A/HRC/19/60 I. Introduction 1. The mandate of the Special Rapporteur on freedom of religion or belief was established by the Commission on Human Rights in its resolution 1986/20 and renewed by the Human Rights Council in its resolution 6/37. On 18 June 2010, the Special Rapporteur‟s mandate was extended for a further period of three years by the Human Rights Council through its resolution 14/11. 2. During the fourteenth session of the Council, Heiner Bielefeldt was appointed as Special Rapporteur on freedom of religion or belief. Since taking office on 1 August 2010, the Special Rapporteur has been committed to continuing the work of the previous mandate holders, in a spirit of cooperation with States and all relevant stakeholders. The Special Rapporteur wishes to highlight the excellent support provided by the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, in particular its Special Procedures Branch. 3. In the present report, the Special Rapporteur first gives an overview of the mandate activities since the submission of the previous report to the Human Rights Council (A/HRC/16/53) (chap. II). He then focuses on the theme of freedom of religion or belief and recognition issues, referring to due respect for the status of right holders, fair provision of legal personality status and questions concerning privileged status positions for certain religious or belief communities (chap. III). In his conclusions, the Special Rapporteur notes the importance of clearly distinguishing different meanings within the concept of State recognition in order to avoid possible misunderstandings that could negatively affect the implementation of freedom of religion or belief, or undermine its status as a universal human right (chap. IV). II. Activities of the Special Rapporteur 4. The Special Rapporteur‟s activities include sending communications to States concerning individual cases, conducting official country visits, participating in meetings with representatives of States, religious or belief communities and civil society organizations, as well as delivering speeches and issuing public statements. In this chapter, the Special Rapporteur has clustered the overview of recent mandate activities under five headings pursuant to Human Rights Council resolutions 6/37 and 14/11. A. Promotion of the adoption of measures at the national, regional and international levels to ensure the promotion and protection of the right to freedom of religion or belief 5. At the national level, the Special Rapporteur held consultations with members of the executive and legislative bodies during his country visits to Paraguay and the Republic of Moldova in 2011, with a view to promoting and protecting the right to freedom of religion or belief. In Paraguay, the Special Rapporteur participated in a session of the Human Rights Network of the Executive, chaired by the Ministry of Justice, in which possibilities of adopting measures to promote and protect freedom of religion or belief in Paraguay, especially with regard to members of indigenous peoples, were discussed. In the Republic of Moldova, the Special Rapporteur was invited to participate in a round table on the revision of the 2007 Law on Religious Denomination and their Component Parts, organized by the Ministry of Justice and the United Nations in the Republic of Moldova on 6 September 2011, to which religious communities and civil society organizations had also been invited. The Special Rapporteur is grateful for the opportunity to attend this 4