A/HRC/21/62 stakeholders. It also gave him the opportunity to conduct a preliminary assessment of the situation of human rights in the Sudan, with the ultimate objective of identifying areas of technical assistance and capacity-building that would aid the Sudan to fulfil its human rights obligations in ways that will eventually reflect positively on the lives of its people. 9. The Independent Expert held all his meetings and engagements in Khartoum; he was however unable to conduct any field missions at the time of his mission. Despite the fact that the Independent Expert had expressed his interest in visiting Darfur, the Government of the Sudan stated that it had not been given sufficient notice and time to arrange a visit to the region. 10. With regard to the scope of the mandate, the Government of the Sudan argued from the outset that, given that the mandate of the Independent Expert had been moved from Human Rights Council agenda item 4 (“Human rights situations that require the Council’s attention”) to item 10 (“Technical assistance and capacity-building”), it related only to providing technical assistance and capacity-building to the Government, and therefore did not include any element of human rights monitoring. On the other hand, many national and international stakeholders contended strongly that the mandate must be interpreted broadly to cover the monitoring of the situation of human rights in the Sudan. 11. While acknowledging that the mandate now comes under agenda item 10, the Independent Expert emphasizes the need to understand and interpret the scope of the mandate contextually, namely, in the light of the current general situation of human rights in the country. The identification of human rights concerns is necessary to enable the Independent Expert to make an appropriate assessment of the technical assistance and capacity-building needs required for the effective fulfilment of his mandate. This contextual understanding of the scope of the mandate justifies his engagement with relevant stakeholders during the mission in addition to the Government. 12. The Independent Expert believes that the recommendations made at the universal periodic review of the Sudan1 would be an appropriate entry point for implementing the mandate. III. Observations 13. In his meetings with Government representatives and other stakeholders, the Independent Expert received assurances of cooperation and demonstrations of goodwill towards his mandate and improving the situation of human rights in the Sudan. A. Meetings with representatives and bodies of the Government of the Sudan 14. The Independent Expert met and held discussions with high-level Government representatives, including the Minister for Justice, the Under-Secretary of the Ministry of Justice, the Under-Secretary of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Deputy Commissioner General of the Police Service and representatives of the Coordinating Council on Human Rights and Humanitarian Law in the Ministry of the Interior, as well as with the Chairman of the Darfur Regional Authority. He also held meetings with representatives of relevant Government bodies and agencies, such as the Advisory Council on Human Rights, the 1 4 See A/HRC/18/16, paras. 83-84.