A/HRC/4/21 page 2 Summary The present report is divided into four sections. The first section sets out the activities that have been carried out under the mandate since the submission of the last report to the Commission on Human Rights (E/CN.4/2006/5). The main pillars of the Special Rapporteur’s activities consist of sending communications, undertaking in situ visits and participating in international conferences. A total of 64 communications were sent to 34 different countries during the period from 1 December 2005 to 30 November 2006. Of these communications, 27 were urgent appeals and 37 were letters of allegation. Moreover, 39 of the communications, which addressed allegations of multiple human rights violations, were transmitted together with other special procedures. The Special Rapporteur considers that in situ visits are the best way to comprehensively and thoroughly assess the freedom of religion or belief in a particular country. She has carried out two such visits during the period under review, to Azerbaijan and to the Maldives. In addition to her regular country visits, the Special Rapporteur travelled to the Vatican where she held consultations with representatives of the Holy See. She welcomes the recent invitations from the Governments of Tajikistan, of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland and of Zimbabwe. Further to Human Rights Council decision 1/107, the Special Rapporteur prepared a thematic report on “Incitement to racial and religious hatred and the promotion of tolerance” for the second session of the Human Rights Council in September 2006 together with Doudou Diène, the Special Rapporteur on contemporary forms of racism, racial discrimination, xenophobia and related intolerance (A/HRC/2/3). In the course of the year, the Special Rapporteur also participated in a number of conferences and international meetings where she was able to establish or renew ties with governmental, intergovernmental and non-governmental representatives as well as academics active in the field of freedom of religion or belief. Taking stock of 20 years of mandate experience, the Special Rapporteur in the second section comments on the framework for communications she has been using since her previous report to the Commission (E/CN.4/2006/5, annex). Through the means of an envisaged online digest according to the categories of her framework for communications the Special Rapporteur intends to draw the attention of the government concerned to the relevant international standards and also to make the mandate practice more easily accessible for non-governmental organizations active in this field. The online framework will be available on the website of the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights at http://www.ohchr.org/english/issues/religion/standards.htm. In the third section of the report, the Special Rapporteur focuses on several issues of concern to her mandate. These relate to the vulnerable situation of women, violations linked to counter-terrorism measures as well as the situation of religious minorities and new religious movements. The fourth section of the report sets out her conclusions and recommendations. The allegations received by the Special Rapporteur lead to the conclusion that the protection of freedom of religion or belief and the implementation of the 1981 Declaration on the Elimination of All Forms of Intolerance and of Discrimination Based on Religion or Belief is far from being a reality. She emphasizes that there is an urgent need to eliminate the root causes of intolerance and discrimination and to remain vigilant with regard to freedom of religion or belief worldwide. It is equally crucial to depoliticize issues relating to religion or belief and to bring the discussion fully within the framework of human rights.