E/CN.4/2006/6 page 6 8. During his first year in office, the Special Rapporteur issued press statements concerning: the situation of Guantánamo Bay detainees following the fourth anniversary of the establishment of the detention centres (4 February 2005); the situation following the declaration of a state of emergency in Nepal (8 February 2005); allegations of human rights violations by the authorities of Uzbekistan in connection with the violent events in Andijan (23 June 2005); the lack of an invitation by the Government of the United States of America to visit Guantánamo Bay on the first anniversary of the request by the independent experts of the Commission on Human Rights (23 June 2005); the campaign by the Government of Zimbabwe of forced evictions of informal traders and persons living in informal settlements (24 June 2005); the reported denial of medical treatment to an imprisoned journalist in the Islamic Republic of Iran (18 July 2005); diplomatic assurances not being an adequate safeguard for deportees (23 August 2005); questions about the trial of terrorism suspects in Andijan, Uzbekistan, jointly with the Special Rapporteurs on extrajudicial, summary or arbitrary executions, the independence of judges and lawyers, and the promotion and protection of human rights and fundamental freedoms while countering terrorism (26 October 2005); the detention of the former President of Chad, Hissein Habré, and calling upon the Government of Senegal to extradite him expeditiously to Belgium (18 November 2005); an appeal to the German authorities to initiate a criminal investigation and prosecute for crimes of torture Mr. Zokirjon Almatov, Minister of Internal Affairs of Uzbekistan, who was in Germany receiving medical treatment (16 December 2005). 9. On 13 October 2005, the Special Rapporteur participated in an inter-agency meeting on the follow-up to the Andijan trials organized by the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights to brief other international organizations on the ongoing trials and to brainstorm on a common response and follow-up. 10. On 24 October 2005, he was invited to London to meet with the Home Secretary of the United Kingdom, concerning the issue of diplomatic assurances (see paragraph 27 below). 11. On 26 October 2005, the Special Rapporteur presented his first report to the General Assembly. In his statement, he addressed continuing occurrences of the practice of corporal punishment, such as amputation, stoning, flogging and beating, surveyed the jurisprudence of international and regional human rights mechanisms, and concluded that any form of corporal punishment is contrary to the prohibition of torture and other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment. Maintaining the focus on the absolute prohibition of torture in the context of counter-terrorism measures, the Special Rapporteur discussed the principle of non-refoulement and the use of diplomatic assurances in light of recent decisions of courts and international human rights mechanisms. In the opinion of the Special Rapporteur, diplomatic assurances are unreliable and ineffective in the protection against torture and ill-treatment, and shall not be resorted to by States. 12. On 5 November 2005, on the occasion of the twentieth anniversary of the International Rehabilitation Council for Torture Victims (IRCT), the Special Rapporteur participated in a panel discussion organized by IRCT in Copenhagen, entitled, “Torture in the Twenty-First Century”, where he addressed the threats posed to the prohibition of torture by practices such as diplomatic assurances and secret places of detention.