A/HRC/13/39/Add.4 Prosecutor General of the Republic of Equatorial Guinea, and the Governor of the Province of Bata – Litoral. 6. Outside of Government, the Special Rapporteur met with the Chairman of the Appeals Court of Malabo and the Secretariat of the National Human Rights Commission. He also had discussions with civil society representatives, persons in places of detention and victims of ill-treatment. In addition, the Special Rapporteur held meetings with the United Nations country team and the diplomatic community. The Special Rapporteur visited a number of prisons and police/gendarmerie custody facilities on Bioko Island and on the mainland (please see appendix). 7. The Special Rapporteur wishes to express his gratitude to the United Nations Country Team, in particular the Resident Coordinator; and the OHCHR staff for the excellent assistance prior to and throughout the mission; Dr. Derrick Pounder, forensic expert; and Ms. Isabelle Tschan and Ms. Johanna Lober of the Ludwig Boltzmann Institute of Human Rights in Vienna. 8. The Special Rapporteur shared his preliminary findings with the Government at the close of his mission. On 2 September 2009, a preliminary version of this report was sent to the Government. On 16 October 2009, the Government provided comments, which are attached to this report. I. Legal framework A. International level 9. Equatorial Guinea is party to the major United Nations human rights treaties prohibiting torture and ill-treatment: the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR); the Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment and Punishment (CAT); the Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC); and the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW). Equatorial Guinea has acceded to the first Optional Protocol to ICCPR and has therefore recognized the competence of the Human Rights Committee to consider complaints by individuals regarding violations of the Covenant. It has not acceded to the Second Optional Protocol aiming at the abolition of the death penalty. Equatorial Guinea has not made a declaration under Art. 22 of CAT, recognizing the competence of the Committee against Torture to receive and consider communications from or on behalf of individuals claiming to be victims of a violation of one or more provisions of the Convention and has not signed the Optional Protocol for the Prevention of Torture (OPCAT). 10. Equatorial Guinea has ratified the four Geneva Conventions of 1949 and the Additional Protocols I and II but is not a State Party to the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court. B. Regional level 11. Equatorial Guinea also ratified the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights as well as the African Charter on the Rights and Welfare of the Child. It has signed Protocols on the Rights of Women and the African Court on Human and Peoples’ Rights. As a member of the African Union, Equatorial Guinea is encouraged to abide by the Resolution on Guidelines and Measures for the Prohibition and Prevention of Torture, 6