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External sources (not reviewed)

The Lahore group, which is known as the Ahmadis and is considerably smaller than the Qadiyanis, has sought to win converts to Islam rather than its own particular sect.

Individuals are entitled to determine for themselves their attitude to religion, to practise any religion either alone or in association with others or to refrain from doing so, and have the right to participate in religious worship, rituals and ceremonies, etc.

Such manifestations of hatred against minority groups, but also against religious converts and persons conducting missionary activities, was generally the result of a paradoxical combination of fear and contempt.

It recommended that Saudi Arabia: (a) consider, as a first step, amending domestic legislation on the death penalty in order to restrict its scope and adjust it to the international minimum standards on the death penalty and consider establishing a moratorium on the use of the death penalty with a view to its abolition; (b) consider the withdrawal of the general reservation made upon ratification of CEDAW, whereby, in the event of a conflict between the provisions of Islamic law and those of the Convention, the former shall prevail; (c) reform its legislation on religious freedom in order to ensure adequate protection for all religious minorities, with a view to gradually allowing public practice of other faiths and beliefs.

The Committee is further concerned about reports that some children are placed in Buddhist monasteries and converted to Buddhism without their parents’ knowledge or consent and that the Government seeks to induce members of the Naga ethnic group, including children, in Sagaing Division to convert to Buddhism.

According to these scholars, many people converted to Christianity, stopped planting their crops, confessed their sins, and forgave each other their debts.

The Committee recommends that the State party amend its current legislation to modify current requirements relating to the proof of intent for the criminal offence of incitement to racism; that it provide a more comprehensive mechanism of protection by extending the power to investigate and indict to other bodies of the judiciary; and that it expand the definition of racism to include incitement on account of ethnic origin, country of origin, and religious affiliation, when there is intersectionality of these elements, so as to equally protect Ethiopians, Russians, Sephardim, and any other groups that are currently not sufficiently protected by the Law.

The Committee recommends that the State party cease placing children in Buddhist monasteries and converting them to Buddhism without their parents’ knowledge or consent, and inducing members of the Naga ethnic group, including children, to convert to Buddhism.

OIC also understood that the freedom to adopt a religion or belief of one’s choice and the freedom to manifest religion were applicable to both the individual and the religious community to which the individual belonged.

She emphasized that the right to adopt a religion of one’s choice, to change or to maintain a religion is a core element of the right to freedom of religion or belief and may not be limited in any way by the State.122The Special Rapporteur recommended that the Representation of the Peoples Act (1951) be scrupulously implemented, including the provision on disqualification for membership in Parliament and state legislatures of persons who promote feelings of enmity or hatred between different classes of the citizens of India on grounds of religion, race, caste, community or language.123 45.

The Lahore group, which is known as the Ahmadis and is considerably smaller than the Qadiyanis, has sought to win converts to Islam rather than its own particular sect.

Stresses that everyone has the right to freedom of thought, conscience and religion or belief, which includes the freedom to have or to adopt a religion or belief of one’s choice, and the freedom, either alone or in community with others and in public or private, to manifest one’s religion or belief in teaching, practice, worship and observance, including the right to change one’s religion or belief

Another, Yayasan Bethmidrash Talmiddin, run by a Muslim convert to Christianity, uses Arabic calligraphy on the cover of its booklets, suggesting they are Islamic in content, and requires every student at its school as a graduation requirement to convert five people.

When women feared being ostracized by society if they returned to their original religion after being forced to convert, religious institutions and authorities certainly had a role to play, although the State also needed to intervene to protect such women.

Concerning freedom of belief and freedom to engage in the observances of other religions in the Kingdom, the position of the Islamic Shari’a in this regard is clear and categorical.

The Abbasids were Arabs descended from the Prophet's uncle, but the movement they led involved Arabs and non-Arabs, including many Persians, who had converted to Islam and who demanded the equality to which they were entitled in Islam.

In 2009, the Special Rapporteur on freedom of religion or belief indicated that the laws and bills on religious conversion in several Indian states should be reconsidered, particularly because of discriminatory provisions and vague or broad terminology.

In 2009, the Special Rapporteur on freedom of religion or belief recalled the recommendation made by CERD to restore the eligibility for affirmative action benefits of all members of SC and ST having converted to another religion.