A/HRC/11/4 page 2 Summary This report is submitted by the Special Rapporteur on the promotion and protection of the right to freedom of opinion and expression, Frank La Rue, pursuant to Human Rights Council resolution 7/36. This is the first annual report to be submitted by the current mandate-holder, whose term began on 1 August 2008. The report focuses on the Special Rapporteur’s main vision and priorities for the mandate. It reviews the terms of reference of the mandate as outlined in resolution 7/36 of the Human Rights Council and then describes the working methods of the Special Rapporteur. Chapter I of the report provides a summary of the mandate, and refers to Human Rights Council resolution 7/36, in which the mandate on the right to freedom of opinion and expression was reviewed and extended in March 2008. Chapter II presents a brief account of the main activities undertaken by the Special Rapporteur since the beginning of his tenure in August 2008, including an analysis of communication trends in that period. Chapter III presents an overall review of the main issues to be addressed by the Special Rapporteur, and presents his vision and priorities for the mandate. In this context the Special Rapporteur makes preliminary reflections on the issue of limitations to the right to freedom of opinion and expression. He also focuses on the right of access to information in situations of extreme poverty, and the safety and protection of media professionals, including the protection of journalists working in conflict zones. Chapter IV presents the general conclusions and recommendations of the Special Rapporteur. This report contains, as an addendum, the summary of communications sent by the previous Special Rapporteur from 1 January to 1 August 2008 and thereafter by the current Special Rapporteur until 31 December 2008, including replies received thereto from Governments by 15 February 2009. A second addendum includes a report completed by the former Special Rapporteur, Ambeyi Ligabo, on a country visit he undertook to Honduras in November 2007, and the third addendum includes a report outlining the findings of the Special Rapporteur following an official country visit to the Republic of the Maldives in March 2009, his first official country mission as mandate-holder.