E/CN.4/2006/5/Add.2 page 16 73. Despite this obligation under international law, the Special Rapporteur notes with great concern that Nigerian sharia penal codes provide for death sentences for offences which do not fall into the category of the “most serious crimes”. Such a position has been taken by other United Nations human rights mechanisms, including with regard to Nigeria.15 74. The death penalty for children is prohibited under article 37 of the Convention on the Rights of the Child. While Hadd punishments are not per se applicable to minors, the Nigerian sharia penal codes define a child as being below the age of taklif.16 However, according to the information submitted to the Special Rapporteur, no sentence of death has so far been passed against a child. The right to change religion 75. In their present form, sharia penal codes adopted in northern states of Nigeria have not included the conversion from Islam to another religion among the offences punishable by death. This seems to be explained by article 38 of the Constitution (see para. 26 above), which expressly provides for the right to change religion or belief, but also by the reality of Nigeria, that is, as underlined above, the fact that in many places Christians and Muslims mix to a great extent and interfaith marriages are very common. In the Nigerian reality, it would thus seem difficult to enforce a rule that would completely segregate Muslims from Christians. 76. Nevertheless, leaders of the Muslim community maintained that sharia itself prohibits conversion from Islam to another religion and provides for the death penalty for this act. In this regard, it has been argued that nearly all the sharia penal codes of Nigeria (except in Kano State) provide that Muslims may be convicted for offences that are punishable under sharia itself even in the absence of a provision in the penal code. In addition to raising question under the principle of nulla poena sine lege, this provision opens the possibility of criminalization of conversion and therefore certainly raises concern about the right to freedom of religion or belief as protected by universally accepted human rights standards. 77. In addition, besides the legal aspects, the prohibition of conversion also appears to be well rooted in certain minds, especially of those who follow the principles of Islam strictly. A number of Muslim religious leaders whom the Special Rapporteur met categorically rejected the possibility of permitting Muslims to convert or to change their religion. They stated clearly that such persons should be executed. At the same time, they also contended that a Muslim woman could not marry a non-Muslim man. Such a marriage would be null and void in law and constitute the offence of zina. This means that interfaith marriages would no longer be possible in the states that have adopted sharia penal codes and that interfaith couples visiting those states would risk arrest and conviction. 78. The Special Rapporteur has also been informed of a number of cases where Muslim or Christian girls were allegedly “abducted” by members of the other religious community and forced into marriage.17 While she has not been able to confirm these allegations, she considers it an obligation of the Government, at least at the local level, to ensure that consent to marriage is free. More generally, and in order to guarantee the - often claimed - multireligious character of Nigeria, there is a need to protect the right to freedom of religion or belief in this respect.