E/CN.4/1996/95/Add.2 page 24 113. Concerning the Protestants, the Special Rapporteur recommends that the legal status of some religious associations, including the Universal Church, should be clarified through rehabilitation. 114. The Protestant communities should be able to engage in their religious activities in full freedom, except where restrictions are provided for in internationally recognized standards. To that end, the Special Rapporteur recommends that the ban on the Bible Society of Iran and on the Garden of Evangelism should be lifted and that freedom to write, print and disseminate religious publications, including the Bible, should be fully respected. 115. On the specific question of places of worship and access thereto, the Special Rapporteur strongly recommends that all bans and restrictions should be lifted. The conduct of services and the language used therein should also be left entirely to the discretion of the ministers of religion concerned, who should be able to engage in their religious activities and choose their mode of expression without being subjected to any pressure. 116. Likewise, with regard to proselytism, conversion and apostasy, the Special Rapporteur reaffirms the need to respect internationally recognized standards in the field of human rights, including freedom to change one’s religion and freedom to manifest one’s religion or belief, either individually or in community with others and in public or private, barring necessary restrictions provided for by law. In fact, the conversion of Muslims to another religion should in no way give rise to pressures, bans or restrictions on the Protestant community, on the converts or on ministers of religion. 117. The Special Rapporteur notes the severe traumatism caused by the murders of Protestant pastors who, as leaders of their community, were fervent defenders of tolerance and non-discrimination based on religion or belief; he shares the strong feelings to which those murders gave rise. Regardless of the motives for those criminal acts, the Special Rapporteur strongly condemns them and sincerely hopes that such crimes will not recur, so that the Protestant community, as well as all the other communities, can live fully without fear, compulsion or self-censorship. 118. Lastly, the Special Rapporteur welcomes the first signs of an improvement in some fields and in some cases, including freedom of movement, and encourages its extension to all the rights recognized in the various international human rights instruments. Notes 1/ The Armenian and Assyro-Chaldean minorities, in particular; the Orthodox, Catholic and Protestant minorities as well. 2/ See chap. I.A.3., para. 17, which summarizes the reply by the Minister for Foreign Affairs. -----