E/CN.4/1996/95/Add.2 page 8 27. The authorities recognized that there were many departures by members of minorities and by Muslims. It was stated that the situation was not the result of government pressure, but of voluntary departures by anyone who considered that his education and values could not be adapted to the principles of the revolution, including the establishment of a dress code for women. The situation thus did not affect minorities only. 28. According to unofficial information, minorities and non-Muslim communities (including the Baha’is) account for about 1 per cent of a population composed of a majority of Muslims (about 89 per cent Shiites and 10 per cent Sunni). (a) In the religious field (i) Religious practice and conduct of religious affairs 29. Minority religious, political and social representatives stated that they were not subjected to any interference by the authorities in their internal religious activities, which could be exercised freely, particularly with regard to worship and religious traditions and the management of the affairs of religious institutions. 30. Except for the Zoroastrians, who are composed ethnically of Persians using the Persian language, minority representatives said that the use of the Persian language during religious services could not be regarded as an option because, according to their religious tradition, the language used during religious services must be that of their community (Hebrew, Aramaean, Armenian) or, in more general terms, their original ethnic group. In that connection, the Deputy Minister of Cultural Affairs in the Ministry of Culture and Islamic Guidance said that those minorities wanted to use their own language for religious services and that they had been granted that right by the authorities, who would have no objection to the use of Persian if the minorities requested it. 31. In connection with proselytism and conversion, the minority representatives explained that Islam, as interpreted by the Iranian Government, did not allow the proselytism and conversion of a Muslim to another religion and that they themselves (Jewish, Assyro-Chaldean and Armenian minorities) did not engage in those practices and did not want them, since their communities were specific religious and ethnic minorities and their own religious institutions were working to preserve their cultural and religious identities and, thus, their maintenance as Jewish, Assyro-Chaldean and Armenian communities. The minorities also said that they were not subjected to proselytism and attempts to convert them to Islam. (ii) Religious instruction 32. The minority representatives said that the teaching of their religion was guaranteed and respected in public schools (or outside school hours when there were not enough minority children for a religious instruction class) and in minority schools. They stressed that no Muslim religious instruction was imposed on them and that their own religious education was compulsory and given a mark in the school report card. Religious instruction was given by