A/HRC/28/71 commission of inquiry,21 in particular the Special Rapporteur on torture and other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment, the Special Rapporteur on violence against women, its causes and consequences, the Special Rapporteur on trafficking in persons, especially in women and children, and the Working Group on Arbitrary Detention. The Special Rapporteur encourages these mandate holders to raise, or continue to raise, the issue with the Government of the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea within the scope of their respective mandates, including by seeking invitations to visit the country. 69. The Special Rapporteur urges the Government of the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea to respond promptly and thoroughly to all the concerns raised by special procedures mandate holders over the years on the issue of abductions, enforced disappearances and related matters. In this regard, he reminds the Government of the commitment it made under the second cycle of the universal periodic review to cooperate with the special procedures of the Human Rights Council. 22 (ii) Universal periodic review 70. During the twenty-seventh session of the Human Rights Council in September 2014, the Government of the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea announced that it had accepted 113 of the 268 recommendations made in the framework of its second universal periodic review. This is a notable improvement on the lack of collaboration extended during and after its first review. However, the Government very regrettably rejected all recommendations relating to the findings of the commission of inquiry, including those pertaining to international abductions and enforced disappearances. The Special Rapporteur finds this continuous state of denial deeply disconcerting. He urges Member States, in their bilateral efforts to follow up on the universal periodic review of the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea, not to lose sight of those rejected recommendations and to continue to raise the matter. 71. Prior to the second cycle of the universal periodic review, the Government of the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea had indicated that it was in a position to accept a number of recommendations pertaining to the issue of separated families which had been made during the first review, in December 2009: Guarantee separated families’ fundamental right to know the fate of their family members across the border and to communicate and regularly meet together; Do everything possible, in cooperation with the Republic of Korea, to ensure that the maximum number of meetings of separated families is organized; Take concrete steps to continue the process of family reunification, because for the elder generation even a delay of one or two years means that their chance of seeing their relatives may be lost forever; Adopt measures to facilitate family reunification as recommended by the Special Rapporteur on [the situation of human rights in the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea].23 72. The Special Rapporteur welcomes this commitment and calls on Member States and other stakeholders to seek to engage the Government of the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea to follow up on these recommendations, which have not been implemented to 21 22 23 A/HRC/25/63, paras. 64–73. See A/HRC/27/10, paras. 124.17, 124.52, 124.61, 124.65 and 124.66, and A/HRC/27/10/Add.1, para. 10 (a). A/HRC/13/13, paras. 90.75–78. 15