A/HRC/17/28* I. Introduction 1. Christof Heyns took up his functions as Special Rapporteur on extrajudicial, summary or arbitrary executions on 1 August 2010. This is his first annual report to the Human Rights Council. In the report, the Special Rapporteur gives an overview of the activities of the mandate over the past year, and in the thematic part, focuses on the preservation of life in the context of demonstrations. 2. The Special Rapporteur wishes to acknowledge the path-breaking work of his predecessors since 1982 in establishing the mandate, particularly his immediate predecessor, Philip Alston, for the courage and intellectual rigour that he brought to the post. The Special Rapporteur further expresses his commitment to be faithful to the best traditions that they have established, including the tradition of developing the mandate in an innovative manner in order to secure the right to life. II. Activities of the Special Rapporteur A. Communications 3. The present report covers communications sent by the Special Rapporteur between 16 March 2010 and 15 March 2011, and replies received between 1 May 2010 and 30 April 2011. The details of the communications, responses from Governments and observations of the Special Rapporteur are reflected in addendum 1 to this report (A/HRC/17/28/Add.1). During the period under review, the Special Rapporteur sent 123 communications to 54 countries and 3 actors (including 54 urgent appeals and 66 allegation letters). The main issues covered in the communications were the death penalty (23), deaths in custody (9), death penalty for minors (4), excessive use of force (29), impunity (3), attacks or killings (31), armed conflict (4), death threats (7) and other (13). The status of individuals who were the subject of concern with regard to application of the death penalty is contained in the annex attached hereto. B. Visits 4. The Special Rapporteur visited Zambia in March 2011 to conduct on-site research on the control of demonstrations, while the Government of Mexico has invited the Special Rapporteur to carry out an official mission to the country from 22 November to 2 December 2011. 5. In 2010, the Special Rapporteur sent requests for country visits to Eritrea, Thailand Turkey, Iran, Sri Lanka and Canada. 6. The previous mandate holder, Philip Alston, undertook visits to Albania from 15 to 23 February 2010, (see A/HRC/17/28/Add.3 for mission report), and Ecuador from 5 to 15 July 2010 (see A/HRC/17/28/Add.2 for mission report). Follow-up reports on missions undertaken by the previous mandate holder to Kenya, the United States of America and Afghanistan are contained in documents A/HRC/17/28/Add.4, A/HRC/17/28/Add.5 and A/HRC/17/28/Add.6 respectively. 3