E/CN.4/2006/5/Add.3 Page 6 14. The Special Rapporteur would also like to emphasize that in her analysis of the situation in Sri Lanka, she relies both on the terms of the 1981 United Nations Declaration on the Elimination of All Forms of Intolerance and of Discrimination Based on Religion or Belief, general comment No. 22 (1993) of the Human Rights Committee on article 18 and other relevant provisions of ICCPR. II. RELIGION AND BELIEF IN SRI LANKA 15. The main religions present in Sri Lanka are Buddhism, Hinduism, Islam and Christianity. 16. Buddhism is the religion of most members of the Sinhalese community, who represent approximately 70 per cent of the population. Buddhism constitutes therefore the major religion of the country and is found in most parts of Sri Lanka except in the predominantly Tamil areas of the north and east. 17. Hinduism is the religion of 15 per cent of the population and the major religion of the Tamil community. 18. Christians represent 8 per cent of the population and live almost everywhere, but mainly in the west. There are many Christian denominations present in Sri Lanka: Roman Catholics account for 90 per cent of the Christian population, the other 10 per cent being composed of Anglicans and other Protestant Churches, including Methodists, Baptists, Lutherans and Dutch Reformed, as well as newer Evangelical and Pentecostal Churches and other smaller groups like the Jehovah’s Witnesses. 1 According to various estimated that are sometimes contested, the Christian population has not significantly grown over the last 20 years. While it is true that Evangelical and Pentecostal Churches have increased in number, this has mainly been at the expense of more “traditional” Christian Churches. 19. With respect to the different Christian denominations present in Sri Lanka, citizens - have generally taken the habit of making a distinction - not always with much thought - between (usually) recently established Christian communities, which they characterize as “fundamentalists”, and the other more traditional Christian churches. 20. According to most figures, Muslims account for 7 per cent of the population, but they contest this figure and consider that it has recently come closer to 10 per cent owing to the birth rate and conversions. A particular characteristic of the Muslim community in Sri Lanka is that it is also recognized as a separate ethnic identity. 21. The great majority of Muslims are of Sunni background while a small minority is Shia. Other Muslim minorities are present in Sri Lanka such as the Sufi Muslims, who are located in the east of the country. There is also an Ahmadiyya community whose members are mainly concentrated in the outskirts of Colombo. 22. Finally, there are smaller religious groups or communities of belief who are disseminated throughout the country, like the Bahà’ì community. 23. The Rapporteur on Religious Intolerance of the Human Rights Commission of Sri Lanka reports that, “there has been general acceptance in Sri Lanka that a person is free to change his or