E/CN.4/1997/7 page 8 Special Representative on the situation of human rights in the Islamic Republic of Iran; Chairman of the Board of Trustees of the United Nations Voluntary Fund for Victims of Torture. II. ACTIVITIES OF THE SPECIAL RAPPORTEUR 14. During the period under review the Special Rapporteur undertook missions to Pakistan (23 February-3 March 1996), Venezuela (7-16 June 1996) and, in respect of East Timor, Portugal (5 and 6 September 1996). The reports of the visits to Pakistan and Venezuela may be found in addenda 2 and 3, respectively, to the present report. Information on the visit to Portugal may be found in paragraphs 95-109 of the present report. Outstanding requests for invitations to visit Cameroon, China, India, Indonesia and Turkey remained uncomplied with. The Government of Mexico responded positively to the Special Rapporteur’s request of last year and offered a date in 1996 that, unfortunately, was not reconcilable with the Special Rapporteur’s existing commitments. The Special Rapporteur hopes that the visit will be able to be arranged early in 1997. Meanwhile, the Special Rapporteur this year sought an invitation from the Government of Kenya, a request he followed up in a meeting with the country’s Permanent Representative to the United Nations Office at Geneva. 15. Within the framework of related activities of the Commission on Human Rights, the Special Rapporteur participated in the third meeting of special rapporteurs/special representatives/experts and chairpersons of working groups of the special procedures of the Commission on Human Rights and of the advisory services programme, which took place from 28 to 30 May 1996. He also attended the Commission’s open-ended working group on a draft optional protocol to the Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment. He drew attention to a number of factors he considered essential for the sort of preventive scheme contemplated by the draft protocol. His points are reflected in the report of the Working Group (E/CN.4/1997/33). He also took advantage of these visits to Geneva for consultations with the Secretariat. In addition, he visited the Centre for Human Rights in Geneva from 5 to 9 August and 16 to 21 December 1996 for consultations with the Secretariat, Governments and non-governmental organizations. 16. The Special Rapporteur also attended part of the fifth session of the Commission on Crime Prevention and Criminal Justice which took place in Vienna from 21 to 31 May 1996. Of particular relevance to his mandate were agenda items under which reports on the responses of Governments to questionnaires on the Standard Minimum Rules for the Treatment of Prisoners and on the Code of Conduct for Law Enforcement Officials were discussed. From 4 to 6 September 1996, he participated in an international conference in Stockholm organized by Amnesty International on means of combating torture. 17. Finally, the Special Rapporteur draws attention to changes in the format of his annual report. In most respects it follows the format of last year's report for the reasons given therein (E/CN.4/1996/35, para. 8). This year, however, addendum 1, which contains summaries of individual cases taken up, is reproduced in the official languages of the organization, an improvement for which the Special Rapporteur is most grateful. However, he has had to reduce