E/CN.4/1996/95/Add.2 page 6 17. With regard to the access of members of recognized minorities to the army and the judiciary, the Minister for Foreign Affairs said that, for political and national reasons and in order to be sure of the loyalty of their officials, all countries had special requirements for access to posts in the army and intelligence services. Other government officials said that there was no discrimination against minorities in respect of access to the civil service. 18. In reply to the Special Rapporteur’s concerns about the restrictive recognition of the three minorities referred to in article 13 of the Constitution and the lack of official recognition of the Baha’is, in particular, it was stated that the privileges granted to the recognized minorities could not be extended to all. It was also recalled that a lack of recognition did not mean an absence of rights or the existence of a prohibition or discrimination. 19. It was stated that, as Iranian citizens, non-Muslims who did not belong to recognized minorities enjoyed the same rights as any other citizen, as stipulated, in particular, in article 14, article 22 ("The dignity, life, property, rights, residence and occupation of individuals are inviolable, except in cases provided for by law") and article 23 ("The investigation of opinions is prohibited and no one may be attacked or reprimanded for his opinions") of the Constitution. 20. It was pointed out that the Baha’is are not a religious minority, but a political organization which was associated with the Shah’s regime, is against the Iranian Revolution and engages in espionage activities. It was nevertheless stated that, as individuals, all Baha’is, were entitled to their beliefs. B. Other legal provisions and concerns of the Special Rapporteur Conversion 21. With regard to recognition of the right to change religion, the government representatives said that article 18 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights expressly recognized conversion, that the Islamic countries had expressed reservations about it and that article 18 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights did not refer to conversion. It was stated that, under the Civil Code, conversion was not a crime and that no one had been punished for converting, as shown by the case of Pastor Dibaj, a converted Muslim who was sentenced to death for apostasy, but whose sentence was reviewed. 22. As to conversion, the Special Rapporteur draws attention to general comment 22 (48), on "freedom ’to have or to adopt’ a religion or belief", which was drawn up by the Human Rights Committee on 20 July 1993. The full text of the comment is contained in chapter III on "Conclusions and recommendations" (para. 92).