A/HRC/24/47 I. Introduction 1. In its resolution 18/10, the Human Rights Council requested the Advisory Committee to prepare a study on human rights and issues related to terrorist hostage-taking, paying particular attention to the adverse impact of terrorist hostage-taking on the human rights of hostages and of the local communities concerned. The Council requested the Committee to focus in particular on the impact on human rights and the role of regional and international cooperation in this field. 2. At its eighth session, the Advisory Committee established a drafting group consisting of Wolfgang Stefan Heinz (Rapporteur), Latif Hüseynov (Chairperson), Obiora Chinedu Okafor, Shigeki Sakamoto, Ahmer Bilal Soofi and Jean Ziegler (whose term ended on 30 September 2012). Subsequently, Coco Quisumbing joined the drafting group. 3. The Advisory Committee circulated a letter to stakeholders on 13 August 2012, in which it encouraged all interested stakeholders, including States, international organizations, national human rights institutions and non-governmental organizations, to contribute to the study. It received responses from a number of Governments, one nongovernmental organization and one academic.1 The progress report of the Committee was submitted for its tenth session2 and to the Human Rights Council at its twenty-second session.3 Despite considerable efforts and the above-mentioned letter to stakeholders, identifying good practices with regard to the human rights of hostages and the impact on local communities concerned proved to be a difficult task. 4. The Advisory Committee submits the present report to the Human Rights Council at its twenty-fourth session. Responding to the mandate of the Council, the report is not a general study on human rights aspects of terrorist hostage-taking, since there should be no duplication. Rather, in the report, the Committee gives a brief overview of the salient features of the problem and thereafter focuses on the specific aspects identified by the Council in its resolution 18/10. 5. Following several decades during which hostage-taking featured on the list of regularly examined issues, the Commission on Human Rights adopted numerous resolutions, including resolution 2005/31, in which it condemned hostage-taking and urged all thematic special procedures to continue to address, as appropriate, the consequences of hostage-taking.4 The Human Rights Council took up the issue of terrorist hostage-taking and, at its sixteenth session, convened a panel discussion on the issue of human rights in the context of action taken to address terrorist hostage-taking, which brought together parties and stakeholders from United Nations bodies and agencies and participants from various regions and countries.5 1 2 3 4 5 See the webpage dedicated to the issue hosted on the OHCHR website atwww.ohchr.org/EN/HRBodies/HRC/AdvisoryCommittee/Pages/HRTerroristhostageTaking.aspx. A/HRC/AC/10/2. A/HRC/22/70. See Commission on Human Rights resolutions 27 (XXXVII), 1986/49, 1987/28, 1988/38, 1989/26, 1990/36, 1991/40, 1992/23, 1996/62, 1997/28, 1998/73, 1999/29, 2000/29, 2001/38, 2003/40 and 2005/31. See A/HRC/18/29. 3