A/HRC/40/62 I. Introduction 1. The present report is submitted pursuant to Human Rights Council resolutions 28/6 and 37/5 concerning the mandate of the Independent Expert on the enjoyment of human rights by persons with albinism. 2. Section II provides an overview of the activities undertaken by the Independent Expert since her last report to the Human Rights Council (A/HRC/ 37/57). Section III focuses on the right to access to justice for persons with persons with albinism, highlighting some challenges to the realization of this right and relevant recommendations to address them. 3. The report is based on research and information compiled by the Independent Expert through her country visits, and a questionnaire1 sent in May 2018 to Member States, civil society organizations and persons with albinism. Twenty-nine written responses were received, of which three were from Member States: Mauritius, Togo and Uganda. Submissions were received from civil society organizations and persons with albinism (“stakeholders”) in Benin, Burkina Faso, Burundi, Cameroon, the Central African Republic, Fiji, Ghana, Malawi, Mauritius, Mozambique, Nepal, Nigeria, Senegal, South Africa, Togo, Uganda, the United Republic of Tanzania and Zambia. The report focuses primarily on subSaharan African countries where attacks and trafficking of body parts of persons with albinism have been reported. II. Activities of the Independent Expert 4. During the reporting period, the Independent expert undertook a country visit to Fiji (27 November–7 December 2017) and to Kenya (7–17 September 2018). The reports of these visits are contained in documents A/HRC/40/62/Add.1 and A/HRC/40/62/Add.3 respectively. 5. On 19 and 20 February 2018, the Independent Expert organized a regional strategy meeting for civil society, at which targets were developed for the Regional Action Plan on Albinism in Africa (2017–2021); these were linked to targets of the Sustainable Development Goals.2 6. As a follow-up to the expert workshop on witchcraft and human rights, held in Geneva on 21 and 22 September 2017 (A/HRC/37/57/Add.2), 3 the Independent Expert, with the Office of the Special Representative of the Secretary General on Violence against Children and civil society organizations,4 organized a side event on 7 March 2018 on the impact of witchcraft beliefs and practices on children. 7. On 9 March 2018, the Independent Expert organized a workshop on albinism and human rights during the committee sessions of the Pan-African Parliament, held in South Africa. On 16 May 2018, she was invited to address the plenary of the Parliament. These events led to the Parliament’s endorsement of the Regional Action Plan on Albinism via a resolution 5 in which the Parliament referred to the work of the Independent Expert and called for effective protection of the human rights of persons with albinism. 8. On the margins of the thirty-eighth session of the Human Rights Council, the Independent Expert commemorated International Albinism Awareness Day on 13 June 1 2 3 4 5 The questionnaire was drafted in English, French, Portuguese and Spanish. The English version is available at www.ohchr.org/Documents/Issues/Albinism/Access_to_Justice_Questionnaire.docx. See “Regional Action Plan” at www.actiononalbinism.org. See www.ohchr.org/EN/Issues/Albinism/Pages/Witchcraft.aspx. Witchcraft and Human Rights Information Network and Lancaster University. Resolution on persons with albinism in Africa, document PAP.4/PLN/RES/05/MAY.18. 3