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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.
1. All
missions to Libya have been postponed for security reasons.
Last updated: 1 June 2015