E/CN.4/2002/73/Add.1 page 21 89. The representatives of the Jewish community explained that an effort was made to resolve problems in various spheres through dialogue. By way of example, despite a DAIA complaint against the government of Catamarca claiming discrimination in view of compulsory Catholic education in public schools in accordance with decision No. 1566/1999 of the provincial Ministry of Culture and Education, education officials in the province decided to maintain the decision, deemed in accordance with the Federal Constitution. However, following a dialogue with DAIA, the Governor of the province, on 25 April 2001, issued a decree revoking the impugned decision. 90. Representatives of the Jewish community stated that they had excellent relations with other communities, including Muslims. They stated that, following the outbreak of the Intifada in the occupied territories, DAIA and the Confederación de Entidades Argentino Arabes (FEARAB), representing Muslim and Christian Arabs, had signed a declaration of non-aggression under the auspices of INADI, later taken as a model throughout Latin America. The representatives stated that DAIA had been the first organization to intervene vis-à-vis the media regarding anti-Arab media campaigns in connection with arms trafficking by individual Arabs, so that the behaviour of the few should not be attributed to the community as a whole. 3. Muslim minority 91. Representatives of the Muslim community indicated that they enjoyed full freedom of religion and freedom to manifest their religion or belief, including religious ceremonies and the construction of places of worship and schools. 92. No statistics were available on the size of the Muslim community. Originally, and particularly since the mid-nineteenth century, it comprised Syrians and Lebanese from different branches of Islam, a situation that continues to this day. Thirty years ago, the Muslim community numbered some 800,000; today there were fewer than 400,000, a trend explained as follows: (a) Assimilation of many Muslims into Argentine society owing to the previous lack of religious education in the country of origin and the host country, with many mixed marriages over the years in the context of a fully open Argentine society; (b) A significant fall-off in Muslim migration to Argentina as a result of better economic opportunities in other countries. 93. In recent years, there had been an attempt to rediscover Islamic tradition. Conversions of non-Muslims to Islam had been apparent over the past 10 years; for example, some 300 conversions had been registered at the Buenos Aires Islamic Centre. The Muslim representatives estimated that Islam was the third largest religious community in Argentina. 94. The Muslim community had 17 mosques, including two in Buenos Aires (the newer, larger mosque having been funded by Saudi Arabia), schools and a hospital open to all. They had not encountered any difficulties with the government authorities and there were no problems of integration into Argentine society.