A/HRC/4/33 page 6 in particular. The Special Rapporteur drew the attention of the Minister of Human Rights to his request for a visit and reaffirmed his wish to carry out a visit in the future. Russian Federation 8. As he indicated in his presentation to the Council on 20 September 2006, as well as in his report to the General Assembly and in his presentation thereof on 23 October, the Special Rapporteur was scheduled to undertake a visit from 9 to 20 October to the Russian Federation, with a particular focus on the North Caucasus Republics of Chechnya, Ingushetia, North Ossetia and Kabardino-Balkaria. At a very late stage in the preparations, he was informed by the Government that certain elements of the terms of reference for the visit (as adopted at the 4th meeting of special procedures of the Commission on Human Rights in May 1997, see E/CN.4/1998/45, appendix V) would contravene Russian federal legislation, particularly for non-treaty-based international human rights monitors, with respect to carrying out unannounced visits to places of detention and holding private interviews with detainees. In particular, in a letter dated 26 September 2006, the Government argued that article 38 of Law No. 5473-1 of 21 July 1993 on “Institutions and Bodies that Implement Criminal Penalties in the Form of Imprisonment”, article 24 of the Code for the Execution of Sentences and article 18 of Law No. 103-FZ of 15 July 1995 on “Custody of Persons Suspected and Accused of Committing a Crime” prevented the Special Rapporteur from visiting places of detention unannounced or speaking privately to detainees. 9. Recalling that the terms of reference had been brought to the attention of the Government from the very outset of the request to visit the country, and are the same terms that have governed the visits of his predecessors, as well as every visit that he himself has carried out since he assumed the mandate, namely to Georgia, Mongolia, Nepal, China, Jordan and Paraguay, the Special Rapporteur finds it regrettable that they were cited by the Government as being problematic after the issuance of an invitation and at such a late stage in the preparations. The Special Rapporteur notes the strong expectations of a large number of stakeholders, including government officials, that the mission would proceed. 10. The Special Rapporteur recalls that in a letter dated 22 May 2006, the Government, in informing the Special Rapporteur that it accepted the October 2006 dates for the visit, stated that it “will endeavour to accommodate the Special Rapporteur’s wishes regarding the modalities of his visit, bearing in mind all the relevant recommendations, including the terms of reference for fact-finding missions by special rapporteurs of the Commission on Human Rights”. It was on the basis of these assurances that the Special Rapporteur, in close cooperation with the Government, prepared the mission and informed the public accordingly. 11. The Special Rapporteur observes that in the course of discussing the modalities of country visits, it has often been pointed out to him by Governments that national legislation restricts access to facilities except for a select number of enumerated individuals. Nevertheless, he notes that an official visit of the United Nations Special Rapporteur, undertaken at the express invitation of a Government, is clearly an exceptional event, and Governments recognize this and demonstrate good faith and cooperation by facilitating the work of the Special Rapporteur to the fullest extent possible. This has been the case with every country visit that the Special Rapporteur has undertaken since he assumed the mandate. In practical terms, Governments have