E/CN.4/1996/95/Add.2 page 21 Intolerance and of Discrimination based on Religion or Belief, and in accordance with the interpretation by the Human Rights Committee. 92. In fact, in its general comment 22 (48) of 20 July 1993, the Human Rights Committee observed that the freedom to "have or to adopt" a religion or belief necessarily entailed the freedom to choose a religion or belief, including the right to replace one’s current religion or belief with another or to adopt atheistic views, as well as the right to retain one’s religion or belief. Article 18, paragraph 2, of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights bars coercion that would impair the right to have or adopt a religion or belief, including the use of threat of physical force or penal sanctions to compel believers or non-believers to adhere to religious beliefs and congregations, to recant their religion or belief or to convert (HRI/GEN/1/Rev.1, para. 5). 93. With regard to the implementation of the legislation and policy in force, due to the complexity of the situations, the Special Rapporteur’s analysis covers both the recognized minorities and the other non-Muslim minorities. 94. Concerning the recognized non-Muslim religious minorities, namely, the Zoroastrian, Jewish, Assyro-Chaldean and Armenian minorities, although the Special Rapporteur is disturbed by the fact that many members of those minorities have left Iran to the detriment of the country’s cultural and ethnic wealth and diversity, he believes that their situation as a minority is otherwise apparently satisfactory except in respect of some specific problems for which the following recommendations have been formulated. 95. In the religious field and particularly in that of religious education, instruction manuals should be compiled in closer systematic collaboration with competent representatives of the minorities in order to ensure that religious beliefs are correctly transcribed and respected. 96. Concerning religious publications and, in general, all publications issued by minorities, the Special Rapporteur endorses the recommendations of Mr. Abid Hussain, the Special Rapporteur on freedom of opinion and expression, who considers that: "Any prior restraint on freedom of expression carries with it a heavy presumption of invalidity under international human rights law. Any institutionalization of such restraint adds further weight to this presumption. In his opinion, the protection of the right of freedom of opinion and expression and the right to seek, receive and impart information would be better served, not by routinely submitting specific types of expression to prior scrutiny, as is currently the case, but rather by initiating action after publication, if and when required" (E/CN.4/1996/39/Add.1, para. 40). 97. In the socio-cultural field, the Special Rapporteur recommends that practical steps should be taken to ensure strict respect for the principle that religious laws should be applied in personal and community affairs, thereby excluding the application of the Shari’a to non-Muslims. With regard to the dress code, the Special Rapporteur emphasizes that the various community traditions and behaviour concerning dress should likewise be respected, but believes that dress should not be turned into a political instrument and that flexible and tolerant attitudes should be shown so that