A/64/159 13. In some States, domestic registration procedures for religious communities are applied in a discriminatory manner by the authorities, thus in practice limiting the right to freedom of religion or belief of members of certain religious communities. Such discriminatory registration procedures appear to be prevalent in several countries located in different regions, albeit the degree of the undue limitations on freedom of religion or belief may differ. The Special Rapporteur would like to reiterate that freedom of religion or belief is not limited to members of registered religious communities and that registration may only be appropriate for the acquisition of a legal personality and related benefits. 14. Furthermore, the Special Rapporteur has noticed a number of restrictions imposed on different forms of religious expression, for example on the wearing of distinctive clothing or head coverings. Freedom to manifest one’s religion or beliefs may be subject to limitations; these, however, must be prescribed by law and necessary to protect public safety, order, health, morals or the fundamental rights and freedoms of others. The Special Rapporteur is concerned that, on the one hand, many believers in various parts of the world are prevented from identifying themselves through the display of religious symbols and that, on the other hand, people in different countries are required to display religious symbols in public. The fundamental objective should be to safeguard both the positive freedom of religion or belief, for example, the voluntary display of religious symbols, and also the negative freedom of not being forced to display religious symbols. 15. In addition, the Special Rapporteur is concerned about undue State interference in religious teaching and dissemination of relevant publications, for example when the authorities censor, monitor or even write sermons of religious leaders. Moreover, the freedom to train, appoint, elect or designate by succession appropriate leaders is curtailed in some countries, thus violating article 6 (g) of the 1981 Declaration on the Elimination of All Forms of Intolerance and of Discrimination Based on Religion or Belief. 16. Conscientious objection to perform military service is another issue of concern in some States. The Special Rapporteur welcomes the fact that a growing number of States have in their laws exempted from compulsory military service citizens who genuinely hold religious or other beliefs that forbid the performance of military service and replaced compulsory military service with alternative national service. However, certain domestic legislation remains problematic in terms of the eligibility to and conditions of conscientious objection. The Special Rapporteur recommends a thorough review of these laws from the perspective of their compliance with international standards and best practices. 17. The discrimination or even persecution of individuals who have changed their religion is also an alarming problem in some countries, even though international human rights law provides that freedom of thought, conscience and religion includes freedom to change his religion or belief 6 and freedom to have or to adopt a religion or belief of his choice. 7 The Special Rapporteur would like to refer to general comment No. 22 (1993), in which 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 __________________ 6 7 09-40869 Universal Declaration of Human Rights, article 18. International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, article 18, para. 1. 7