A/HRC/5/5 page 3 Introduction 1. In 1995, the Commission on Human Rights adopted its first resolution concerning “the adverse effects of the illicit movement and dumping of toxic and dangerous products and wastes on the enjoyment of human rights”. Commission resolution 1995/81 affirmed that the illicit traffic and the dumping of toxic and dangerous products and wastes constituted a serious threat to the human rights to life and health, and it established the mandate of the Special Rapporteur to analyse the adverse effects on human rights of such phenomena. The Commission has since adopted a resolution each year on this issue (1996/14, 1997/9, 1998/12, 1999/23, 2000/72, 2001/35, 2002/27, 2003/20, 2004/17 and 2005/15). Commission resolution 2004/17 extended the mandate of the Special Rapporteur for an additional three years and Human Rights Council decision 1/102 extended the mandate for a year.1 2. In his preliminary report to the Commission (E/CN.4/2005/45), Mr. Okechukwu Ibeanu informed the Commission that he intended to adopt a thematic focus in his forthcoming reports. The Special Rapporteur identified criteria to be applied when choosing the thematic issues on which to focus his reports, such as the gravity and extent of the actual or potential human rights violations arising from a particular issue, and whether an analysis from the perspective of victims of human rights violations could add impetus to international efforts to address a particular issue. 3. Previous reports submitted to the Commission pursuant to the mandate of the Special Rapporteur have considered the adverse effects on human rights resulting from both massive and low-level exposure to hazardous chemicals, particularly pesticides. The reports have also presented the Commission with information about the elaborate multilateral legal framework adopted or in the process of development in the sphere of international environmental law with a view to preventing adverse effects on humans and on the environment from exposure to some of the most dangerous chemicals. However, the Special Rapporteur, noting the large number of armed conflicts and their important effects on the environment through notably large-scale dispersion of toxic products, has decided to make this issue the focus of this report. 1 The following reports have previously been submitted to the Commission by Special Rapporteurs pursuant to this mandate: E/CN.4/1996/17, E/CN.4/1997/19, E/CN.4/1998/10 and Add.1 and Add.2 (report from mission to South Africa, Kenya and Ethiopia), E/CN.4/1999/46 and Add.1 (report from mission to Paraguay, Brazil, Costa Rica and Mexico), E/CN.4/2000/50 and Add.1 (report from mission to the Netherlands and Germany), E/CN.4/2001/55 and Add.1, E/CN.4/2002/61, E/CN.4/2003/56 and Add.1 (report from mission to the United States of America) and Add.2 (report from mission to Canada), E/CN.4/2004/46 and Add.1 (report from mission to the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland), E/CN.4/2005/45, Add.1 and E/CN.4/2006/42 and A/HRC/DEC/1/102.