E/CN.4/2005/61 page 13 balance in the choice of countries visited. While she will give priority to visiting countries where there is a real concern with regard to the situation of freedom of religion or belief, she will also take the opportunity to carry out in situ visits in countries where the violation of certain principles enunciated in her mandate could lead to discrimination based on religion or belief. Moreover, in the idea of strengthening the efforts achieved during previous visits, she will consider undertaking follow-up visits, in order to assess the extent to which, and how, previous recommendations have been implemented by the Government concerned. 31. Since taking up the mandate, the Special Rapporteur has both followed up on requests for visits already made by her predecessor and requested invitations to States that have not been approached before. Currently, she has pending requests with the following countries: Bangladesh, Eritrea, Nigeria, Sri Lanka, the Islamic Republic of Iran, Kyrgyzstan, Azerbaijan, and Uzbekistan. Among these, Nigeria, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka have already responded positively to the Special Rapporteur, expressing their readiness for the Special Rapporteur to conduct a visit on their territory in the course of 2005. The Special Rapporteur wishes to thank these countries for their cooperation with the mandate on freedom of religion or belief. 32. The Special Rapporteur will continue to seek invitations for in situ visits from other countries. She also urges States to voluntarily extend an invitation for her to conduct such a visit. C. Geneva and New York: initial consultations 33. From 27 to 29 September 2004, the Special Rapporteur was in Geneva to hold consultations regarding her new mandate on freedom of religion or belief. At this time, she met with a number of representatives of Member States, including those sponsoring the resolution of the Commission on religious intolerance, as well as representatives of regional groups. She also met with various religious and human rights organizations, including some dealing specifically with the question of freedom of religion or belief. In particular, the International Religious Liberty Association organized a meeting following her appointment at the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights. The Special Rapporteur also met with staff of the Office of the High Commissioner. These meetings have greatly contributed in the definition of the priorities of the mandate for the coming years and the Special Rapporteur expresses her gratitude to all her interlocutors. 34. In October 2004, on the occasion of the presentation of her interim report to the General Assembly, the Special Rapporteur again held a number of similar meetings with States’ representatives, religious and human rights organizations as well as staff of the United Nations. III. PARTICULAR SITUATIONS INVOLVING VIOLATIONS OF FREEDOM OF RELIGION OR BELIEF 35. The particular situations and issues referred to below are presented and analysed under perspectives that are specific to the mandate on freedom of religion or belief, and certain situations may be referred to under several headings.