A/HRC/13/39/Add.5 global phenomenon of secret detention in the fight against terrorism. I also visited in my function as Special Rapporteur a considerable number of countries, including Belgium, Brazil, China (Hong Kong), Denmark, France, the Gambia, Germany, Italy, Jordan, the Republic of Moldova, Serbia, Sweden, Thailand, Turkey, Papua New Guinea, Poland, Portugal, South Africa, the United Kingdom, the United States of America and Zimbabwe, to hold meetings with Governments, NGOs, victims and witnesses, to advise Governments, give lectures and training seminars, and to cooperate with international and regional human rights bodies of the African Union, the Organisation of American States, the Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe, the Council of Europe and the European Union. 11. I am grateful to States with standing invitations to Special Procedures and to all Governments that responded positively to my requests for being invited to visit their countries. At the same time, I regret that certain Governments did not respond to my requests or denied me access to their territories. These countries include the following: Algeria, Afghanistan, Belarus, Bolivia, Côte d’Ivoire, Egypt, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Fiji, Gambia, India, Iran, Iraq, Israel, Liberia, Libyan Arab Jamahiriya, Saudi Arabia, Tunisia, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan, and Yemen. 12. Some Governments issued an invitation but refused to comply with my terms of reference which meant that the mission had to be cancelled or postponed at the last minute. They include the United States of America (in respect of Guantánamo Bay) and the Russian Federation. Others invited me and then postponed the mission, including Equatorial Guinea, Sri Lanka and Cuba. Zimbabwe even postponed the mission after it had begun and denied me access to its territory despite the explicit wish of the Prime Minister to meet me. Postponements of missions at the last minute are a considerable waste of scarce resources. Much time and efforts of me and my staff had been invested to prepare the missions to the Russian Federation, Equatorial Guinea, Cuba and Zimbabwe to the best of our abilities. If such missions had been postponed at an earlier stage, I could have replaced them by a mission to another country. In the case of Zimbabwe, even considerable travel expenses (more than 15.000 €) were paid by the United Nations and the Ludwig Boltzmann Institute of Human Rights. The postponement of my first mission to Equatorial Guinea in February 2008 came at such a late stage that certain flights could no longer be cancelled and had to be paid out of our own budget. But the missions to Sri Lanka and Equatorial Guinea actually took place in late 2007 and 2008 respectively, whereas no new dates have ever been proposed by the Russian Federation. In the case of Cuba and Zimbabwe, there is a probability that these missions might be carried out in 2010, but only at the expense of other missions which I intended to conduct during my last year as Special Rapporteur on torture, and only if I receive convincing assurances that my terms of references will be complied with. 13. The purpose of country missions is very simple. I try to assist Governments in their efforts to eradicate torture and to improve prison conditions. Such assistance is only possible on the basis of a thorough and objective fact-finding and assessment of the respective needs for reform. In order to evaluate the legal and factual situation of torture and ill-treatment in the countries concerned, I must enjoy all diplomatic privileges and immunities of experts on mission as specified in the Convention on Privileges and Immunities of the United Nations, as well as freedom of inquiry in the territory of the respective countries, the right to speak with all stakeholders, including high Government officials, members of parliament, judges, prosecutors, police and prison officials, representatives of national human rights institutions, academia, non-governmental organisations and other civil society actors. Most important of course, are unrestricted and confidential interviews with victims and witnesses and full access to relevant documents. Since torture usually takes places behind closed doors, my terms of reference also include unannounced visits to all places of detention and confidential interviews with detainees and prison staff. Furthermore, I am accompanied on my missions by highly professional teams 6