A/HRC/10/11/Add.3
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102. The Government is urged to comply fully with the CEDAW Committee
recommendation to “take effective measures to eliminate discrimination against minority
women, including awareness-raising programmes, to sensitize public opinion at large, and
particularly the police, on the issue of minority women. It also urges the State party to
address the forms of discrimination, including with regard to access to education, by
minority women through its legal, administrative and welfare systems.
103. The history of the Greek state and the majority conception of “the national identity”
are tightly intertwined with the Greek Orthodox religion. Minority religions therefore have
had to struggle to establish and maintain sufficient space for the full exercise of their
identities in the civic sphere. Recent positive steps have been taken by the government.
However, issues persist with the erection of houses of worship, burial practices and sites
and general biases in public attitudes, including incidents of anti-Semitism. Bias also exists
within the law to the extent that only the Greek Orthodox and the Jewish religions are
recognized as having distinct legal personality as religious entities. The other religions are
governed by the laws relating to secular associations giving rise to issues of equality with
respect to protection of the right to freedom of religion.
104. The minority religions should be governed by a legal framework that recognizes their
religious character and grants them legal personality appropriate to that status. All
religions should have equal recognition under the law. Additionally, the law banning
proselytizing, which has not had recent application, should be formally revoked.
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