or groups of believers attack members of minority religious groups or their places of worship with the aim of converting them. (d) Situations where so-called “unethical” conversions have been reported 45. These situations include cases where members of religious groups try to convert other people by “unethical” means such as the promise of material benefit or by taking advantage of the vulnerable situation of the person whose conversion is 14