E/CN.4/2004/63/Add.2 page 4 Introduction 1. Within the framework of his mandate, the Special Rapporteur on freedom of religion or belief made a visit to Romania, at his own request and at the invitation of the Romanian Government. 2. The Special Rapporteur carried out most of his work in the capital, Bucharest, where many of the country’s religious activities take place and where most of the religious communities are based. On 9 September 2003 he made a trip to Cluj, in Transylvania. 3. During his visit, the Special Rapporteur held talks with the following officials: the Minister of State and other representatives of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Minister of State for Religious Affairs, the Minister of Defence, the Minister of Justice, representatives of the Ministry of the Interior and the Inspector-General of Police, representatives of the Ministry of Education, the President of the Constitutional Court, the President of the Supreme Court, the President and members of the National Council against Discrimination, the President and members of the Senate Commission on Human Rights and Minorities, and the President of the Senate Cultural Commission. 4. The Special Rapporteur also held talks with representatives of religious communities, including His Beatitude Teoctist, Patriarch of the Romanian Orthodox Church, the Orthodox Bishop of Cluj, representatives of the Greek Catholic Church, the Roman Catholic Church, the Protestant Church, the Unitarian Church, the Armenian Apostolic Church, the Baptist Church, the Seventh-Day Adventist Church and the Pentecostal Church, representatives of the Jewish community, a representative of the Muslim community, representatives of the Baha’i community and some Jehovah’s Witnesses. 5. The Special Rapporteur also met with representatives of the Romanian Human Rights Institute, a representative of the Ecumenical Association of Churches in Romania, a non-governmental organization, and representatives of non-governmental human rights organizations, including the Association for the Defence of Human Rights in Romania - the Helsinki Committee. 6. The Special Rapporteur would like to thank the Romanian authorities for their invitation and cooperation. He is also very grateful to the excellent non-governmental representatives to whom he spoke. Lastly, the Special Rapporteur would like to thank the staff of the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) in Bucharest, who helped him during his mission. 7. During his visit and in this report, the Special Rapporteur focused mainly on the status and importance of the Romanian Orthodox Church, the situation of religious minorities and the question of the return of religious property.