REPRESENTATIVE OF SECRETARY-GENERAL ON HUMAN RIGHTS DEFENDERS TO VISIT ANGOLA

13 August 2004



The Special Representative of the Secretary-General on Human Rights Defenders, Hina Jilani, will undertake a fact-finding mission to Angola from 15 to 24 August 2004 at the invitation of the Government.

With this visit, the Special Representative aims to assess the situation of human rights defenders in the country, including the legal framework in which they work.

The Special Representative is scheduled to visit Luanda, Cabinda and Lubango. She has requested to meet with, among others, the President; the Prime Minister; the Ministers of Foreign Affairs, Interior, Defense and Justice; the President of the National Assembly; the President of the Supreme Court; members of the judiciary; senior members of the police force, and local authorities. She also hopes to meet with a broad range of human rights defenders, including representatives of civil society, and with the press and officials of the United Nations and diplomatic missions in the country.

The Special Representative will present the findings and recommendations on her visit to Angola in a report to the March 2005 session of the United Nations Commission on Human Rights.

Ms. Jilani, an advocate at the Supreme Court of Pakistan, was appointed Special Representative of the Secretary-General in August 2000. This will be her sixth country visit since the creation of her mandate by the Commission on Human Rights in April 2000.