A/64/159 belief with another or to adopt atheistic views, as well as the right to retain one’s religion or belief. 8 III. Situation of persons in vulnerable situations 18. In its resolution 63/181, the General Assembly recognizes with concern the situation of persons in vulnerable situations, including persons deprived of their liberty, refugees, asylum-seekers and internally displaced persons, children, persons belonging to national or ethnic, religious and linguistic minorities and migrants, as regards their ability to freely exercise their right to freedom of religion or belief. The Special Rapporteur would like to briefly analyse below the vulnerable situations of these persons in the context of her mandate. A. Persons deprived of their liberty 19. In the past five years, the Special Rapporteur has received alarming reports about persons being arrested and detained because of their religious beliefs on the basis of discriminatory laws, denial of due process or a strong bias by law enforcement against religious minorities. She has also received worrying reports of alleged violations of the right to freedom of religion or belief of persons who are deprived of their liberty, who find themselves in a situation of enhanced vulnerability and can therefore be an easy target for harassment. The Special Rapporteur has detailed some situations reported under the mandate and the applicable international standards in her report to the General Assembly at its sixtieth session. 9 20. The religious rights of persons deprived of their liberty must be fully respected and protected. There is a real risk that the circumstances of detention, as well as specific policies by prison authorities, may result in undue restrictions of the opportunity of detainees to practise their religion or belief in private or in public. The Human Rights Committee has stressed that persons already subject to certain legitimate constraints, such as prisoners, continue to enjoy their rights to manifest their religion or belief to the fullest extent compatible with the specific nature of the constraint. 10 Detainees should also be allowed access to qualified representatives of any religion, while they should not be obliged to consult a minister of religion if they do not wish to do so. Furthermore, the religious beliefs of a detainee should under no circumstances be used by the authorities against the detainee in order, for instance, to extract information from him or her. 21. Treating all persons deprived of their liberty with humanity and with respect for their dignity is a fundamental and universally applicable rule which must be applied without distinction of any kind, such as religion. The Special Rapporteur would like to emphasize that the dangers of discrimination, either in an institutionalized form or through discriminatory practices, become much greater in the closed conditions of a detention facility. The relevant authorities have a __________________ 8 9 10 8 See Official Records of the General Assembly, Forty-eighth Session, Supplement No. 40 (A/48/40), vol. I, annex VI, para. 5. See A/60/399, paras. 69-91. Ibid., para. 8. 09-40869