A/62/221 I. Introduction 1. The present report is the ninth submitted to the General Assembly by the Special Rapporteur on torture and other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment. It is submitted pursuant to General Assembly resolution 61/153 (para. 29). It is the third report submitted by the present mandate holder, Manfred Nowak. This report includes issues of special concern to the Special Rapporteur, in particular overall trends and developments with respect to issues falling within his mandate. 2. The Special Rapporteur draws attention to his main report to the Human Rights Council (A/HRC/4/33 and Add.1-3). There, he discusses the obligation of States parties to the Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment to establish universal jurisdiction. He notes that, with few exceptions, States remain reluctant to make use of their rights and obligations to exercise universal jurisdiction. The Special Rapporteur discusses recent practice and the developments related to the case of the former dictator of Chad, Hissène Habré. Given that impunity is one of the main reasons for the widespread practice of torture in all regions of the world, he calls upon States to exercise universal jurisdiction to fight impunity and deny torturers any safe haven in the world. He further discusses the importance of cooperation between the Special Rapporteur and regional mechanisms established to combat torture. In the final section, he discusses the right of victims of torture to a remedy and reparation. 3. Document A/HRC/4/33/Add.1 covered the period 16 December 2005 to 15 December 2006 and contained allegations of individual cases of torture or general references to the phenomenon of torture, urgent appeals on behalf of individuals who might be at risk of torture or other forms of ill-treatment, as well as responses by Governments. The Special Rapporteur continues to observe that the majority of communications are not responded to by Governments. Document A/HRC/4/33/Add.2 contained information on the state of follow-up 4. to the recommendations resulting from previous country visits. The Governments of Kenya, Pakistan and Mongolia have never provided any follow-up information since the visits were carried out. The Special Rapporteur is, however, pleased to note that on 27 March 2007, during the interactive dialogue at the fourth session of the Council, representatives of the Government of Kenya informed him of a number of developments in Kenya, and he looks forward to receiving a detailed response in writing. He further appreciates follow-up information provided orally by the Governments of Brazil, Cameroon, Chile, Colombia, Georgia, Nepal and Uzbekistan. 5. Document A/HRC/33/Add.3 contains the report on the country visit to Jordan. II. Activities related to the mandate 6. The Special Rapporteur draws the attention of the General Assembly to the activities he has carried out pursuant to his mandate since the submission of his report to the Human Rights Council described below. Communications concerning human rights violations 7. From 16 December 2005 to 26 July 2007, the Special Rapporteur sent 51 letters of allegations of torture to 35 Governments, and 127 urgent appeals on behalf 07-45686 3