names of the countries examined under the procedure and those of countries no longer being dealt with under the procedure. All material provided by individuals and Governments, as well as decisions taken at the various stages of the procedure, remain confidential. The Economic and Social Council, however, sometimes decides—on its own initiative, after a study of a particular situation has been ended, on the recommendation of the Commission on Human Rights, or by the express wish of the Government concerned—that secrecy may be lifted. (b) Public procedure 71. Pursuant to Economic and Social Council resolution 1235 (XLII) of 6 June 1967, the Commission on Human Rights appoints working groups or individuals (special rapporteurs or independent experts) to examine, monitor and publicly report either on the human rights situation in a specific country or territory—known as geographic mandates - or on human rights violations worldwide—known as thematic mandates. To fulfil their mandate, experts may receive individual complaints and bring them to the attention of the Governments concerned, which are asked to undertake a full investigation of the allegations, to adopt all necessary measures to prevent further violations and to report back to the experts on every step taken in that regard. Cases are made public through the experts' annual reports to the Commission on Human Rights. Discussed below are some of the 14 thematic mandates which have developed working methods to deal with individual complaints under the "1235 (public) procedure". Working Group on Enforced or Involuntary Disappearances 72. In 1980, the Commission on Human Rights established the Working Group on Enforced or Involuntary Disappearances, to follow the situation, existing in a number of countries, whereby persons are "disappeared", i.e. forcibly abducted by Governments or groups with no trace of their fate being left behind. The Working Group has dealt with some 20,000 individual cases in more than 40 countries, using urgent action procedures to prevent cases from occurring, to clarify the fate of persons suspected of having been "disappeared", processing complaints, and channelling information between Governments and the families concerned. Special Rapporteur on extrajudicial, summary or arbitrary executions 73. This mechanism was established in 1982 in order to allow the Commission on Human Rights to monitor the situation of arbitrary executions around the world and to respond effectively to information that comes before it, in particular when such an execution is imminent or threatened. The Special Rapporteur receives and evaluates relevant information on such cases and may communicate with the Governments concerned to avert imminent executions, or to request an official investigation and appropriate penal measures where an arbitrary execution has already occurred. The Special Rapporteur also conducts fact-finding missions to countries and reports back to the Commission on the findings. Special Rapporteur on torture 74. In 1985, the Commission on Human Rights established a Special Rapporteur on torture. The mandate of the Special Rapporteur encompasses three main activities: 22