Country visits

The Special Rapporteur on extrajudicial, summary or arbitrary executions considers on-site visits an essential component of the mandate. The aim of such visits is to obtain first-hand information on the situation of the right to life in the country concerned, to report on his observations to the Human Rights Council and to propose, in a spirit of cooperation and assistance, recommendations to improve situations identified as matters of concern.

The Special Rapporteur wishes to reiterate that an on-site visit does not entail the condemnation of a country. Instead, it is envisaged as an expression of concern and aims at improving his/her understanding of a particular situation to enable him/her to formulate useful recommendations. Also, visits do not have the character of a judicial inquiry; they cannot replace investigations by competent judicial authorities.

A country visit can be initiated in two different ways: a) the Special Rapporteur writes to the Government of the country he/she wishes to visit requesting to receive an official invitation; or b) a Government invites the Special Rapporteur to visit upon its own initiative. In both cases, an official invitation from the Government must be received before the country visit can take place.

For more information on special procedures country visits, including requests by country, upcoming visits and countries not yet visited, please go to: Country and other visits of special procedures

All of the below country visit reports are also accessible in all UN languages through the UN Official Document System (ODS).