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had the opportunity to talk with the Speaker to Northern Ireland Assembly as well as with
members of the Alliance Party of Northern Ireland, the Democratic Unionist Party, Sinn Féin,
the Social Democratic Labour Party and the Ulster Unionist Party.
6.
The Special Rapporteur is also grateful for the opportunity to meet with two Lords of
Appeal in Ordinary (“Law Lords”) as well as with barristers and solicitors having pertinent
experience in the protection of human rights. Furthermore, the Special Rapporteur met with the
Director of Public Prosecutions and several staff members of the Crown Prosecution Service.
7.
With regard to religious communities, the Special Rapporteur talked, inter alia, with
Anglicans, Baha’is, Buddhists, Catholics, Hindus, Jews, Latter-Day Saints, Muslims,
Presbyterians, Seventh-day Adventists, Sikhs and Unitarians. She also had meetings with
humanists and secularists. During her visit, the Special Rapporteur met with representatives of
the following religious or belief communities and non-governmental organizations: Ahmadiyya
Muslim Association UK, Al-Khoei Foundation, Article 19, Asylum Aid, Bail Circle, Barnabus
Fund, Board of Deputies of British Jews, British Humanist Association, British Irish Rights
Watch, British Organisation of Sikh Students, British Sikh Consultative Forum, British Sikh
Federation, Brook, Buddhist Society, Care, Catholic Bishops’ Conference of England and Wales,
Christian Medical Fellowship, Christian Solidarity Worldwide, Church of England, Church of
Ireland, Church of Latter-Day Saints, Church of Scientology, Churches Together in Britain and
Ireland, Community Dialogue, Committee on the Administration of Justice, Community Security
Trust, Consultative Council of Jewish Organisations, Corrymeela, EmbraceNI, Evangelical
Alliance, Forum 18, Forum Against Islamophobia and Racism, Hindu Council UK, Hindu
Forum of Britain, Humanist Society of Scotland, International Association for Religious
Freedom, International Humanist and Ethical Union, Irish Council of Churches, Islamic
Foundation, Islamic Human Rights Commission, Islamic Relief, Jewish-Muslim Council,
Justice, Lawyers’ Christian Fellowship, Lesbian and Gay Christian Movement, Liberty,
Maranatha Community, Marches Secularist, Methodist Church in Ireland, Minority Rights
Group, Muslim Council of Britain, Muslim-Jewish Forum, National Council of Gurdwaras,
National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá’ís of the United Kingdom, Northern Ireland Council for
Ethnic Minorities, Presbyterian Church in Ireland, Scottish Churches Parliamentary Office,
Scottish Interfaith Council, Secular Derby, Serbian-Orthodox Church, Seventh-Day Adventist
Church, Sigrid Rausing Trust, Sikhs in England, Sufi Muslim Council, The City Circle, The
Family, The Inter Faith Network for the UK, Three Faiths Forum, Union of Muslim
Organisations of UK and Eire, the United Nations Association of Great Britain and
Northern Ireland as well as UK Asian Christian Fellowship.
8.
Further interlocutors included academics with specific expertise in the field of freedom of
religion or belief from the universities of Belfast, Birmingham, Bristol, Cambridge, Cardiff,
Durham, Glasgow, London, Oxford and Warwick. In addition, the Special Rapporteur met with
representatives of a students’ union in London.
9.
She is very grateful that the University of London’s Institute of Commonwealth Studies
(ICS) offered to the Special Rapporteur use of the ICS facilities for her meetings in London with
members of civil society. Furthermore, she appreciated the logistical support in London by the