A/54/386 and Christian minorities. By this legislation, the State also forbids Ahmadis to claim allegiance to Islam (see mission report on Pakistan and communications on Pakistan in the general reports). Several other communications from the Special Rapporteur, particularly the one on Bangladesh concerning Taslima Nasreen, illustrate the danger that efforts to combat defamation (particularly blasphemy) may be manipulated for purposes contrary to human rights. 119. Mindful of the concerns which have been expressed by the Commission on Human Rights and which he himself has voiced, the Special Rapporteur will continue to devote special attention to the question of defamation and to formulate recommendations. B. Initiatives by States and non-governmental organizations 120. The Special Rapporteur wishes to thank Norway and the Holy See for the voluntary contributions made for the fulfilment of his mandate. 121. He welcomes the fact that a number of States are taking the initiative of transmitting to him information relevant to his mandate, particularly Belgium and Egypt this year. 122. The Special Rapporteur also thanks nongovernmental organizations for their initiatives, including the organization of conferences on subjects related to freedom of religion and belief, sending of books and all other relevant documentation and sharing of their expertise in specific areas. V. In situ visits and follow-up 123. In accordance with the resolutions of the Commission on Human Rights and of the General Assembly, the Special Rapporteur continued his efforts with respect to in situ visits. Two reports issued in 1999 dealt with visits made to the United States of America and Viet Nam during 1998; thus, the Special Rapporteur has carried out 10 missions since his appointment (see table 1 below). He plans to visit Turkey in December 1999. Unfortunately, as shown by table 2, the Governments of four States (Indonesia, Israel, Mauritius and the Russian Federation) which the Special Rapporteur has requested permission to visit (in some cases, as long ago as 1996) still have not replied. The Special Rapporteur has reminded these States of the need for cooperation, as stressed in Commission on Human 18 Rights resolution 1999/39, paragraph 9, which “calls upon all Governments to cooperate fully with the Special Rapporteur on religious intolerance, to respond favourably to requests from the Special Rapporteur to visit their countries and to give serious consideration to inviting the Special Rapporteur to visit so as to enable him to fulfil his mandate even more effectively”. In 1999, he addressed requests for in situ visits to Argentina, Bangladesh and the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea. 124. In addition to his requests for permission to make in situ visits and to conduct them in the field, the Special Rapporteur has continued his mission follow-up procedure, established in 1996, in order to elicit comments from States and information concerning measures planned or taken on the basis of the recommendations made in the mission reports. As seen in table 3, follow-up tables were sent to Australia and Germany in 1999; no reply has been received to date. Furthermore, it should be noted that Viet Nam submitted a preliminary reply (E/CN.4/1999/156) to the Special Rapporteur’s mission report to the Commission on Human Rights at its most recent session. While awaiting the more detailed reply which the Government has promised to submit, the Special Rapporteur will soon send follow-up tables to both Viet Nam and the United States of America.