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

29 April 2005


The Special Representative of the Secretary-General on the situation of human rights defenders, Hina Jilani, will undertake a fact-finding mission to Nigeria from 3 to 12 May 2005 at the invitation of the Government.
The Special Representative will assess the situation of human rights defenders, and examine in particular both the legal framework as well as any possible limitations on the right to defend human rights in the country.
The Special Representative has requested to meet, among others, with the President; the Ministers for Foreign Affairs, Internal Affairs and Women's Affairs; the Ministers of Defense, Labour, and the Environment; the National Human Rights Commission; the Attorney General and Chief Justice; the Inspector General of Police; and the Governors of several States. She will also meet with a wide range of representatives of civil society, including human rights defenders, the press and officials of the United Nations and of diplomatic missions in the country.
The Special Representative is scheduled to visit Abuja, Kaduna, Port Harcourt and Lagos, where she has also requested to meet with the local authorities and civil society.
Ms. Jilani will give a press conference in Abuja on the last day of her visit to present her preliminary findings. A report containing the Special Representative's complete findings and recommendations will be published later in 2005 and presented to the United Nations Commission on Human Rights in April 2006.

Ms. Jilani, an advocate in the Supreme Court of Pakistan, was appointed Special Representative of the Secretary-General in August 2000. Nigeria will be the eighth country she has visited officially since the Commission on Human Rights created her mandate in April 2000.

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For use of the information media; not an official record