A/60/399
B.
Geographical distribution
23. The chart below gives the percentage of communications sent to each region
during the period under review. In this regard, as she has already mentioned in her
last report to the Commission, the Special Rapporteur would like to recall that,
while these statistics give a general overview of the situation, the absence of
communications to a specific country (or concerning a specific region) does not
mean that the situation with regard to freedom of religion or belief in that country or
region is necessarily satisfactory. Such a situation may sometimes be explained by
the lack of a civil society and/or by obstacles that prevent information from being
sent outside the country. The communications referred to above therefore do not
account for all incidents or governmental measures in all parts of the world that are
incompatible with the provisions of the Declaration on the Elimination of All Forms
of Intolerance and of Discrimination Based on Religion or Belief. They do,
however, give a clear idea of the regions from which most of the information
originates and may give some indications about the regional situation.
Chart 3
Communications sent, by geographical areas
Latin America
and Caribbean
0%
Europe and
North America
29%
Africa
9%
Arab Region
12%
Asia-Pacific
50%
C.
Substance
24. The amount of information received by the Special Rapporteur on cases and
situations that appear to fall within the scope of her mandate is still overwhelming.
Given the particular nature of the mandate, the information also deals with a wide
range of complex and sensitive issues. During the period under review, the
following topics have been addressed in communications sent by the Special
Rapporteur: freedom of worship; registration of religious organizations or
communities; places of worship; religious symbols; conversion; conscientious
objection; discrimination on the basis of religion or belief, including inter-religious
and intra-religious discrimination; prisoners’ freedom of religion or belief, including
persecution of prisoners because of their beliefs; freedom of expression in
connection with one’s religion or belief; certain forms of punishments provided by
laws adopted on the basis of religion; such as stoning and flogging; finally
legislative issues have also been raised with a few Governments.
9