A/HRC/6/17 page 5 9. On 29 October, the Special Rapporteur presented his report (A/62/263) to the Third Committee of the General Assembly in New York. He also held meetings with delegates of the Counter-Terrorism Committee, the Counter-Terrorism Committee Executive Directorate, the Chairperson of the Counter-Terrorism Implementation Task Force and non-governmental organizations. On 31 October, he visited Washington, D.C., and met with officials of the State Department of the United States of America and of non-governmental organizations. III. ECONOMIC, SOCIAL AND CULTURAL RIGHTS IN THE CONTEXT OF COUNTERING TERRORISM A. Normative framework 10. Combating terrorism has become a priority for the entire international community, particularly since the atrocious terrorist acts of 11 September 2001. A wide range of measures have been adopted on the national and international levels, including within the framework of the United Nations. Increasingly, decisions by the United Nations principal organs, such as the General Assembly and the Security Council, include an explicit affirmation that, when implementing the measures in question, States Members must respect international law, including human rights law. Such general references to human rights comprise also economic, social and cultural rights, as enshrined in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and a number of international and regional treaties. 11. In line with the principle of complementarity, expressed in paragraph 14 (e) of Commission on Human Rights resolution 2005/80 that established the mandate, the Special Rapporteur seeks to address and highlight how economic, social and cultural rights have been neglected or underdeveloped in the otherwise commendable efforts that various human rights bodies and mechanisms have made towards the promotion and protection of human rights in the fight against terrorism. B. Previous work 1. United Nations human rights treaty bodies and special procedures 12. The Commission on Human Rights adopted several resolutions on the protection of human rights and fundamental freedoms while countering terrorism. The human rights special procedures, assumed by the Human Rights Council, and treaty bodies continue to address the protection of human rights and fundamental freedoms while countering terrorism within their respective mandates and resources. Several human rights treaty bodies have continued to address the protection of human rights while countering terrorism. Significantly, special rapporteurs and treaty bodies that focus on civil and political rights have addressed counter-terrorism measures on an almost regular basis. Meanwhile, treaty bodies and special rapporteurs who have a mandate related to economic, social and cultural rights have addressed the protection of human rights while countering terrorism only when they came across specific cases, such as through a country visit. 13. Independent experts, such as the special procedures mandate-holders, have expressed their views on the relationship between human rights and the fight against terrorism on several occasions. In their joint announcement on Human Rights Day in 2001, the experts reminded