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discrimination based on religion or belief, which has to be weighed against the possible reasons
for disclosing the holder’s religion. On the same matter, in its resolution 63/181, the General
Assembly urged States to step up their efforts to protect and promote freedom of thought,
conscience, religion or belief, and to this end to ensure that “everyone has the right to refrain
from disclosing information concerning one’s religious affiliation on [official documents]
against one’s will.”
Urgent appeal sent on 21 April 2008 jointly with the Special Rapporteur on the promotion
and protection of the right to freedom of opinion and expression, the Special Rapporteur
on the independence of judges and lawyers, the Special Rapporteur on the situation of
human rights defenders and the Special Rapporteur on the question of torture and other
cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment
144. The Special Rapporteurs brought to the attention of the Government information regarding
the situation of Mr. P. Uthayakumar, Legal Adviser of the Hindu Human Rights Action Force
(HINDRAF), Mr. M. Manoharan, Counsel of HINDRAF, Mr. R. Kenghadharan, Counsel of
HINDRAF, Mr. V. Ganabatirau and Mr. T. Vasanthakumar, members of HINDRAF. Since
their arrest on 13 December 2007 under Section 8(1) of the Internal Security Act for allegedly
carrying out activities that threatened national security, Mr. P. Uthayakumar, Mr. M. Manoharan,
Mr. R. Kenghadharan, Mr. V. Ganabatirau and Mr. T. Vasanthakumar have reportedly been kept
in solitary confinement for more than 16 hours a day, and have been exposed to light
continuously in order to prevent them from sleeping and to disorientate them. Furthermore, they
were denied their right to worship. They do not have access to temples and prayer rooms and no
time to worship has been allocated to them.
Observations
145. The Special Rapporteur regrets that she has not received a reply from the Government of
Malaysia concerning the above mentioned allegations. She would like to refer to her framework
for communications, more specifically to the international human rights norms and to the
mandate practice concerning persons deprived of their liberty (see above, para.1, category III.2).
She would like to stress that persons deprived of their liberty are in a particularly vulnerable
situation, also with regard to freedom of religion or belief. It is therefore crucial to provide the
personnel of detention facilities with adequate training, raising awareness and enhancing their
sensitivity about their duty to promote and respect international human rights standards for the
treatment of prisoners, in particular the right to freedom of religion or belief.
Maldives
Communication sent on 11 January 2008 jointly with the Special Rapporteur on the
promotion and protection of the right to freedom of opinion and expression, the Special
Rapporteur
146. The Special Rapporteur brought to the attention of the Government information she had
regarding provisions in the draft Constitution about citizenship which might have an impact
on freedom of religion or belief. The Peoples Special Majlis (Constitutional Assembly) had
reportedly approved on 19 November 2007 an amendment to the draft Constitution, requiring all
Maldivian citizens to be Muslims. The amendment includes a clause that “none except a