E/CN.4/1995/91 page 5 arrest and detention, torture or ill-treatment suffered by the victims of religious intolerance, as well as attempts on their lives. In addition, some of the reports received referred to the desecration, or even the destruction, of religious sanctuaries or property and cemeteries. This state of affairs prompted the Special Rapporteur to ask some Governments specific and concrete questions, particularly when the allegations made against them contained descriptions of specific cases of individuals persecuted on the basis of their religion or beliefs, or of places of worship which had been damaged. These questions were in many cases accompanied by requests for legislative and other relevant texts. In some cases, having been notified in good time of serious allegations, concerning amongst others harassment, arbitrary detention and attempts on people’s lives, the Special Rapporteur decided to resort to the urgent appeal procedure (see chap. II). The Special Rapporteur is particularly grateful for the efforts of those Governments which attempted to shed light on the allegations submitted to them, in accordance with the wish expressed by the Commission on Human Rights in its resolution 1994/53, to the effect that Governments should respond "expeditiously to requests for information made to them through the procedures, so that the thematic special rapporteurs concerned ... may carry out their mandates effectively". The replies provided by Governments are invaluable in enabling the Special Rapporteur to reach an informed opinion on the situation in a given country with regard to religious freedom. As for the follow-up to allegations communicated to Governments and the replies received from them, the Special Rapporteur has reported his views and observations and has reverted to specific situations whenever the problems and manifestations of religious intolerance so required, or as long as Government replies - or the lack of them - failed to provide the necessary clarification. The Special Rapporteur will also in future apply himself to studying the question of Governments which do not furnish replies to the allegations transmitted to them, a problem to which he wishes to call the Commission’s attention. In accordance with his mandate and with resolution 1994/18, in which the Commission encouraged the Special Rapporteur to consider whether the programme of advisory services in the field of human rights might be of assistance in certain situations, at the request of States, and to make appropriate recommendations in that regard, the Rapporteur, after a meeting with representatives of the programme of advisory services, has put forward a number of recommendations in that respect (chap. IV). Recalling that, in resolution 1994/18, the Commission encouraged Governments to give serious consideration to inviting the Special Rapporteur to visit their countries so as to enable him to fulfil his mandate even more effectively, the Special Rapporteur wishes to emphasize the importance which he attaches to visits to be made in situ in order to further the dialogue already initiated with many Governments and also to better appreciate the full complexity of the situations of religious intolerance which he is, and will be, called upon to encounter during his mandate.