E/CN.4/1997/91 page 2 Introduction 1. At its forty-second session, the Commission on Human Rights decided, in resolution 1986/20 of 10 March 1986, to appoint for one year a special rapporteur to examine incidents and governmental action in all parts of the world inconsistent with the provisions of the Declaration on the Elimination of All Forms of Intolerance and of Discrimination Based on Religion or Belief, and to recommend remedial measures for such situations. 2. In accordance with that resolution, the Special Rapporteur submitted his first report to the Commission at its forty-third session (E/CN.4/1987/35). At that same session, by resolution 1987/15 of 4 March 1987, the Commission extended for one year the mandate of the Special Rapporteur. 3. From 1988 onwards, the Special Rapporteur submitted yearly reports to the Commission (E/CN.4/1988/45 and Add.1; E/CN.4/1989/44; E/CN.4/1990/46; E/CN.4/1991/56; E/CN.4/1992/52; E/CN.4/1993/62 and Corr.1 and Add.1). The Commission decided twice to extend the Special Rapporteur's mandate for two years (resolutions 1988/55 and 1990/27), and then once for three years (resolution 1992/17) until 1995. 4. Mr. Abdelfattah Amor, who succeeded Mr. Angelo d'Almeida Ribeiro in 1993, submitted successive reports (E/CN.4/1994/79; E/CN.4/1995/91 and Add.1; E/CN.4/1996/95 and Add.1-2) to the Commission on Human Rights at its fiftieth, fifty-first and fifty-second sessions, as well as to the General Assembly at its fiftieth and fifty-first sessions. 5. By its resolution 1995/23, of 24 February 1995, the Commission on Human Rights decided to extend the Special Rapporteur's mandate for a further three years. 6. This report is submitted pursuant to Commission on Human Rights resolution 1996/23 of 19 April 1996. The Special Rapporteur has considered the status of communications sent since the Commission's fifty-second session, the importance of in situ visits and their follow-up, and the development of a culture of tolerance. I. STATUS OF COMMUNICATIONS SENT SINCE THE FIFTY-SECOND SESSION OF THE COMMISSION ON HUMAN RIGHTS 7. This discussion of the status of communications and replies concerns communications sent since the fifty-second session of the Commission on Human Rights, the replies or absence of replies from the States concerned, and late replies. 8. Because of drastic budget cuts, the Special Rapporteur has been unable to publish these communications and the replies from States, contrary to the practice followed since the establishment of the mandate. This constraint is highly detrimental to the paramount importance of the information and to its educational function, and ultimately constitutes a form of information censorship that seriously undermines the Special Rapporteur's mandate.