E/CN.4/1987/35 page 16 50. In many instances, manifestations of religion or belief are punished. In one country, it is unlawful to pray, either in private or in public. In others, sanctions are applied to the faithful who take part in prayers or worship in public. At times, public worship is prevented in effect, by demolishing, closing or converting to other uses places of worship and religious meetings. For instance, in one country, all places of worship have been closed down. Sometimes there is State control in respect of the creation of new parishes: in one case, the permission of the State is required for ordained priests to carry out their ministry. Restrictions on the exercise of freedom of religion and belief may take other forms: thus, one country limits the exercise of freedom of worship during the week, and forbids religious meetings outside the places officially recognized as places of worship; another has banned the holding of religious meetings in specific regions for a certain period of time. Elsewhere, public worship is forbidden to communities that are not officially registered, and religious meetings in which children and young people participate require official permission. Restrictions on worship may also take the form of vexations and persecution of various kinds, ranging from the execution and imprisonment of the faithful to the harassment of participants in pilgrimages or other religious meetings. The restrictions may also relate to one or more specific aspects of worship. This is the case, particularly, in a number of countries, with objectors who refuse, out of religious belief, to wear uniform or to perform military duties and are punished for this reason; the same also applies to the ban on specific religious tribal practices in certain countries. 51. The freedom to establish and maintain appropriate charitable or humanitarian institutions (art. 6 (b)) is brought into question when a religion or sect is banned by law, as is regrettably the case with various denominations in several countries. Further, this freedom is at times expressly restricted or denied. In one country where a religious community has been declared unlawful, a decree forbids the members of this denomination to engage in any community activity. In another country where the registration of religions and sects with the official authorities is a prerequisite for the legal exercise of religious observances, this registration amounts in practice to relinquishing the freedom to establish charitable or humanitarian institutions. In yet another country, a decree issued by the Ministry of Justice officially declared a religious commission which sought social progress to be unlawful and transferred its property to the State. 52. The freedom to make, acquire and use to an adequate extent the necessary articles and materials related to the rites and customs of a religion or belief (art. 6 (c)) is also restricted in practice. Thus, in one country, the law forbids the possession of liturgical objects. In another, persons were arrested, in the past, merely because photographs of a spiritual leader had been found in their homes or for the possession of holy writings and images. Members of a particular religious community which was persecuted in one country have been imprisoned for displaying their article of faith on buildings, banners or insignia. Elsewhere the efforts of the faithful to import the holy writ of their religion have been punished by ill-treatment and imprisonment. In another country, several cases of restriction of this freedom have been reported, such as the arrest of several members of a religious community, for having secretly used a press to print holy images and calendars; the fact that the use of certain liturgical objects has been