E/CN.4/2006/5/Add.1 Page 73 336. The Government informed that the Bill was drafted by the Ministry of Religious Affairs of the Republic of Serbia, with the aim of regulating relations between State and the Church. The Bill was drafted because the previous Law on the issue was repealed in 1993. The draft Bill has not yet been considered by the Government or the Assembly of the Republic of Serbia. The Government enclosed a memo prepared by the Ministry of Religious Affairs, containing a number of observations and comments on the Bill. Communication sent on 17 March 2005 337. The Special Rapporte ur sent this communication to raise her concern in view of reports that the latest and fourth draft of the proposed religion law would, like previous drafts on which she had previously sent a communication on 27 October 2004 (see above), divide religious c ommunities into "traditional" faiths and other faiths with lesser rights. Baptist Pastor Dane Vidovic indicated that this division "is critical, because it will affect other laws and areas of life, including rights to religious education in public schools, taxes and property, social security and pension funds." Religion Minister Milan Radovic has reportedly wrongly justified this situation on the basis that Serbia is the "only country in Europe without a law regulating relations between the state and religious communities", claiming that this is a "dangerous legal void". Reports indicate that the religion ministry is attempting to finalize the text after receiving many critical comments from domestic and international non-governmental organizations and relig ious groups. It is convening a roundtable discussion of this latest draft with religious organizations and legal specialists, as well as representatives of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe and the Council of Europe. 338. Serbia has not had a law on religious communities since 1993 and attempts to draft this new law have been controversial. For the last 13 years, religious communities attempting to gain legal status in Serbia have had to register as citizens' associations, which is legally problematic. Response from the Government dated 18 April 2005 339. The Government noted that its response dated 14 February 2005 sent to a communication dated 27 October 2004 on the same issue as those raised in the communication sent on 17 March 2005 had not been included in the report for the 61st Session of the Commission on Human Rights. Observations 340. The Special Rapporteur is grateful for the responses received from the Government, along with the copy of the draft bill and the observations and comments. Sri Lanka Communication sent on 20 January 2005 341. The Special Rapporteur had received information according to which, with the controversial anti-conversion bill to be presented in the Parliament shortly, anti-

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