A/HRC/15/53
accompanied by her husband, had brought her baby to see the doctor. When they were
called in to the see the doctor, the doctor told the father that only he could go in with the
baby. When the mother insisted that she should enter as the baby’s mother, the doctor
reportedly replied that he did not want anybody wearing a niqab helping or entering his
consultation room because of his religious convictions.
19.
In April 2010, the eighteenth amendment to the Constitution of the Islamic Republic
of Pakistan was passed, including a provision that reserves the post of Prime Minister to a
Muslim individual. As a result, article 91 of the Constitution now reads “after the election
of the Speaker and the Deputy Speaker, the National Assembly shall, to the exclusion of
any other business, proceed to elect without debate one of its Muslim members to be Prime
Minister”.
20.
According to reports, members of the Rohingya Muslim community in Myanmar
need to obtain permission to marry. If they get married in a religious way only, which is not
considered as an official marriage, they may be imprisoned. These measures are only
reportedly imposed on Rohingya Muslims and only in North Arakan, Myanmar. In
addition, under the 1982 Citizenship Act, the vast majority of the Rohingyas are still denied
Myanmar citizenship, which has curtailed the full exercise of their civil, cultural, economic,
political and social rights and led to various discriminatory practices.
21.
In Pakistan, Muslims are required to solemnly declare in their passport application
form that they “do not recognize any person who claims to be prophet in any sense of the
word or of any description whatsoever after Muhammad (peace be upon him) or recognize
such claimant as prophet or a religious reformer as a Muslim” and that they “consider
Mirza Ghulam Ahmad Quadiani to be an imposter nabi and also consider his followers
whether belonging to the Lahori or Quadiani Group to be NON-MUSLIM”.
22.
In the Maldives, it is not possible for non-Muslims to obtain Maldivian citizenship.
Section 2 (a) of the Citizenship Act provides that in order for a person to become a citizen
of the Maldives he or she must satisfy a number of conditions, including being a Muslim.
Moreover, the Peoples’ Special Majlis (Constitutional Assembly) reportedly approved on
19 November 2007, an amendment to the Constitution of the Republic of Maldives,
requiring all Maldivian citizens to be Muslims. As a result, article 9 (d) of the 2008
Constitution now reads: “Despite the provisions of article (a) a non-Muslim may not
become a citizen of the Maldives.”
23.
In Saudi Arabia, non-Muslims are reportedly not permitted to get Saudi citizenship
and no places of worship other than mosques are permitted in the country. As a result,
individuals have been arrested and detained for non-Muslim worship, even though the
worship was non-public. For instance, in March 2009, three Indian Christians were detained
after holding a private religious gathering in the Eastern Province, which gathering was
raided by members of the Commission to Promote Virtue and Prevent Vice. The latter
allegedly confiscated religious materials. The three Indian Christians were released a few
days later.
24.
In Angola, it was alleged that a number of Christian groups and the Muslim
community in Angola had not been granted legal recognition, despite having submitted
several applications for registration with domestic authorities. Reportedly, other religious
minorities had no chance of recognition. Indeed, in accordance with the registration
requirements, a religious group must have at least 100,000 adherents to qualify for
registration; the adherents must be adults and reside in the national territory; their
signatures must be recognized by a notary; and they must come from at least two-thirds of
all the provinces of Angola.
25.
Several cases of discrimination against individuals based on religion or belief are
referred to by Asma Jahangir, Special Rapporteur on freedom of religion or belief, in her
6
GE.10-14999
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