A/HRC/37/49/Add.1 I. Introduction 1. The Special Rapporteur on freedom of religion or belief conducted his first official visit to Albania from 8 to 17 May 2017, at the invitation of the Government. This was also the first visit to Albania by the mandate. During his visit, the Special Rapporteur met with numerous government officials and civil society actors 1 in the capital, Tirana, and in other cities, including Korce, Shkoder, Kavaje and Gjirokaster. Discussions focused on the general state of freedom of religion or belief in the country; existing laws, regulations and practices promulgated by the Government to ensure respect for this fundamental right and which promote tolerance; challenges faced by the Government in its quest to ensure the full realization of the right to freedom of religion or belief in Albania; and steps it can take to make sure this happens. 2. The Special Rapporteur appreciated the constructive cooperation extended to him by representatives of various government offices and agencies, which were determinant to the success of his fact-finding mission. On the basis of this first visit, the Special Rapporteur looks forward to developing an ongoing dialogue with Albania aimed at building constructive cooperation conducive to further fostering and strengthening the exercise of freedom of religion and belief in the country in the coming years. Critical to that goal will be the Government’s continued commitment and efforts to take into consideration and implement the recommendations made by the Special Rapporteur in the context of the work currently underway to implement relevant recommendations formulated by the wider United Nations human rights system. 3. The Special Rapporteur is also appreciative of the support given by the United Nations country team, which provided critical logistical and technical support both before and during his visit. He is grateful to the individuals who took the time to share their unique and valuable experiences, ideas, what they viewed as best practices, as well as reflections on the challenges of promoting respect for the right to freedom of religion or belief. Those interactions were both useful and constructive, and left the mandate holder with a sense of confidence that, despite challenges which continue to limit, restrict or vitiate the freedom of religion or belief and undermine tolerance among communities around the globe today, religious pluralism and interfaith harmony can and do play an integral role in safeguarding fundamental human rights in Albania and elsewhere. 4. The Special Rapporteur presented the preliminary findings of his country visit to Albania on 17 May 2017. Building on them, the findings, conclusions and recommendations in the present report provide a further, more elaborated assessment, on the basis of which to build and nurture the dialogue and cooperation necessary to foster the right to religion and belief in the country. This assessment focuses on both best practices observed (i.e. the legal and practical aspects of the Albanian experience) — which Albania has committed to deploy to protect and promote religious freedom, pluralism and interfaith harmony — and the challenges Albania faces in ensuring that the right to freedom of religion or belief is fully realized and sustainable. II. Background and context A. Cooperation with United Nations human rights mechanisms 5. Albania is party to all the core human rights treaties and was a member of the Human Rights Council in the period 2015–2017. The Committee against Torture 1 During his visit, the Special Rapporteur met with representatives from numerous government agencies working on issues relating to the right to freedom of religion or belief, along with the United Nations country team in Albania. The mandate holder also met with members of civil society, including faith communities, their leaders and advocates, and other relevant individuals and organizations, including human rights activists and defenders. 3