A/HRC/7/3 page 4 Upcoming missions 7. The Special Rapporteur reports that his mission to Equatorial Guinea is expected to take place from 30 January to 8 February 2008 and to Iraq in the first quarter of the year. Pending requests 8. The Special Rapporteur reports that dates are yet to be finalized for a mission to Côte d’Ivoire, following the Government’s invitation, first requested in 2005, and received on 27 June 2005. No further information has been received following a statement by the delegation of Zimbabwe to the fortieth session of the African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights, held in Banjul in November 2006 that an invitation to the Special Rapporteur could be expected shortly. No further information has been received following an invitation extended to the Special Rapporteur by the Minister for Foreign Affairs of the Gambia, H.E. Mr. B. Garba-Jahumpa, at a meeting on 17 November 2006. 9. In May 2007, the Special Rapporteur renewed requests for invitations from the following States: Algeria (request first made in 1997); Afghanistan (2005); Belarus (2005); Bolivia (2005); Côte d’Ivoire (2005); Egypt (1996); Eritrea (2005); Ethiopia (2005); Fiji (2006); the Gambia (2006); India (1993); Iran (Islamic Republic of) (2005); Israel (2002); Liberia (2006); Libyan Arab Jamahiriya (2005); Papua New Guinea (2006); Saudi Arabia (2005); Syrian Arab Republic (2005); Tunisia (1998); Turkmenistan (2003); Uzbekistan (2006); Yemen (2005); and Zimbabwe (2005). He regrets that some of these requests are long-standing. Highlights of key presentations and consultations 10. From 1 to 2 September 2007, the Special Rapporteur participated in a panel discussion at the Salzburg Seminar on “Upholding human rights, civil liberties, and non-derogable rights: can they survive the present age of terrorism?” 11. From 3 to 5 September, he made several presentations at a regional seminar for the Middle East and North Africa, in Amman on monitoring human rights in places of detention, organized by the Association for the Prevention of Torture. 12. On 10 September, the Special Rapporteur delivered a speech entitled, “The protection of human rights of prisoners” at the Twelfth World Congress of the International Commission of Catholic Prison Pastoral Care held in Rome. 13. On 14 September, the Special Rapporteur participated in a panel discussion in Vienna, on the Optional Protocol to the Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment (OPCAT), “OPCAT - a national preventive mechanism for Austria”. 14. On 27 September, he participated in a workshop organized by the London Metropolitan University on “International human rights and fact-finding: an analysis of fact-finding hearings and missions of the European Court (and Commission) of Human Rights”.