A/HRC/23/39 I. Introduction 1. This second report of the Special Rapporteur on the rights to freedom of peaceful assembly and of association is submitted to the Human Rights Council pursuant to Council resolutions 15/21 and 21/16. This report describes the activities carried out by the mandate holder over the period 1 May 2012 to 28 February 2013, and addresses two key issues repeatedly evoked during the interactive dialogue with Council’s Member States in June 2012, namely, funding of associations and holding peaceful assemblies. In the light of Council resolution 21/16, specific attention is also paid to the importance of freedom of peaceful assembly and of association to the work of civil society actors, including with respect to the progressive realization of economic, social and cultural rights. 2. In the preparation of this report, the Special Rapporteur convened a two-day expert meeting on 8 and 9 December 2012 in Mombasa, Kenya. He also took into account relevant elements of work available within the Council1 3. As already highlighted in his first thematic report, the Special Rapporteur underlines that the rights to freedom of peaceful assembly and of association are interrelated and interdependent, but they are also two separate rights. The present report will therefore cover the right to freedom of association and the right to freedom of peaceful assembly. II. Activities A. Communications 4. A total of 170 communications were sent by the Special Rapporteur from 1 May 2012 to 28 February 2013. Observations on communications addressed throughout the year are contained in an addendum of the present report (A/HRC/23/39/Add.2). B. Country visits 5. The Special Rapporteur conducted a country mission from 14 to 23 January 2013 to the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland. He thanks the Government of the United Kingdom for its exemplary collaboration prior to and throughout his visit (see A/HRC/23/39/Add.2). He further thanks Azerbaijan, Chile, Guatemala, Honduras, the Kyrgyz Republic, the Maldives, Rwanda and Tunisia for extending invitations to him, and hopes to honour these invitations in the near future. C. Participation in various events 6. From 1 May 2012 to 28 February 2013, the Special Rapporteur participated in the following events organized by States and international and regional human rights mechanisms: • Seminar entitled “Human Rights Defenders and Peaceful Protest”, organized by the Norwegian Ministry for Foreign Affairs (Oslo,2 6-8 June 2012); 1 Country situations mentioned in the present report have been the subject of communications sent to Governments, as well as press releases issued by special procedures mandate holders and high-level United Nations officials. 3