A/52/477 English Page 8 (i) (ii) (iii) (iv) In Myanmar, Christians from the state of Chin are alleged to be victims of a discriminatory policy; In the Russian Federation, provincial legislation and regulations are said to impose restrictions on the activities of religious minorities. Similarly, reports suggest that without President B. N. Yeltsin's veto, the adoption of the "Law on Freedom of Conscience and on Religious Associations" on 23 June 1997 would have undermined the official recognition of religious groups and religious communities not belonging to the Russian Orthodox Church and restricted their activities. However, it is important to note that this law was definitively adopted in September 1997; In Kuwait, citizenship is allegedly denied to non-Muslims; In Brunei Darussalam, the Comoros, Kuwait, Mauritania, Oman, Qatar, Somalia, Uzbekistan and Yemen, non-Muslims are said to face a number of religious restrictions (see (d) below); (b) Other examples of violations of the principle of non-discrimination are found in allegations concerning refusal to grant official recognition to certain religious groups and religious communities (Azerbaijan, Georgia, Latvia and Uzbekistan); (c) There are also reports of legal bans against certain religious groups and religious communities, particularly in the case of the Jehovah's Witnesses in Gabon and Indonesia; (d) In Thailand, the textbooks in public schools allegedly provide information on Buddhism only, and thus do not reflect the diversity of religious sensitivities and affiliations in the country. Certain public schools in some cantons of Switzerland are said to run courses on the Church of Scientology in which it is described as a sect. Parents belonging to that Church are said to have wished to opt for private education, but to have been refused permission to establish a private school. 31. The second category concerns violations of the principle of tolerance in matters of religion and belief: (a) In Afghanistan, the extremism of the Taliban afflicts the whole of society through all its religious components, whether Muslim or non-Muslim. Some categories of persons may be more affected than others: (i) In Afghanistan, women are among those who suffer the most, because of severe restrictions on their education and employment as well as the obligation to wear what is described as Islamic dress; (ii) In certain regions of India and Nepal, there have been reports of incidents of intolerance against Christians and Christian converts; (iii) In Iraq, Christians can be killed if an imam issues a fatwa to this effect; /...