A/HRC/13/40/Add.1 • The President of Pakistan had tasked the Federal Minister for Minority Affairs to remain seized with the matter till the complete normalization of the situation 211. The Government shared the above information as an interim response regarding different immediate steps taken by the Government in the aftermath of this sordid incident. Furthermore, it indicated to provide the Special Rapporteur with further details of the steps taken by the Government together with responses to the questions addressed in her letter. (c) Observations by the Special Rapporteur 212. The Special Rapporteur is grateful that the Government of Pakistan immediately replied to her communication of 5 August 2009. She is looking forward to receiving further details of the steps taken by the Government to guarantee that the rights and freedoms of the members of the Christian community are respected and accountability of any person guilty of the alleged violations is ensured. S. Saudi Arabia 1. Urgent appeal sent on 5 June 2008 jointly with the Chairperson-Rapporteur of the Working Group on arbitrary detention and the Special Rapporteur on the independence of judges and lawyers (a) Allegations transmitted to the Government 213. The Special Procedures mandate holders brought to the attention of the Government information they had received concerning eight Bahraini teachers, all of them Shi’a Muslims, namely Mr. Majid Abdalrasol Salman Al-Ghasra, Mr. Abbas Ahmed Ibrahim, Mr. Sayed Ahmed Alawi Abdullah, Mr. Issa A. Hasan Ahmed, Mr. Mohammed Hassan Ali Marhoon, Mr. Mohammad Abdullah Al-Moamen, Mr. Ebaraim Marzam and Mr. Mohamed Mahdi, who in April 2008 were arrested and detained at Hayr Prison in Riyadh. Summaries of this communication as well as observations of the Special Rapporteur are already reproduced in A/HRC/10/8/Add.1, paras. 183-184. (b) Response from the Government dated 15 September 2008 214. By letter dated 15 September 2008, the Government informed the Special Procedures mandate holders that the competent authorities in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia indicated that the eight Bahraini teachers had been released few weeks ago and had returned to the Kingdom of Bahrain. (c) Observations by the Special Rapporteur 215. The Special Rapporteur is grateful that the Government of Saudi Arabia replied to the joint urgent appeal of 5 August 2009. T. 1. Sri Lanka Communication sent on 20 November 2009 as a follow-up to the Special Rapporteur’s country visit to Sri Lanka in May 2005 216. In a follow-up letter of 20 November 2009, the Special Rapporteur reiterated her appreciation for the cooperation of the Government in relation to her visit to Sri Lanka from 2 to 12 May 2005. She emphasized that follow-up to country reports was of central importance to the cooperation and dialogue between mandate holders and States. Referring 51