E/CN.4/1996/95/Add.2 page 14 concerning the Baha’i question, including the stipulation that "the measures taken by the Government against the Baha’is should be designed to obstruct their evolution and development". 59. In the religious field, the Baha’i representatives and other non-official persons noted that the right to profess and practise the Baha’i faith had been denied. Since 1983, the Baha’i organization had apparently been prohibited by the Government, as a result of which the Baha’is had been denied the right to meet and to elect and operate administrative institutions. Since, by virtue of its fundamental principles, the Baha’i faith had no clergy, the very existence of the Baha’is as a viable religious community was apparently being threatened in the absence of those institutions. According to the same sources, the authorities had also confiscated Baha’i communal property, particularly since 1979, and Baha’i holy places had been desecrated and, in numerous cases, destroyed. 60. According to the same sources, the Baha’i cemeteries had been bulldozed and their tombs ransacked. However, the President of the Islamic Commission on Human Rights stated that this information was false and erroneous. He indicated that, in some cases, cemeteries had been demolished for health reasons and this applied to both Baha’i and Muslim tombs. In his view, those rumours were politically motivated. The Baha’i community was apparently also having difficulty in burying its dead and identifying the location of tombs. It was allowed to use only waste ground for burials and was forbidden to erect inscribed gravestones. The Baha’i representatives also said that pressure was being brought to bear on them with a view to securing their conversion to Islam by depriving them of freedom, of means of subsistence, of their personal property and of the possibility of studying at universities. (b) In the socio-cultural field 61. Being denied the status of a recognized religious minority, the Baha’is cannot enjoy the rights associated with that recognition such as, in particular, political representation and the application of their religious law in their personal affairs and in those of their community. In response to the authorities’ affirmations concerning the rights of the Baha’is as Iranian citizens (see above, paras. 10 to 20, "Minorities" and paras. 28 to 32, "In the religious field"), the Baha’i representatives drew attention to the policy of repression to which they were being subjected, including the ban on their organization and the confiscation of their property: all the community’s property, and particularly the property of the Baha’i social institutions serving the members of all religions, had allegedly been expropriated by the State. 62. Personal property, including residential premises, of the Baha’i community has also allegedly been confiscated. Baha’i marriages and divorces are not legally recognized and their right of succession is not respected. With regard to freedom of movement, including departure from the country and the issue of passports or exit visas, all Baha’is without exception face major obstacles. It should be noted that the religious affiliation must be specified on the passport application form.