A/61/340 II. Activities of the mandate A. Communications 12. In the period preceding the submission of the present report, the Special Rapporteur has continued to send communications to Governments on cases and situations that raise concerns in terms of freedom of religion or belief. 13. The Special Rapporteur receives a large number of reports and individual complaints about alleged violations of the right to freedom of religion or belief. In this respect, while all reports or complaints do not become the subject of formal communications to Governments, they are compiled to enable a broader assessment of tendencies and patterns on which she can elaborate in her various general reports. The information she receives also enables her to closely monitor ongoing situations to allow her to intervene at the most appropriate moment. 14. From 1 July 2005 until 30 June 2006, the Special Rapporteur sent a total of 92 communications. B. Country visits 15. The Special Rapporteur would like to thank all those Governments that have invited her to carry out a country visit. She has experienced a very satisfactory level of cooperation from the Governments of those countries she has visited. In this regard, she was particularly impressed by the exceptional level of cooperation extended by the Government of Azerbaijan. 16. Special procedures mandate holders can rarely freely select the countries to visit. It is often the case that countries of particular concern for certain mandates remain closed to them. There is also some informal understanding between mandate holders to streamline their visits and requests according to the priority of concerns in a particular country. For this reason, the Special Rapporteur has not always been able to maintain a regional balance among the countries she has visited. 17. Moreover, she notes with satisfaction that, despite the vibrant civil society that exists in Latin American countries, only a few reports on situations or cases that raise a concern for her mandate come from this region. While no country is spared problems of religious intolerance, there are regional and subregional variations in the intensity of the problem. 18. Country visits are crucial to the activities of the mandate and serve many purposes. In addition to providing immediate support to victims and human rights defenders, the monitoring aspects of the mandate are best served through first-hand interaction, which is an essential aspect of country visits. Any country mission enhances the expertise of the mandate holder. The diversity of experiences in this regard allows for better analysis and enables the mandate holder to identify best practices and effective policies and to think creatively while remaining practical in drawing conclusions and making recommendations. 19. The country visits throw light on the various patterns of human rights concerns for the mandate. They also challenge the Special Rapporteur to identify the root causes of the problems and, as a result, to make recommendations that will prove to be effective. 06-52068 5