A/HRC/7/3 page 3 Introduction 1. The Special Rapporteur on torture and other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment, Manfred Nowak, hereby submits his second report to the Human Rights Council, in accordance with General Assembly resolution 60/251. 2. Chapter I summarizes the activities of the Special Rapporteur undertaken between August and December 2007 (i.e. the period since the submission of his interim report to the General Assembly, A/62/221). In chapter II, the Special Rapporteur discusses the protection of women from torture and in chapter III he sets out his conclusions and recommendations. 3. The summary of communications sent by the Special Rapporteur from 16 December 2006 to 14 December 2007 and the replies received thereto from Governments by 31 December 2007 are found in addendum 1 to the present report. Addendum 2 contains a summary of the information provided by Governments and non governmental organizations (NGOs) on implementation of the recommendations of the Special Rapporteur following country visits. Addenda 3 to 7 are reports of country visits to Paraguay, Nigeria, Togo, Sri Lanka and Indonesia, respectively. I. ACTIVITIES OF THE SPECIAL RAPPORTEUR 4. The Special Rapporteur draws the attention of the Council to his third interim report to the General Assembly (A/62/221, paras. 6-41), which he presented in New York on 29 October 2007. In this report he described his activities for the period from January to July 2007 (i.e. the period since the submission of his report to the fourth session of the Human Rights Council1). The Special Rapporteur would like to inform the Council of the key activities he has undertaken since the submission of his report to the General Assembly. Communications concerning human rights violations 5. During the period 16 December 2006-14 December 2007, the Special Rapporteur sent 79 letters of allegations of torture to 51 Governments and 187 urgent appeals to 59 Governments on behalf of persons who might be at risk of torture or other forms of ill-treatment. Country visits 6. The Special Rapporteur reports that in the period since the submission of his report to the General Assembly, he has completed missions to Sri Lanka (1 to 8 October 2007) and Indonesia (10 to 23 November 2007) the reports of which are found in addenda 6 and 7 to this report, respectively. 1 A/HRC/4/33 and addenda.