Freedom of religion

===Theistic, non-theistic and atheistic beliefs===
In 1993, the UN's human rights committee declared that article 18 of the [[International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights]] "protects theistic, non-theistic and atheistic beliefs, as well as the right not to profess any religion or belief."<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.refworld.org/docid/453883fb22.html|title=CCPR General Comment 22: 30/07/93 on ICCPR Article 18|work=Minorityrights.org}}</ref> The committee further stated that "the freedom to have or to adopt a religion or belief necessarily entails the freedom to choose a religion or belief, including the right to replace one's current religion or belief with another or to adopt atheistic views." Signatories to the convention are barred from "the use of threat of physical force or penal sanctions to compel believers or non-believers" to recant their beliefs or convert. Despite this, minority religions still are persecuted in many parts of the world.<ref>{{cite web |date=1 August 2003|title=Discrimination against religious minorities in Iran|author=International Federation for Human Rights|publisher=fdih.org|access-date=3 March 2009|url=http://www.fidh.org/IMG/pdf/ir0108a.pdf}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.law2.byu.edu/lawreview/archives/2002/2/dav2.pdf |title=The Evolution of Religious Liberty as a Universal Human Right |access-date=3 March 2009 |last=Davis |first=Derek H. |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110723210828/http://www.law2.byu.edu/lawreview/archives/2002/2/dav2.pdf |archive-date=23 July 2011 }}</ref>