E/CN.4/2004/63 page 24 (c) Violations of freedom of thought, conscience, religion or belief, namely, policies, legislation and regulations, practices and acts contrary to the principle of conscientious objection and the freedom to change one’s religion or to keep one’s religion or belief. Cases in this regard concern China, Eritrea, Israel, the Lao People’s Democratic Republic and Saudi Arabia; (d) Violations of freedom to manifest one’s religion or belief, namely, policies, legislation and regulations, practices and acts that constitute controls, interference, prohibitions and abusive restrictions on the freedom to manifest one’s religion or belief. Cases in this regard concern the Russian Federation, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan; (e) Violations of the freedom to enjoy the use of religious property, namely, policies, practices and acts affecting the freedom to enjoy the use of religious property that take the form of the confiscation or the non-restitution of properties, refusal of access to places of worship, closure, attacks on and destruction of such places of worship and of cemeteries, places of burial and religious schools. Cases in this regard concern Afghanistan, Azerbaijan and Romania; (f) Violations of the right to life, physical integrity and health of individuals (clerics and religious leaders, believers and non-believers), namely, policies, practices and acts that take the form of threats, ill-treatment, arrests and detentions, enforced disappearances, death sentences, executions and assassinations. Cases in this regard concern Bangladesh, India and Pakistan; (g) Violations affecting women, namely, a category encapsulating the first six categories. It is important to stress that such violations are not only carried out by extremist groups and communities but also and most often by society and official institutions. Cases in this regard concern Afghanistan and Nigeria. Religions or beliefs covered by communications 116. The Special Rapporteur’s communications have covered violations affecting the majority of the world’s communities of religion or belief. 117. On the one hand, the religions in question are those commonly termed “major” or “traditional religions” because of their numerical importance internationally, namely, Christianity, Islam, Judaism, Buddhism and Hinduism, including the main movements within each religion. 118. On the other hand, there are the other communities of religion or belief, generally numerically smaller in international terms, such as, for example, the Baha’is, Jehovah’s Witnesses and Ahmadis, in addition to humanists and other non-believers. Particular attention has also been given to the beliefs of indigenous peoples. 119. It should be noted that the line between the two types of religious community is not always clear-cut, insofar as certain communities may be classified, by insiders or external observers, as a perceived part of a major religion, or as a separate religion, or a belief or