UN counterterrorism expert concludes visit to the United States and Guantanamo detention facility

GENEVA (22 June 2023) – The UN Special Rapporteur on the promotion and protection of human rights and fundamental freedoms while countering terrorism, Fionnuala Ní Aoláin has concluded her technical visit to the United States and the detention facility at the U.S. Naval Station Guantánamo Bay, Cuba.

The Special Rapporteur will hold a press conference on Monday, 26 June 2023 at 1PM local time at the United Nations Press Briefing Room (S-237) in New York. The press conference will be in hybrid format. Access will be limited to journalists. To register for the press conference please contact: Laura Gelbert (+1-917-208-6656/ gelbert@un.org) by end of business on Thursday, 22 June 2023. 

ENDS

Ms. Fionnuala Ní Aoláin was appointed as Special Rapporteur on the promotion and protection of human rights and fundamental freedoms while countering terrorism by the United Nations Human Rights Council. She took up her functions on 1 August 2017. Ms. Ní Aoláin is concurrently Regents Professor and Robina Professor of Law, Public Policy and Society at the University of Minnesota Law School and Professor of Law at the Queens University, Belfast, Northern Ireland. Her mandate covers all countries and has most recently been renewed by Human Rights Council resolution 49/10.

The Special Rapporteurs are part of what is known as the Special Procedures of the Human Rights Council. Special Procedures, the largest body of independent experts in the UN Human Rights system, is the general name of the Council’s independent fact-finding and monitoring mechanisms that address either specific country situations or thematic issues in all parts of the world. Special Procedures’ experts work on a voluntary basis; they are not UN staff and do not receive a salary for their work.

They are independent from any government or organization and serve in their individual capacity.