A/HRC/41/35/Add.2 I. Introduction 1. Pursuant to Human Rights Council resolution 34/18, the Special Rapporteur on the promotion and protection of the right to freedom of opinion and expression submits the present report in follow-up to the official visits that were undertaken by the mandate holder to Japan (2016), Turkey (2016), Honduras (2012), Israel and the occupied Palestinian territories (2011) and Côte d’Ivoire (2004). This is the first such report prepared by the mandate holder. 2. In January 2019, the Special Rapporteur sent questionnaires concerning the status of the recommendations made following the visits to the respective States. The Special Rapporteur also issued an open call for submissions, requesting input from civil society and other interested actors, including in the countries concerned. Replies were received from Honduras, the Palestinian Authority and Turkey, along with 21 submissions from nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) and individuals. Those replies, together with information gathered from United Nations bodies, regional human rights organizations and civil society and publicly available information, have informed the report, in which the status of implementation of each recommendation has been evaluated as falling into one of four categories: implemented, partially implemented, not implemented or contravened. 3. The Special Rapporteur expresses his gratitude to all those who provided input for the report, which is intended to serve as a useful reference for States, civil society, the current mandate holder and his successors. Submissions received in its preparation can be found at: www.ohchr.org/EN/Issues/FreedomOpinion/Pages/OpinionIndex.aspx or https://freedex.org. II. Follow-up on country visits A. Japan 4. The Special Rapporteur undertook an official visit to Japan from 12 to 19 April 2016. He presented his report on the visit at the thirty-fifth session of the Human Rights Council, held in June 2017 (A/HRC/35/22/Add.1 and Corr.1). Comments on the report were submitted by the State at the same session (A/HRC/35/22/Add.5). 5. During the visit, the Special Rapporteur identified significant concerns regarding the independence of the media and its role as a public watchdog committed to investigative journalism; the manipulation of media outlets through an opaque and clique-based system of press clubs and incentives to practice “access journalism”; and the impact of secrecy laws on the public’s right to information. Journalists, activists, academics and others shared with the Special Rapporteur their concerns that freedom of expression was under significant stress. The Special Rapporteur carried out the visit in the context of proposed changes to the Constitution of Japan, the bedrock for the protection of all human rights in the country, including proposals to revise articles 19 and 21, on the protection of freedom of opinion and expression, and introduce restrictions inconsistent with article 19 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights. 6. Subsequent to the visit, the Special Rapporteur made recommendations concerning media independence; interference in history teaching; restrictions on demonstrations and electoral campaigning; access to information; discrimination and hate speech; and digital rights. 7. The Special Rapporteur regrets that no reply was received from the State in response to his request for information in the preparation of the present report, however, he thanks the State for its comments on the draft version sent to the Government prior to the finalization of the report. Not only has positive action not been taken on the recommendations made, but the Special Rapporteur has received reports of several worrying developments, including those addressed in the four communications sent by the 2