A/69/387 I. Introduction 1. The present report, submitted pursuant to paragraph 47 of General Assembly resolution 68/156, is the sixteenth report submitted to the General Assembly by the Special Rapporteur on torture and other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment. 2. The Special Rapporteur wishes to draw attention to the reports submitted to the Human Rights Council (A/HRC/25/60 and Add. 1 and 2). II. Activities related to the mandate A. Country visits 3. The Special Rapporteur has conducted a country visit to Mexico from 21 April to 2 May 2014. 4. The Special Rapporteur regrets that the country visit planned for the Gambia from 12 to 18 August 2014 was postponed by the Government at very short notice. He welcomes, however, new dates suggested by the Government and hopes to secure this visit for early November 2014. He regrets the seco nd postponement of his visit to Thailand, but remains engaged with the Government to secure new dates for a visit in the first half of 2015. 5. The Special Rapporteur welcomes the invitation and confirmation from the Governments of Brazil and Georgia to conduct country visits in 2015 and awaits confirmation of the specific dates. 6. The Special Rapporteur has insisted on an invitation of the Government of the United States of America to visit the detention centre at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, on conditions that he can accept. His request to visit United States prisons on the mainland is still pending. 7. The Special Rapporteur, with support from his Anti-Torture Initiative project, conducted follow-up visits to Tajikistan and Tunisia in February and June 2014, respectively. He welcomes the Governments’ openness to engage with his mandate on the implementation of his recommendations. The Special Rapporteur is planning to engage in follow-up activities in 2015 with the Governments of Morocco, Ghana and Mexico. B. Highlights of presentations and consultations 8. Between 10 and 12 March 2014, the Special Rapporteur presented his reports (A/HRC/25/60 and Add. 1 and 2) to the Human Rights Council and participated in side events on the theme “The ongoing revision process for the standard minimum rules for the treatment of prisoners”; “Human rights violations against persons with albinism”; “Challenges and achievements in the struggle for the prevention of torture in places of detention” and “Body searches and inhuman treatment of prisoners”. 14-61535 3/23