A/HRC/34/54 State actors. Thus, even where armed groups have brought part of the national territory under their control, Governments are not absolved from doing everything feasible in the circumstances to protect their citizens from torture and ill-treatment. 47. In addition, an increasing number of States delegate part of their law enforcement, intelligence and military operations to private military or security companies. Outsourced tasks and functions may range from the protection of specific persons, objects and infrastructure to running facilities for the processing of asylum seekers or even entire detention facilities for criminal suspects and convicts, and may even include the use of force. In this environment, allegations of individual contractors’ involvement in serious human rights violations — including participation in torture and other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment — continue to emerge. It is therefore important to recall that States cannot absolve themselves from international legal responsibility for acts of torture and other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment carried out by private military or security contractors operating on their behalf. 48. In sum, the Special Rapporteur is of the view that international law must protect every human being from torture and other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment, whoever the perpetrators may be. Throughout his tenure, the Special Rapporteur will therefore aim to contribute to closing the protection gap for victims of torture and other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment at the hands of nonState actors, including by advocating for the mutual reinforcement of human rights and international humanitarian law obligations. In carrying out his mandate, the Special Rapporteur is also willing to explore, to the extent appropriate and practicable, the benefits of engaging in a direct dialogue with non-State actors, including de facto authorities, other armed groups and private companies, to achieve a positive impact on the ground. The Special Rapporteur will also endeavour to further contribute to the ongoing discussions on holding non-State actors accountable for human rights violations, including for acts of torture and other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment. V. Conclusions 49. The Special Rapporteur on torture and other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment sincerely thanks the Human Rights Council for the confidence in him demonstrated by his nomination. He is aware of the great responsibility of his office and is fully committed to carrying it out to the best of his ability and for the benefit of humanity as a whole. 50. The Special Rapporteur acknowledges that the mandate is part of a wider system and looks forward to working in close cooperation with the Committee against Torture, the Subcommittee on Prevention of Torture, the United Nations Voluntary Fund for Victims of Torture, other special procedure mandate holders, regional antitorture mechanisms, States and civil society actors. 51. The Special Rapporteur also wishes to salute the outstanding work accomplished by his predecessors since the establishment of the mandate in 1985. He intends to consolidate and build on their achievements throughout his tenure. 52. At the same time, the Special Rapporteur cannot ignore that, despite more than three decades of dedicated work of the mandate and countless other international, governmental and non-governmental stakeholders, torture and other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment are still rampant in most, if not all, parts of the world. In particular, the Special Rapporteur observes with alarm that, since the turn of the century, the rise of transnational terrorism, organized crime and other actual or perceived threats has given way to an increasing tolerance for violent political 12