A/HRC/15/57 I. Introduction 1. The Human Rights Council adopted, without a vote, on 30 March 2007, resolution 4/8 on the follow-up to its decision S-4/101. In its resolution, the Council decided to convene a group of seven mandate holders to ensure the effective follow-up and to foster the implementation of the resolutions and recommendations on Darfur adopted by the Council, the Commission on Human Rights and other United Nations human rights institutions, as well as to promote the implementation of relevant recommendations of other United Nations human rights mechanisms, taking into account the needs of the Sudan in this regard, to safeguard the consistency of these recommendations and to contribute to the monitoring of the human rights situation on the ground. The group of experts was presided over by the Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in the Sudan, and comprised the Special Rapporteur on extrajudicial, summary or arbitrary executions, the Special Representative of the Secretary-General for Children and Armed Conflict, the Special Rapporteur on violence against women, its causes and consequences, the Special Representative of the Secretary-General on the situation of human rights defenders, the Representative of the Secretary-General on the human rights of internally displaced persons, and the Special Rapporteur on the question of torture and other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment. 2. In its resolution 6/34, the Council requested the Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in the Sudan to ensure effective follow-up and to foster the implementation of the remaining short- and medium-term recommendations identified in the first report of the Group of Experts (A/HRC/5/6) through an open and constructive dialogue with the Government of the Sudan, taking into account the final report of the Group of Experts (A/HRC/6/19) and the replies of the Government thereon, and to include information in this regard in her report to the Council at its ninth session. 3. In its resolution 7/16, the Council urged the Government of the Sudan to continue and intensify its efforts to implement the recommendations identified by the Group of Experts, in accordance with the specified time frames and indicators. The Council invited relevant United Nations bodies and agencies, including the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, to continue to provide support and technical assistance to the Sudan for the implementation of the recommendations of the Group of Experts, and called upon donors to continue to provide financial and technical assistance and required equipment for the improvement of human rights in the Sudan and to continue to provide support for the implementation of the Comprehensive Peace Agreement. 4. The present report is submitted pursuant to resolution 11/10, in which the Council created the mandate of the independent expert and requested him to assume the mandate and responsibilities set out by the Council in its resolutions 6/34, 6/35, 7/16 and 9/17, including following up and fostering the implementation of the remaining recommendations of the Group of Experts through open and constructive dialogue, and to include information thereon in his report. The present report reflects information received from the Government of the Sudan and from other sources, including the African UnionUnited Nations Hybrid Operation in Darfur (UNAMID), the United Nations Mission in the Sudan (UNMIS) and United Nations agencies, bodies and programmes with operational competence in Darfur. 5. Using the indicators contained in the annex to the Group’s report submitted to the Council (A/HRC/5/6), the independent expert provides an assessment of the Government’s activities in implementing the recommendations to be achieved in the short- and mediumterm, as well as the degree of impact reported on the ground in Darfur. Accordingly, the 4