E/CN.4/1991/56 page 4 II. ACTIVITIES OF THE SPECIAL RAPPORTEUR A. Consideration of general information relating to the implementation of the Declaration on the Elimination of All Forms of Intolerance and of Discrimination Based on Religion or Belief, including replies to a questionnaire 16. In the implementation of his mandate and in order to appraise better the constitutional and legal guarantees of freedom of thought, conscience, religion and belief, the Special Rapporteur has been collecting information transmitted to him by Governments, non-governmental organizations and other religious and lay sources, with a view to acquainting himself with the measures taken by States to combat intolerance, and incidents and governmental actions which might be inconsistent with the provisions of the Declaration. The Special Rapporteur wishes to express his gratitude for the thorough and detailed explanations as well as the voluminous legal documentation he has received in this regard. 17. On the basis of the information provided by Governments concerning legislation, the complaints regarding religious discrimination and intolerance received over the years, the answers of Governments concerning these allegations, and in view of the fact that his mandate is not to evaluate national legislation with regard to religious intolerance, the Special Rapporteur decided to examine specific questions that he felt needed additional clarification, within the limitations of his mandate. He therefore selected a number of general questions which he considered particularly relevant in light of the experience he has gained so far and addressed them on 25 July 1990 to all Governments in form of a questionnaire. 18. Most countries provided answers following the structure of the questionnaire. Their replies are reproduced in their totality and have only been summarized as far as purely historical references are concerned. A number of countries did not answer question by question but provided answers of a general nature, excerpts from legislation, or referred to earlier replies. Some countries gave interim replies. To the extent that material could be extracted from these answers, it has been reproduced. In other cases, a descriptive summary has been provided. As replies are still arriving, the Special Rapporteur intends to make an overall analysis in his next report. 19. At the time of the finalization of the present report, on 20 December 1990, replies had been received from the following Governments: Albania, Bahamas, Bahrain, Bangladesh, Chad, Chile, China, Colombia, Cuba, Dominica, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, Finland, Germany, Greece, Grenada, Indonesia, Iraq, Jamaica, Malta, Mexico, Morocco, New Zealand, Nicaragua, Norway, Oman, Romania, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Swaziland, Sweden, Switzerland, Tunisia, Union of Soviet Socialist Republics, Uruguay and Yugoslavia. 20. The following paragraphs reflect the questions sent out to the Governments and the answers provided by them.