A/HRC/55/47/Add.1 crimes. They do not consider that those persons might have been rendered more vulnerable to such influences because their closed educational upbringing did not allow them to have confidence in their faith. Had they been more secure in their faith, they would have been better able to protect themselves from such tendencies. Some authorities suggested that the policy may be under review, whereas others insisted that the policy is necessary to ensure the “normal physical and mental development” of the child. The result is the severe curtailment of religious education for children in Tajikistan. Even adults need the permission of the State Committee for Religious Affairs and the Ministry of Education to receive religious education outside Tajikistan, and only after receiving religious education inside the country. 63. The Special Rapporteur reiterates that the right of parents to ensure the religious and moral education of their children in conformity with their own convictions and subject to the evolving capacities of the child is a core element of the freedom of religion or belief. 20 Any limitation on that right also affects the rights of religious minorities. 21 64. The Special Rapporteur is concerned about the activities of the pro-Government youth organization Avangard, including reported acts of harassment, intimidation and anti-opposition protest. The organization was founded in 2015 on the initiative and with the assistance of the Tajik police authorities, with the mission of preventing young people from getting involved in extremist and terrorist organizations. 65. The Special Rapporteur also notes the high incidence of child and forced marriages, and the decline in the number of marriages that are officially registered. Tajikistan should establish mechanisms to detect cases of child and forced marriages and ensure that nikokh (religious marriages) do not violate the minimum legal age of marriage. 22 It is noted that many efforts in this regard are under way. E. Religious detainees 66. There is a significant number of detainees imprisoned on vague charges relating to publicly promoting extremist activities, organizing an extremist community, organizing activities of an extremist organization, arousing national, racial, local or religious hostility and inciting religious hatred. While the official data on such “religious detainees” or “party prisoners”, as they are referred to, is unknown, it is estimated that approximately 1,500 individuals were detained on terrorism- or extremism-related charges as at 1 January 2022. Hundreds of Muslims have reportedly been imprisoned on accusations of belonging to extremist, terrorist or banned organizations or of exercising the right to freedom of religion or belief. It is hard to know whether those detainees were indeed involved in violence or other crimes or whether they were guilty only of not exercising their faith “moderately”. 67. The Special Rapporteur received reports of religious detainees suffering from beatings, ill-treatment and torture23 and being denied the right to practise their religion in custody. She expresses serious concern at reported instances of impunity for the torture and ill-treatment of Muslims, including Ismailis, Jehovah’s Witnesses and others. Some prisoners who tried to exercise their freedom of religion or belief while in detention were reportedly punished for praying openly. Most prisons have either a mosque or prayer room, and four prisons have churches. Muslim prisoners are reportedly allowed to pray (including the daily namaz prayers) and read the Qur’an only in the mosque or prayer room; doing so elsewhere can result in two weeks of solitary confinement. 68. The Special Rapporteur was informed that some families face difficulties visiting prisoners and that Muslim prisoners are, regardless of the reason for their imprisonment, frequently denied visits by imams, friends and relatives outside the immediate family. Health facilities in some prisons are reportedly limited, leading to a lack of medicine for prisoners. 20 21 22 23 GE.24-00093 International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, art. 18 (4), and Convention on the Rights of the Child, art. 14 (2). International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, art. 27, and Declaration on the Rights of Persons Belonging to National or Ethnic, Religious and Linguistic Minorities. CEDAW/C/TJK/CO/6, paras. 45 (b) and 46 (b) (ii) and (iv). CCPR/C/TJK/CO/3, para. 31. 13