A/HRC/31/69 the Special Rapporteur on the promotion and protection of the right to freedom of opinion and expression; as well as requests from the Working Group on the issue of discrimination against women in law in practice and the Working Group on Enforced or Involuntary Disappearances. 6. A total of 24 communications concerning pressing developments or emerging issues detailed in the present report and/or appealing for remedy were transmitted by the Special Rapporteur to the Government in 2015. Of these, 16 were urgent actions and 6 were allegation letters joined by several thematic special procedure mandate holders. The Government responded to 9 (38 per cent). 7. The Government has also continued to respond at length to his reports to the Human Rights Council and the General Assembly, including the present report. The responses, which are summarized in the report, include the Government’s assertions that it accepted 65 per cent of the recommendations received in the second cycle of the universal periodic review in 2014, that it has replied to “almost all” of the communications received from special rapporteurs and that representatives of seven special procedures have visited the Islamic Republic of Iran. The Special Rapporteur notes that the last such visit occurred in 2005. B. Methodology of the report 8. In the present report the Special Rapporteur presents information originating with the Government of the Islamic Republic of Iran and relayed by alleged victims of human rights violations and civil society actors located both inside and outside the country. This information includes data gathered from the Government’s responses to communications transmitted jointly by special procedure mandate holders in 2015; from websites maintained by various branches and agencies of the Government; from national stakeholder reports submitted by the Government for the universal periodic review; and from statements published either by national media sources or by individual government officials. 9. The Special Rapporteur also presents details of 128 interviews with Iranians who reported violations of their rights or the rights of others during the reporting period. He conducted 48 of these interviews himself during a fact-finding mission to the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, France and Canada from 12 to 21 December 2015; an additional 80 interviews with Iranians inside the country and elsewhere were conducted between 1 October 2015 and 1 February 2016. The Special Rapporteur wishes to express his gratitude to the Governments of all three countries for having hosted his visits. Information contained in open letters, confidential communications and reports emerging from the Islamic Republic of Iran and reports submitted to special procedure mandate holders by credible human rights organizations were also considered. Existing laws, including those recently adopted by the parliament, and draft legislation that affect concerns identified during the 2014 universal periodic review and by other human rights mechanisms were also examined. In its response to the present report, the Government alleges that the sources are “mostly unreliable” and concludes that its content is “the best proof” that the Special Rapporteur’s appointment was “unwarranted”. II. Criminal laws and the administration of justice 10. A total of 72 recommendations concerning the administration of justice were submitted by Member States during the second cycle of the universal periodic review of the Islamic Republic of Iran in 2014. The Government accepted 3 of these recommendations (see A/HRC/28/12 and Corr.1 and Add.1). 3