E/CN.4/2006/5/Add.3 page 19 October 2004 in Kattankudy, their place of worship and the residences or properties of some of their members were allegedly attacked by a mob of approximately 500 people lead by Muslim organizations. The properties were either destroyed or set on fire and several members of the society were injured. The police arrested eight alleged perpetrators who were later released on bail. Meanwhile, some mainstream Muslim organizations continued to threaten the members of the society to force them to abandon their belief. As the police reportedly failed to provide protection to the victims of these attacks, they had to flee and find refuge in Colombo. Since then, they have not been able to return to their properties because of continued threats and the absence of appropriate measures by the authorities. 101. As in other countries, the Ahmadiyyas community’s main difficulty is that its members are not recognized as Muslims by mainstream Muslims. As a result, they are also not recognized as Muslims by the authorities, which are under strong pressure from Islamic leaders, and face many obstacles in the exercise of their right to freedom of religion. The Ahmadiyyas cannot build a proper place of worship. Instead, they have a community centre in Negambo that they use for worship. Burials are particularly difficult because members of their community are refused access to Muslim cemeteries. They do not enjoy any form of tax exemption and they cannot offer long-term residence status to their foreign missionaries. In their daily life, Ahmadiyyas are also the object of insults by the Muslim population and Ahmadiyya children attending Muslim schools are rarely accepted. 102. Finally, women’s groups complained that there was a constant pressure on Muslim women by their community leaders to dress “modestly” and to preserve “Islamic social values”. The Special Rapporteur was not, however, presented with actual cases, policies or laws that discriminated against Muslim women. She is therefore not in a position to draw any conclusions on this subject. 5. Others 103. The Special Rapporteur was informed that Sri Lanka did not offer any legal framework for those citizens who do not believe in any religion. In this regard, the obligation to follow religious education at school may constitute an infringement on the right to freedom of religion, which includes the right not to believe 15 . 104. The Special Rapporteur has noted that violence occurs in and between all religious groups. In this respect, she has received reports according to which members of the Jehovah Witnesses community were allegedly attacked by a mob of 200 Catholics in Negambo on an unspecified date. VII. RESOLVING RELIGIOUS TENSIONS AND ALTERNATIVES TO THE DRAFT LEGISLATION ON CONVERSION 105. The Special Rapporteur considers that the criminalization of acts leading to so called “unethical” conversions is not an adequate response to existing religious tensions. Many interlocutors expressed their confidence that neither the Ministry bill nor the JHU Bill would ever be adopted by Parliament. The Special Rapporteur cannot however rely on this to eliminate the sources of her concerns.