E/CN.4/1987/35 page 10 IV. ANALYSIS OF THE INFORMATION COLLECTED 28. On the basis of the information which he was able to obtain from the various sources mentioned above, the Special Rapporteur has endeavoured to present an overall view of incidents and governmental measures incompatible with the provisions of the Declaration on the Elimination of All Forms of Intolerance and Discrimination Based on Religion or Belief. Obviously, the picture is neither comprehensive nor exhaustive, nor does it include all the situations that reveal incompatibility with the provisions of the Declaration; an analysis of the information received shows clearly the extreme range and variety of those situations which the Special Rapporteur has noted, to date, in more than 40 countries and in widely varying forms. The allegations of intolerance and discrimination brought to the attention of the Special Rapporteur concern the followers of a broad spectrum of religions and sects, such as those of Hare Krishna, tribal or aboriginal religions, Seventh Day Adventists, Ahmadis, Aramaens, Armenians, Assyrians, Baha'is, Baptists, Buddhists, Roman Catholics, Uniat Catholics, Copts, Evangelists, Hindus, Jews, Muslims, Orthodox Church members, Pentecostals, Protestants, Sikhs and Jehovah's Witnesses. To identify the general trends and characteristics of the problem of religious intolerance as defined in the Declaration, the information collected has been reassembled according to several criteria; first, the factors the existence of which seems to constitute an obstacle to the implementation of the provisions of the Declaration have been identified; secondly, various types of infringement of the provisions of the Declaration have been identified in the light of the relevant articles; thirdly, information has been provided on the negative repercussions of infringements of the provisions of the Declaration on the enjoyment of various human rights. A. Factors hampering the implementation of the Declaration 1. Legislative provisions 29. While a detailed examination of national laws and regulations relating to freedom of religion or belief is outside the scope of the current mandate, which is more particularly concerned with specific incidents and measures that endanger this freedom, there does seem to be an undeniable relationship between certain legislative provisions and the occurrence of incidents or measures that reveal intolerance in matters of religion or belief. 30. The existence, both necessary and desirable, in constitutions or other texts of national legislation, of provisions establishing the principle of freedom of religion and belief does not, however, constitute an absolute guarantee of respect for this principle, and there are unfortunately many instances of persecution or other manifestations of religious intolerance, despite the adoption of such legislative provisions. Such a state of affairs makes even more alarming the existence in the legislation of certain countries of provisions which call into question or reduce the scope of this principle and which are incompatible with the 1981 Declaration. 31. While the case of one country the legislation of which proclaims that it is "the first atheist State in the world" and where religion has been decreed to be illegal by an Act of Parliament is exceptional, a spectrum of