A/HRC/4/33 page 9 indicated to the plenary that an invitation to the Special Rapporteur could be expected shortly. Moreover, on 17 November 2006, following a meeting with the Minister for Foreign Affairs of the Gambia, H.E. Mr. B. Jahumpa, the Government extended an invitation to the Special Rapporteur to visit the country. The Special Rapporteur expects to undertake these visits in 2008. 22. The Special Rapporteur reports that in his letter dated 4 October 2006 to the Government of the United States of America, the Chairperson of the Committee on Legal Affairs and Human Rights of the Council of Europe, Mr. D. Marty, included the Special Rapporteur in his request for an invitation to visit United States detention facilities at Guantánamo Bay, Cuba in order to meet a number of detainees who were recently transferred there from secret detention centres outside the United States. 23. The Special Rapporteur notes outstanding requests for invitations from the following States, some of which are of long standing: Afghanistan (request first made in 2005); Algeria (1997); Belarus (2005); Bolivia (2005); Egypt (1996); Equatorial Guinea (2005); Eritrea (2005); Ethiopia (2005); Fiji (2006); India (1993); Iran (Islamic Republic of) (2005); Iraq (2005); Israel (2002); Liberia (2006); Libyan Arab Jamahiriya (2005); Papua New Guinea (2006); Saudi Arabia (2005); Syrian Arab Republic (2005); Tunisia (1998); Turkmenistan (2003); Uzbekistan (2006); and Yemen (2005). Highlights of key presentations and consultations 24. On 20 September 2006, the Special Rapporteur presented his report to the Council, including his missions to Georgia, Mongolia, Nepal and China, and engaged in an interactive dialogue with the members and concerned countries. On 21 September 2006, together with the Special Rapporteurs on the right of everyone to the highest attainable standard of physical and mental health, the independence of judges and lawyers, and freedom of religion or belief, and the Chairperson-Rapporteur of the Working Group on Arbitrary Detention, he presented the joint report concerning the human rights situation of detainees held at the United States Naval Base at Guantánamo Bay, Cuba (E/CN.4/2006/120). A press conference followed. 25. On 20 September 2006, he held consultations with staff of the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees in Geneva to discuss issues of common concern, such as non-refoulement. 26. On 25 September 2006, at the invitation of the Inter-Parliamentary Union, the Special Rapporteur gave a presentation on the challenges to the prohibition of torture and ill-treatment under international law, on the occasion of the seminar entitled, “Law and justice: the case for parliamentary scrutiny”, held in Geneva. 27. On 25 September 2006, the Special Rapporteur participated in an expert meeting on the closure of the detention facilities at Guantánamo Bay, organized by the International Commission of Jurists. 28. On 26 September 2006, he delivered the keynote speech on “Torture. Does it make us safer? Is it ever OK?” at a reception organized by Human Rights Watch in Geneva.