A/HRC/16/53/Add.1 citizens […]”. Article 12 of the draft Regulations envisages the “revoking or temporary suspension of licenses” for violating the regulations and enables stopping “any persons whose actions are deemed to be threatening religious unity”. 230. Among the criteria for giving preaching licenses according to article 16 (b) of the draft Regulations, is the requirement that “the person must belong to any sect of the Sunni Muslims” and must have reached 25 years of age. In addition, article 19 of the draft Regulations stipulates that “foreign preachers who are given permission under these regulations should shape their sermons in reference to the Maldives culture and traditions”. Article 21 of the draft Regulations would impose “an obligation on the Government and all the people of Maldives to protect the religious unity of Maldivian citizens as Maldives is a 100 percent Muslim nation and because Islam maintains harmony of Maldivian citizens and because Islam is the basis of the unity of Maldivian citizens”. 231. Article 24 of the draft Regulations would give the authority to deport anyone who propagates any religion other than (Sunni) Islam. Article 27 of the draft Regulations would prohibit, for example, “promoting one’s own individual opinion on issues that are in disagreement among Islamic scholars”, “inciting people to disputes” and “talking about religions other than Islam in Maldives”. Similarly, it would be prohibited to build places of worship of other religions (article 30), to commit any action that may offend Islamic thought (article 32), for Non-Muslims to express their religious beliefs or carry out their religious activities (article 33) and to propagate any religion other than Islam (article 34). 232. Article 35 of the draft Regulations would make it “illegal to show or spread sound bites of programs on religions other than Islam, and any such literature, drawings, advertisements, music, and songs”, “to use any Internet website, blog, newspaper, or magazine to publish such material” and “to depict advertisements and make announcements in a way that affects Islamic way of life”. 233. The Special Rapporteurs requested the Government to indicate the current status of the draft “Regulations on protecting religious unity of Maldivian Citizens” and they asked what steps have been taken by the Government to address the situation of members of religious minorities, dissenting believers and journalists, especially in order to guarantee their rights to freedom of religion or belief and to freedom of opinion and expression. (b) No response received from the Government (c) Observations by the Special Rapporteur 234. The Special Rapporteur regrets that he has so far not received a reply from the Maldives Government concerning the above mentioned allegations. He would like to appeal to the Government to ensure the right to freedom of religion or belief in accordance with article 18 of the Universal Declaration on Human Rights and of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights. The Covenant, inter alia, guarantees “freedom, either individually or in community with others and in public or private, to manifest his religion or belief in worship, observance, practice and teaching”. In addition, according to article 27 of the Covenant, persons belonging to religious minorities shall not be denied “the right, in community with the other members of their group, […] to profess and practise their own religion”. 235. The draft “Regulations on protecting religious unity of Maldivian Citizens” (draft Regulations) contain a number of highly problematic provisions which, if enacted in this form, may seriously hamper several human rights, including freedom of religion or belief and freedom of opinion and expression. Since 19 September 2006, the Maldives are legally bound by the provisions of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights. The 46