WORKING GROUP ON ARBITRARY DETENTION HOLDS ITS 48 TH SESSION

Geneva, 7 May 2007: -The Working Group on Arbitrary Detention will hold its 48th session from 7 to 11 May 2007 at the Palais des Nations in Geneva. During its session the Working Group will examine, in closed session, more than 25 individual cases of detention around the world. The Panel will also receive representatives of Governments and non-governmental organizations and will consider the preparation of its forthcoming visit to Equatorial Guinea, scheduled to take place next June.

During the session, particular attention will be devoted, inter alia, to the recourse to detention in the context of the fight against terrorism; to the custody of illegal immigrants and asylum-seekers; to the question of discrimination and pre-trial detention and to the deprivation of liberty of vulnerable persons, particularly mentally-ill persons.

The Working Group is composed of five independent experts appointed according to criteria governing equitable geographical distribution which apply in the United Nations. It is headed by Ms. Leïla Zerrougui (Algeria) as Chairperson-Rapporteur and is composed of Soledad Villagra de Biedermann (Paraguay), Manuela Carmena Castrillo (Spain), Tamás Bán (Hungary, Vice-Chairperson), and Seyed Mohammed Hashemi (Islamic Republic of Iran).

The Working Group was established by the Commission on Human Rights in 1991 to investigate instances of alleged arbitrary deprivation of liberty. Its mandate was clarified and extended by the Commission on Human Rights in its resolution 1997/50 to cover the issue of administrative custody of asylum-seekers and immigrants. The Human Rights Council assumed and extended the Working Group’s mandate by its decision 1/102 of 30 June 2006.

For more information, including previous reports of the Working Group, please consult OHCHR Fact-Sheet N° 26 or visit the following Internet address: http://www.unhchr.ch/html/menu2/7/b/mard.htm