SPECIAL RAPPORTEUR ON TORTURE TO VISIT RUSSIANFEDERATION, INCLUDING NORTH CAUCASUSPublished: 5.09.2006 |
6 July 2006
The Special Rapporteur on torture, Manfred Nowak,
will visit the Russian Federation, including
Chechnya and the North Caucasus, from 9 to 20
October 2006, at the invitation of the
Government.
In order to gather first-hand information, Mr.
Nowak will meet with Government officials,
including in the Ministries of Foreign Affairs,
Interior and Justice; the judiciary;
parliamentarians; the prosecution service, and
representatives of non-governmental organizations
and international organizations. He will also
visit detention facilities.
Mr. Nowak was appointed Special Rapporteur on 1
December 2004 by the United Nations Commission on
Human Rights. As Special Rapporteur, he is
independent from any government and serves in his
individual capacity. The Commission first decided
to appoint a special rapporteur to examine
questions relevant to torture in 1985. The mandate
covers all countries, whether or not they have
ratified the Convention against Torture and Other
Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or
Punishment.
Mr. Nowak has previously served as member of the
Working Group on Enforced and Involuntary
Disappearances; the UN expert on missing persons
in the former Yugoslavia; the UN expert on legal
questions on enforced disappearances; and as a
judge at the Human Rights Chamber for Bosnia and
Herzegovina. He is Professor of Constitutional Law
and Human Rights at the University of Vienna, and
Director of the Ludwig Boltzmann Institute of
Human Rights.
For further information on the mandate of the
Special Rapporteur, please visit the
website:
http://www.ohchr.org/english/issues/torture/rapporteur/index.htm |
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