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http://www.ohchr.org/EN/HRBodies/SP/Pages/CountryandothervisitsSP.aspx

 

Country Visits of UN Special Procedures: Special Rapporteurs, Independent Experts, Working Groups

Mandate-holders carry out country visits to assess the situation of human rights at the national level : at the request of a mandate-holder, the Government will send an invitation for a fact-finding mission. Some countries have issued standing invitations, which means that they are, in principle, prepared to receive a visit from any thematic mandate-holder.

During such missions, the experts assess the general human rights situation in a given country, as well as the specific institutional, legal, judicial, administrative and de facto situation under their respective mandates. They will meet with national and local authorities, including members of the judiciary and parliamentarians; members of the national human rights institution, if applicable; non-governmental organizations, civil society organizations and victims of human rights violations; the UN and other inter-governmental agencies; and the press when giving a press-conference at the end of the mission.

Country visits’ findings, conclusions and recommendations by special procedures are published  in mission reports to the Human Rights Council (All special procedures country-related information can also be found in the Universal Human Rights Index.

Terms of Reference for Fact-finding missions by Special Procedures

The terms of reference for country visits were adopted at the fourth Annual Meeting of Special Procedures ( E/CN.4/1998/45) and are intended to guide Governments in the conduct of the visit. During missions, Special Procedures mandate-holders and United Nations staff accompanying them, should be given the following guarantees and facilities by the Government that invited them to visit its country:

(a) Freedom of movement in the whole country, including facilitation of transport, in particular to restricted areas;
(b) Freedom of inquiry, in particular as regards:

(i) Access to all prisons, detention centres and places of interrogation;
(ii) Contacts with central and local authorities of all branches of government;
(iii) Contacts with representatives of non-governmental organizations, other private institutions and the media;
(iv) Confidential and unsupervised contact with witnesses and other private persons, including persons deprived of their liberty, considered necessary to fulfil the mandate of the special rapporteur; and
(v) Full access to all documentary material relevant to the mandate;

(c) Assurance by the Government that persons, whether officials or private individuals, who have been in contact with the special rapporteur/representative in relation to the mandate, will not, as a result, suffer threats, harassment or punishment or be subjected to judicial proceedings;
(d) Appropriate security arrangements without, however, restricting the freedom of movement and inquiry referred to above.

 

 

 

http://www.ohchr.org/EN/HRBodies/SP/Pages/Forthcomingcountryvisits.aspx

 

Forthcoming Country Visits 2015

Last Update:  9 June 2015

MANDATE

COUNTRY

DATES

Working Group of Experts on People of African Descent

Italy

1 to 5 June 2015

Working Group on Enforced or Involuntary Disappearances

Peru

1 to 10 June 2015

Independent Expert on the effects of foreign debt

China

29 June to 6 July 2015

Working Group on the use of mercenaries

Tunisia

1 to 8 July 2015

Working Group on Enforced or Involuntary Disappearances

Sri Lanka

3 to 12 August 2015

Special Rapporteur on the sale of children, child prostitution and child pornography

Japan

1 to 10 September 2015

Working Group on the issue of discrimination against women in law and in practice

Hungary

1 to 11 September 2015

Special Rapporteur on the rights to freedom of peaceful assembly and of association

Chile

21 to 30 September 2015

Special Rapporteur on the human rights of migrants

Australia

27 Sept. to 10 Oct. 2015

Working Group on the use of mercenaries as a means of violating human rights and impeding the exercise of the right of peoples to self-determination

Belgium

12 to 16 Oct. 2015

Working Group on Enforced or Involuntary Disappearances

Turkey

16 to 20 November 2015

 

 

http://www.ohchr.org/EN/HRBodies/SP/Pages/Statesnotyetvisited.aspx

 

Table Of States Not Yet Visited By Any UN Mandate-Holder

Out of the 193 UN Member States, 167 States (86.5%) have been visited by at least one of the special procedures mandate-holders. A total of 26 States (13.5%) have never received or accepted any request for a visit by one or more of the special procedures mandate-holders.

States never visited, no requests sent (15 in total)

States never visited, despite requests sent (11 in total)

Andorra
Antigua and Barbuda
Brunei Darussalam
Dominica
Grenada
Luxembourg
Micronesia
Monaco
Palau
Saint Kitts and Nevis
Saint Lucia
Samoa
San Marino
Sao Tome e Principe
Tonga

Barbados
Democratic People’s Republic of Korea
Djibouti
Eritrea
Guinea
Lesotho
Libya1

Nauru
Swaziland
Vanuatu
Zimbabwe

1. All missions to Libya have been postponed for security reasons.

Last updated: 1 June 2015