A/HRC/45/60 41. Since its previous report to the Council, the Mechanism has issued 18 formal requests for information to a variety of entities and individuals and has received information and materials from several entities or individuals. As stated above, the independent international fact-finding mission on Myanmar transferred information, which it had collected from witnesses and other information providers, to the Mechanism upon the mission’s completion of its mandate. In this regard, the Mechanism contacted a number of witnesses and other information providers to obtain informed consent for the Mechanism to potentially share their information with relevant entities in the future. Additionally, the Mechanism is currently in the process of negotiating two frameworks for cooperation, which would cover the provision of information to the Mechanism and the conduct of interviews. 42. It is important to note that the Mechanism seeks both inculpatory and exculpatory evidence. Exculpatory evidence could include: information that would indicate that events did not amount to a serious international crime or a violation of international law; or evidence that impacts on the credibility of witnesses. It could also include evidence of any efforts by those in leadership roles to prevent crimes or to punish those responsible for crimes through genuine investigations and, where appropriate, prosecutions of those responsible for crimes. The Mechanism welcomes information from Myanmar on all such domestic investigations and prosecutions relevant to its mandate and will continue to reach out and seek access. 43. In addition, as part of its collection and consolidation work, the Mechanism continues to identify and gather relevant material from open sources, including from the Internet, news media, public reporting and social media. The Mechanism has also been building up its expertise in open source investigations through partnerships with relevant professional and academic institutions, as well as through the specialized training of its personnel. 44. Given that its mandate is ongoing and covers any serious international crimes or violations of international law committed in Myanmar since 2011, the Mechanism also conducts contemporaneous monitoring of developments in Myanmar that may be relevant to its mandate. This process enables the Mechanism to become quickly aware of specific, potentially relevant incidents and events as they occur in Myanmar, and to prioritize incidents that warrant continued monitoring or investigation. The monitoring process also facilitates the formulation of the above-mentioned requests for information by enabling the prompt identification of potentially relevant information that may be in the possession of certain Member States, individuals or entities. 45. In addition to the ongoing processes discussed above, the Mechanism continues to review and analyse the material in its possession in order to identify evidence for inclusion in case files that could be shared with national, regional or international courts or tribunals with the requisite jurisdiction. One of the main priorities of the Mechanism thus far has been to analyse and assess the material it received from the independent international factfinding mission on Myanmar. 46. As regards the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the Mechanism’s substantive mandate, the Mechanism was able to quickly adjust and adapt the majority of its collection, consolidation, preservation, analysis and monitoring activities in order for them to be securely conducted by Mechanism personnel working remotely. Nonetheless, the movement and travel restrictions, which were imposed worldwide as a result of the pandemic, have caused significant uncertainty regarding the Mechanism’s ability to travel in the near future to locations where potential information sources and witnesses may be located and to meet directly with them. While the use of videoconferencing has been useful, the Mechanism remains restricted by its need to ensure the safety and security of its interlocutors, as well as the fact that not all interlocutors may have Internet access or sufficient data coverage in order to communicate with the Mechanism through such means. 47. In light of the above, the Mechanism has focused its efforts during the COVID-19 pandemic on the identification of potential information sources that can be contacted securely via electronic means, and on the collection and consolidation of information, documentation and evidence through open source investigations and written requests for information. At the same time, the Mechanism continues to prepare and plan for investigative missions in the future. Before deploying on such missions, the Mechanism will consider any restrictions related to the pandemic, any risk of Mechanism personnel on 8