A/HRC/34/53 6. The Special Rapporteur visited the Republic of Moldova from 20 to 29 June 2016. She called on the Government to further promote the linguistic rights of minorities and to strengthen the unity between various population groups in the country. She emphasized that diversity should be valued as an important asset and strength of the Republic of Moldova. She has observed that the use of the mother tongue is highly important and emotive for many communities and an essential aspect of personal and community identity. She therefore urged that measures be taken to minimize the politicization of the use of languages, which often leads to polarization and might threaten peaceful coexistence if not resolved. She stressed that the future of the Republic of Moldova must be shaped and defined on the basis of such values and principles as respect for human rights, good and inclusive governance and the protection of minority rights, not by geopolitical labels. 7. The Special Rapporteur visited Sri Lanka from 10 to 20 October 2016. She urged the Government to seize the momentum gained by the new administration and to show its commitment to minority rights through concrete action. She noted that to achieve peaceful coexistence after the long, devastating civil war, a comprehensive, well-planned and wellcoordinated truth, reconciliation, healing and accountability process must take place, and it could not be done overnight. However, she also stressed, that at the same time, the Government must rapidly put in place significant and concrete measures to clearly demonstrate its political will and commitment to better protect the dignity, identity, equality and right to participation in all walks of life of Sri Lanka’s minorities. B. Communications 8. The Special Rapporteur continued to send communications in the form of letters of allegation and urgent action letters relating to minority issues to Member States, the majority sent jointly with other relevant mandate holders. These are publicly available, together with the responses from the States concerned.2 C. Update on the Forum on Minority Issues 9. The Special Rapporteur was requested by the Human Rights Council, in its resolutions 6/15 and 19/23, to guide the work of the Forum on Minority Issues. The ninth session of the Forum was held in Geneva on 24 and 25 November 2016, with a thematic focus on minorities in situations of humanitarian crises. More than 500 delegates participated, including representatives of Member States, United Nations mechanisms, regional intergovernmental bodies, civil society and minorities. The recommendations of the Forum will be presented to the Council at its current session. D. Events and conferences 10. From 13 to 15 January 2016, the Special Rapporteur participated as a keynote speaker at a Wilton Park event in London titled “Protecting the rights of ethnic and religious minorities: addressing contemporary global challenges”. 11. On 24 and 25 January, she conducted an unofficial visit to Japan at the invitation of the Japan Federation of Bar Associations, where she delivered a keynote speech at a symposium on hate speech in the media and possible regulations. 2 4 See www.ohchr.org/EN/HRBodies/SP/Pages/CommunicationsreportsSP.aspx.