A/75/44 I. Organizational and other matters A. States parties to the Convention 1. As at 15 May 2020, the originally scheduled closing date of the postponed sixty-ninth session of the Committee against Torture, there were 169 States parties to the Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment. 2. Since the adoption of the Committee’s previous annual report (A/74/44), Angola ratified the Convention, on 2 October 2019. Grenada and Kiribati acceded to the Convention on 26 September 2019 and 22 July 2019, respectively. The Committee calls upon all States that have not ratified the Convention to do so, and calls upon those that are already a party to accept all the procedures of the Convention, in order to enable the Committee to fulfil all aspects of its mandate. 3. All information on the status of the treaty, including declarations under articles 20, 21 and 22 and reservations and objections made by States parties with respect to the Convention, can be found at http://treaties.un.org. B. Sessions and agendas of the Committee 4. Since the adoption of its previous annual report, the Committee held two sessions and some activities initially linked to the sixty-ninth session. The sixty-seventh session (1757th to 1783rd meetings) was held from 22 July to 9 August 2019 and the sixty-eighth session (1784th to 1822nd meetings) from 11 November to 6 December 2019. The sessions were held at the United Nations Office at Geneva. The postponed sixty-ninth session was originally scheduled to be held from 20 April to 15 May 2020. 5. At its 1757th meeting, held on 22 July 2019, the Committee adopted the items listed in the provisional agenda submitted by the Secretary-General (CAT/C/67/1) as the agenda of its sixty-seventh session. 6. At its 1784th meeting, held on 11 November 2019, the Committee adopted the items listed in the provisional agenda submitted by the Secretary-General (CAT/C/68/1) as the agenda of its sixty-eighth session. 7. Some activities contained in the provisional agenda submitted by the SecretaryGeneral (CAT/C/69/1/Rev.1) as the agenda of the sixty-ninth session were carried out (see para. 27). 8. An account of the deliberations and decisions of the Committee at the sessions that were held is contained in the relevant summary records (CAT/C/SR.1757–1822). C. Membership, officers and mandates 9. Following the seventeenth meeting of States parties to the Convention, held on 3 October 2019, the membership of the Committee changed as of 1 January 2020. In addition, following the resignation of Honghong Zhang on 27 December 2019, Liu Huawen became a member of the Committee, on 11 February 2020. The list of members, officers and mandates from 18 May 2019 to 31 December 2019 is contained in annex I; the list of members (from 1 January 2020) and the list of officers and mandates (from 1 January to 12 July 2020) are contained in annex II. Due to the postponement of the sixty-ninth session, the three new members could not make their solemn declaration in open Committee to enable them to assume their duties, as required under rule 14 of the Committee’s rules of procedure. As provided for under rule 12, the Chair, members of the Bureau and rapporteurs may continue performing the duties assigned to them until one day before the first meeting of the Committee, composed of its new members, at which it elects its officers. Given the exceptional circumstances resulting from the global COVID-19 pandemic, and in light of rules 12 and 14, the Chair, members of the Bureau and rapporteurs will continue performing 1