A/HRC/4/33 page 2 Summary The Special Rapporteur on torture and other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment submits his first report to the Human Rights Council. Section II summarizes the activities of the Special Rapporteur undertaken between August and December 2006 (i.e. the period since the submission of his interim report to the General Assembly, document A/61/259), including updates on country visits to the Russian Federation and Paraguay, future visits and pending requests for invitations, and highlights of key presentations and meetings. In Section III, the Special Rapporteur discusses the obligation of States parties to the Convention against Torture and other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment to establish universal jurisdiction. The Special Rapporteur notes that, with few exceptions, States remain reluctant to make use of their rights and obligations to exercise universal jurisdiction. The Special Rapporteur discusses recent practice and the developments related to the case of the ex-dictator of Chad, Hissène Habré. Given that impunity is one of the main reasons for the widespread practice of torture in all regions of the world, he calls upon States to exercise universal jurisdiction to fight impunity and deny torturers any safe haven in the world. Section IV contains a discussion on the importance of cooperation between the Special Rapporteur and regional mechanisms established to combat torture. Section V discusses the right of victims of torture to a remedy. The summary of communications sent by the Special Rapporteur from 16 December 2005 to 15 December 2006 and the replies received thereto from Governments by 31 December 2006 are found in addendum 1 to the present report. Addendum 2 contains a summary of the information provided by Governments and non-governmental organizations on implementation of recommendations of the Special Rapporteur following country visits. Addendum 3 is the report of the country visit to Jordan, and addendums 4 and 5 contain preliminary notes on the missions to Paraguay and Sri Lanka, respectively.