A/HRC/13/40 interpretation of religious law on all other individuals in that region. Another case involved an alleged instance of blasphemy where certain political and religious groups threatened to seal off a whole city and attack a religious minority unless the police arrested five members of this religious minority. In another incident, two members of a religious minority were killed after the perpetrator had requested to see the victims’ identity cards, which state the religious affiliation of the bearer. Just before holding national elections in one country, a personal status law for one religious community was passed, which further entrenched discrimination and violence against women, girls and members of religious minorities. In a particular province of another country, a new criminal code was adopted for one religious community, effectively legalizing marital rape. Further examples of sectarian violence, religious persecution and atrocities committed in the name of religion are mentioned in the Special Rapporteur’s recent mission reports.35 46. In many cases, persons in a vulnerable situation, including children, women and converts, are targeted by discrimination or violence in the name of religion or belief. Children have been indoctrinated with religious intolerance and, unfortunately, continue to be used by certain non-State actors to perpetrate violence on others or themselves in the name of religion. Women also remain a constant target of religious intolerance. Their rights are violated in the name of religion or belief in the most self-righteous manner. Laws continue to discriminate against women particularly, for example in the field of personal law, on the insistence that only those laws conform to the religious beliefs of the woman’s religious community. 47. Non-State actors, and sometimes even State authorities, continue to threaten or discriminate against individuals who have changed their religion. This problem remains an alarming one in a number of countries, despite the fact that article 18 of the United Nations Universal Declaration of Human Rights explicitly provides that freedom of thought, conscience and religion includes freedom to change religion or belief. Religious leaders and opinion makers should become aware that not only is conversion to their own religion or belief protected, but the decision to replace one’s current religion or belief with a different one is too. The possibility of changing, choosing, replacing and retaining one’s religion or belief is fundamental to freedom of thought, conscience and religion. No person ought to face intolerance, discrimination or persecution because of his or her decision to change religion or belief or not to have one. In addition, obliging individuals to disclose their religion or belief in official documents might increase their risk of being persecuted. The Special Rapporteur would like to emphasize that theistic, non-theistic and atheistic believers and those who do not profess any religion or belief are equally protected. All of them have important roles to play in building pluralistic societies for the twenty-first century. V. Conclusions and recommendations 48. As long as discrimination and violence on the grounds or in the name of religion or belief persist at the national or global levels, tensions will continue and indeed also be exploited by various religious, political or militant forces. The reports over the years indicate that religious intolerance is not a natural outcome of diverse societies but is all too often manipulated by a few groups or individuals for various reasons. Issues of religion and belief are highly emotive and, once the germs of religious intolerance spread, it is hard to contain them. Intolerance breeds intolerance 35 GE.09-17648 See, for example, A/HRC/7/10/Add.3; A/HRC/10/8/Add.2; A/HRC/10/8/Add.3; and A/HRC/13/40/Add.3. 15