A/HRC/6/5 page 5 I. INTRODUCTION 1. The present report is submitted pursuant to Human Rights Council resolution 4/10 of 30 March 2007, in which the Council recalled all resolutions on the elimination of all forms of intolerance and of discrimination based on religion or belief that have been adopted by the General Assembly and by the Commission on Human Rights and requested the Special Rapporteur on freedom of religion or belief to report on this issue to the Council at its sixth session. 2. In March 2007, the Special Rapporteur has presented her annual report to the fourth session of the Council (A/HRC/4/21) and will shortly submit her interim report to the Third Committee of the General Assembly which will also include an update of her mandate activities. Against this background, the Special Rapporteur takes advantage of the present report to focus on substantive questions and intends to give an overview of the mandate’s issues of concern according to the categories of her framework for communications. This structure enables her to summarize the pressing issues, as analysed during the 21 years of mandate practice, with regard to intolerance and discrimination based on religion or belief. 3. The framework for communications assembles and categorizes the international human rights standards pertaining to freedom of religion or belief. These standards can be found in covenants, treaties, general comments, declarations and resolutions ratified or adopted by States or competent United Nations bodies. The full text of the framework for communications was annexed to the Special Rapporteur’s last report to the Commission on Human Rights (E/CN.4/2006/5, annex) and enables her to determine which elements, if any, of the mandate are raised by the allegations received. In the meantime, the Special Rapporteur has developed this framework into an online digest which illustrates the international standards with pertinent excerpts of the mandate-holders’ findings since 1986 according to the substantive categories. The online digest is available on the website of the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights.1 The Special Rapporteur used the framework’s categories also in many of her observations in the latest report on the summary of cases transmitted to Governments and replies received (A/HRC/4/21/Add.1). 4. In her conclusions and recommendations contained in the present report, the Special Rapporteur assesses the situation with regard to freedom of religion or belief worldwide. She urges all States and non-State actors to abide by the applicable international human rights standards and she recommends preventive measures in order to ensure a peaceful coexistence of the members of various religions and beliefs as well as non-believers. II. OVERVIEW OF THE MANDATE’S ISSUES OF CONCERN 5. The Special Rapporteur wishes to provide a tour d’horizon of the mandate’s issues of concern according to the categories of her framework for communications. The first category deals with elements of the right to freedom of religion or belief and the right to manifest one’s 1 http://www.ohchr.org/english/issues/religion/standards.htm.