A/HRC/20/14 8. On 2 April 2012, the Special Rapporteur took part in a panel discussion on the rights of victims of terrorism, hosted jointly by Spain, the CTITF, the Fundación Miguel Ángel Blanco and the Fundación Víctimas del Terrorismo. 9. The Special Rapporteur thanks the Government of Burkina Faso for having extended an invitation to visit the country in November 2011, which he was compelled to postpone until 2012. He also expresses his thanks to the Government of Honduras for extending an invitation. The Government of Chile indicated that a country visit could take place in 2012. Following the issuance of a standing invitation to all special procedures mandate holders, the Special Rapporteur sent a reminder concerning his outstanding visit request to Thailand. He also sent a visit request to Nigeria, which, like Burkina Faso, is a partnering country for the Integrated Assistance for Countering Terrorism initiative of the CTITF. There are outstanding visit requests to Algeria, Malaysia, Pakistan, the Philippines and the Russian Federation. In addition, he is awaiting an invitation for a second visit to Egypt. III. State obligations corresponding to the human rights of victims of terrorism 10. The present report identifies the core human rights of victims of terrorism, elaborates the international obligations resting on States to protect those rights, and recommends that States take steps towards enshrining these rights and obligations in a specific international instrument. 11. At the outset, the Special Rapporteur strongly urges States to recognize that the deliberate infliction of lethal or potentially lethal violence by non-State actors in the course of an act of terrorism amounts, in all cases where death or serious physical or psychological injury results, to a grave violation of the human rights of the victim, irrespective of the question of direct or indirect State responsibility. 12. Some still argue that terrorists, rebels and other belligerents cannot commit violations of international human rights law unless the degree of organization, territorial control and State recognition involved in a conflict situation has escalated to the level of a full-blown insurgency or internal armed conflict. However, it is a central tenet of international human rights law that it must keep pace with a changing world. Some of the gravest violations of human rights are nowadays committed by, or on behalf of, non-State actors operating in conflict situations of one kind or another,4 including by domestic and international terrorist networks. If international human rights law is to keep pace with these changes, the victims of acts of terrorism must now be recognized as victims of grave violations of international human rights law.5 13. For those who seek a nexus to State responsibility, this may be identified in the general duty of States, under article 6 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (the “Covenant”), to protect the right to life of individuals on their territory, as well as “the involuntary sacrifice of victims on behalf of the State, which is the most frequent target of terrorist acts.”6 Certainly, when viewed from a victim's perspective, the mass killing of civilians which is the objective of most terrorist campaigns, involves the deprivation of the most fundamental human right of all. The Special Rapporteur acknowledges that there is a responsible body of opinion to the effect that only States and 4 5 6 4 See for example A/HRC/19/69, paras. 105-120. See for example Law No. 29/2011 of Spain, and para. 60 of this report. United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC), The Criminal Justice Response to Support Victims of Acts of Terrorism (New York, 2011), para. 68.