A/58/296 17. The Special Rapporteur is awaiting the reply of the Azerbaijani authorities and wishes to draw attention to General Assembly resolution 55/254 of 31 May 2001 on protection of religious sites. Bangladesh 18. In a letter dated 11 April 2003, the Special Rapporteur informed the Government of Bangladesh of reports alleging that military personnel had arrested Reverend Kyolachai Bhikku, a Buddhist monk, in a Chittagong Hill Tracts temple and severely beaten him in public. 19. In another incident, the army allegedly barred the residents of the village of Noapara from celebrating a traditional Buddhist religious holiday on 17 November 2002. 20. On 25 July 2002, two under-age Hindu girls were reportedly kidnapped by Muslims and forced to sign promises that they would convert to Islam. 21. Finally, referring to a previous communication dated 19 April 2002, the Special Rapporteur has received additional information on the cases of Gyan Jyoti Barua, a Buddhist monk who was allegedly killed with an axe in his orphanage, and of Madhan Gopal Goswami, a Hindu priest killed in similar circumstances. 22. The Special Rapporteur wishes to stress the seriousness of the abovementioned allegation and, recalling that this was the second communication in connection with the same incidents, would like to receive as soon as possible the views and observations of the authorities of Bangladesh on the matter. Belarus 23. In a letter dated 8 May 2003, the Special Rapporteur informed the Belarusian Government of information according to which requests for registration by the True Orthodox Church and the Belarusian Autocephalous Orthodox Church had been denied. 24. In a second communication dated 12 June 2003, the Special Rapporteur mentioned an incident that allegedly occurred, on 1 June 2003, during which the police were said to have interrupted a meditation ritual being held by six members of the Light of Kaylasa Hindu community in an apartment. 25. In his two communications, the Special Rapporteur enquired about measures that the Government had taken or planned to take to comply with the provisions of article 18 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights. Bulgaria 26. On 11 April 2002, the Special Rapporteur sent the Bulgarian Government a communication relating to information on a new law on religions, about which most of the country’s religious minorities had apparently expressed concern, particularly over the vague nature of certain parts of the law, especially relating to the registration procedures for religious movements, the “right to a religion” and the definition of a religious institution. 27. The Special Rapporteur also informed the Government of reports alleging that at the end of November 2002 the nationalist group Internal Macedonian 6