A/HRC/19/60/Add.2 religion or belief.12 Civic education, which constitutes a mandatory part of the national curriculum in the Republic of Moldova, can play an important role in this regard, as can the history curriculum and, potentially, other curriculum areas as well. The Special Rapporteur was informed that civic education programmes include information about religious and belief diversity, as well as human rights in general. He would like to highlight the importance for these programmes to reflect the diversity of Moldovan society in the past and present. 48. The public school system in the Republic of Moldova is secular and does not provide for mandatory religious instruction. However, following Government decision 596 of 2 July 2010 on teaching religion in educational institutions, religious instruction entitled “religion” has been included in the curriculum for primary and secondary schools, to be taught optionally and upon the request of the parents or legal guardians of the child. These new optional curriculum elements apparently supplement a previously existing curriculum with religious content. According to information provided by the Ministry of Education, all registered religious denominations had been invited to participate in consultations about the new curricula. Those responding to the invitation eventually established two groups, each of which elaborated their own separate curriculum: one group composed of the various Orthodox denominations and also joined by the Roman Catholic Church, the other of a coalition of Protestant denominations. This may also count as an important step towards the advancement of cross-denominational communication in the country. 49. Although the optional nature of religious instruction has been emphasized by the Ministry of Education, doubts remain with regard to its effective and human rights-based implementation in practice. The Special Rapporteur repeatedly heard allegations about Orthodox priests or principals using their authority in schools to urge pupils to bring signatures from their parents for enrolment in religious instruction. This would amount to a violation of existing regulations providing for the strictly voluntary nature of religious instruction. Perhaps more importantly, there appears to be no mechanism to ensure that children or parents declining to receive religious instruction are not subject to negative repercussions from school authorities, parents or other children. The Special Rapporteur is of the view that such safeguards must be developed and implemented if everyone’s freedom of religion or belief, including the right not to profess any religion, is to be safeguarded effectively. Given the highly sensitive nature of this issue, the Government should reach out proactively to the population to clarify the status of religious instruction. Providing effective protection for non-attending children against pressure from school authorities, church officials, other children, or any other party should be a priority. 50. Religious instruction is also optional in the Transnistrian region of the Republic of Moldova. While this option seems to be open to various religions or beliefs, Orthodox Christianity appears to enjoy a de facto privileged treatment. E. Conscientious objection to military service 51. According to article 10 of the 2007 Law on Religious Denominations, the State is required to establish by law alternative service for the citizens who cannot perform military service due to confessional reasons. A provision for alternative service was first enshrined in Law No. 633/XII of 9 July 1991on alternative service adopted, as amended by Law No. 534 of 22 July 1999. Law No.156-XVI, adopted on 6 July 2007, further revised the organization of civilian (alternative) service. The new law addressed several concerns 12 14 See the report of the Special Rapporteur on freedom of religion or belief and school education (A/HRC/16/53).