SPECIAL RAPPORTEUR ON THE RIGHT TO FREEDOM OF EXPRESSION TO VISIT EQUATORIAL GUINEA FROM 1 TO 7 DECEMBER 2002

29 November 2002



The Special Rapporteur on the promotion and protection of the right to freedom of opinion and expression, Ambeyi Ligabo, will visit Equatorial Guinea from 1 to 7 December 2002 at the invitation of the Government.
During this visit, Ambeyi Ligabo will meet with Equatorial Guinean authorities, and in particular with senior Government officials and magistrates. He will also meet with human rights mechanisms and civil society, with representatives for the media, and with representatives of the United Nations system.
The mandate on the promotion and protection of the right to freedom of opinion and expression was created by the Commission on Human rights in 1993. Under his mandate, the Special Rapporteur should gather all relevant information, including through in-country missions, of discrimination against, threats or use of violence and harassment, including persecution and intimidation, directed at persons, including professionals in the field of information, seeking to exercise or to promote the exercise of the right to freedom of opinion and expression.

Ambeyi Ligabo, a Kenyan citizen, was appointed as Special Rapporteur on 26 August 2002 by the Chairman of the Commission on Human Rights.



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