E/CN.4/1998/6 page 18 with the provisions of the Shariah and the law, and stated that “all persons are equal before the Shariah, the Constitution and the law” and that there had been no discrimination on the ground of belief or nationality. 69. With regard to the replies of States to communications other than urgent appeals, the deadline had not expired for four States when this report was completed; they were Gambia, Mongolia (1), Viet Nam (1) and the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia. The Special Rapporteur received replies from the following 19 States: Armenia, Belarus, Bulgaria, China, Czech Republic, Greece, Iraq, Israel, Oman, Romania, Russian Federation, Singapore, Slovakia, Switzerland, Thailand, the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, Trinidad and Tobago, Turkey and Viet Nam. 70. As regards the content of the replies, Armenia stressed that its legislation and government policy were in conformity with the 1981 Declaration on the Elimination of All Forms of Intolerance and of Discrimination Based on Religion or Belief and that the State in no way impeded the activities of religious organizations. It specified that the “State Council for Religious Affairs” had registered all the 44 religious organizations, representing 14 denominations, that had made an application and submitted their statutes; it had not registered the Jehovah's Witnesses on account of the incompatibility of their activities with the legal provisions on military service. According to the authorities, apart from an incident in April 1995 involving Hare Krishna, in respect of which the State had taken appropriate measures, there is no intolerance or discrimination vis-à-vis religious organizations. They added that for the time being no overall effort was being made to promote religious tolerance in educational institutions more effectively. 71. Belarus explained that the law made provision for alternative service in lieu of national military service, but that there were no regulations defining the conditions and terms under which military service could be replaced by alternative service, or to determine the nature of such service. According to the authorities, a practical solution had been found to the problem; citizens who refused to perform military service and said that they were unable to bear arms, use military equipment or take an oath were assigned to auxiliary units where their beliefs were respected. They added that a bill governing matters relating to alternative service was shortly to be submitted to the National Assembly. 72. Bulgaria explained that the reason for the refusal to register the Jehovah's Witnesses community was linked to fundamental tenets of the community's doctrine, such as the refusal to accept blood transfusions and to perform military service, which Bulgaria considered as contrary not only to its own legislation (Acts relating to public health and to general military service), but also to numerous international instruments to which Bulgaria was a party. It added that in 1996 the leaders of the Jehovah's Witnesses had used out-of-date registration documents dating from 1991 to hire rooms and that the lack of valid registration documents had been one of the grounds on which the authorities had intervened during public meetings held by the community. It pointed out that failure to re-register, and the consequent lack of an authorization for public activities in no way limited the right of each individual member of the Jehovah's Witnesses to worship and hold his or