A/HRC/31/18/Add.1 not with any proof of marriage. This has serious implications for their children. The Special Rapporteur was informed of alleged death threats made to a child born to a couple whose civil marriage had been registered in Lebanon, where the child is regarded as a “natural child”, a status that will entail difficulties in registering the child for school. The practice of registering civil marriages was discontinued by decision of the Minister of the Interior. C. Calls for legal reforms 72. During his discussions, the Special Rapporteur sensed varying degrees of openness to reforms in marriage law, not least also among religious dignitaries and members of various religious communities, Christians as well as Muslims. Indeed, the absence of civil law options in Lebanon creates situations that are problematic also from the perspective of freedom of religion or belief. For instance, Catholics wishing to find a way out of an unhappy marriage often convert to Islam. Others convert to other Christian denominations that have a more lenient approach to divorce. The availability of a civil law alternative would certainly not alter the strict interpretation of the indissolubility of marriage under Catholic canon law; however, people would at least be less likely to turn to another religion without really believing in its teachings. Significantly, after having formally converted to Islam, some wish to return to their previous religious community, which may be difficult or even impossible. In such cases, the question of what “conversion” actually means, and how genuine it is, needs to be asked. While ultimately no one has the right to pass judgement on the authenticity of another person’s conversion, religious law relating to matters of personal status raises issues in this regard because it mixes religious and legal motives. It should be recalled that, in exceptional cases, persons convert from one branch of Islam to another (for example, from Sunni to Shia Islam) in order to benefit from more favourable inheritance conditions. 73. Those wishing to uphold the existing system of religious laws pertaining to personal status value the current system as an anchor of stability for religious pluralism. While appreciating this reason, the Special Rapporteur believes that a civil marriage option available to all in Lebanon would not necessarily weaken the legacy of religious diversity; indeed, the opposite may be true. Religion is ultimately a matter of conviction that thrives best in an atmosphere of freedom. That coercion should never be intermingled with religious issues is a principle found in most religious traditions, and an insight that lies at the heart of the human right to freedom of religion or belief. 74. The Special Rapporteur reiterates in this context that coercion comes not only in the form of violent persecution; in more subtle ways, it also exists within the enforcement mechanisms of legal norms through which very important issues such as marriage, divorce or custody of one’s children are regulated on t he basis of an ascribed faith. VII. Regional dynamics A. Violence committed in the name of religion 75. In the Middle East and beyond, people are witnessing acts of cruelty beyond imagination that affect millions of people. The description of these acts as “barbaric” seems to suggest that they belong to a totally different era, disconnected from the 18