A/HRC/19/57 I. Introduction 1. The Working Group on Arbitrary Detention was established by the former Commission on Human Rights in its resolution 1991/42 and entrusted with the investigation of instances of alleged arbitrary deprivation of liberty, according to the standards set forth in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and the relevant international instruments accepted by the States concerned. The mandate of the Working Group was clarified and extended by the Commission in its resolution 1997/50 to cover the issue of administrative custody of asylum-seekers and immigrants. At its sixth session, the Human Rights Council assessed the mandate of the Working Group and adopted resolution 6/4 which confirmed the scope of its mandate. On 30 September 2010, by its resolution 15/18, the Human Rights Council extended the Working Group’s mandate for a further three-year period. 2. During 2011, the Working Group was composed of Ms. Shaheen Sardar Ali (Pakistan), Mr. Mads Andenas (Norway), Mr. Roberto Garretón (Chile), Mr. El Hadji Malick Sow (Senegal) and Mr. Vladimir Tochilovsky (Ukraine). 3. El Hadji Malick Sow is the Chair-Rapporteur of the Working Group and Shaheen Sardar Ali its Vice-Chair. II. Activities of the Working Group in 2011 4. During the period 1 January to 30 November 2011, the Working Group held its sixtieth, sixty-first and sixty-second sessions. It undertook two official missions: to Georgia (15–24 June 2011) and Germany (26 September–5 October 2011) (see addenda 2 and 3, respectively). 5. On 14 November 2011, the Working Group celebrated its twentieth anniversary with a commemorative event organized in Paris with the support of the Governments of France and Norway and the French National Consultative Commission on Human Rights. The event brought together various stakeholders, who engaged in round-table discussions on issues relating to development of the work and jurisprudence of the Working Group and identified best practices to enhance its functions. The Working Group was honoured with the presence of two persons who had been the subject of Opinions of the Working Group, Birtukan Mideksa and Haitham al-Maleh, as well as with a video sent by Aung San Suu Kyi, who thanked the Working Group for the six Opinions rendered regarding her detention. Among members of the panels of the event were Nicole Ameline; Carlos Ayala Corao and Jared Genser; former Working Group Chair-Rapporteurs Louis Joinet and Leïla Zerrougui and former Vice-Chair Tamás Bán. Emmanuel Decaux, Michel Forst, Bacre Ndiaye, Tarald Brautaset, Halvor Saetre, Christian Strohal, and François Zimeray honoured the event with their presence. At the event in Paris, the Working Group launched its database containing over 650 Opinions on individual cases adopted since the establishment of the Group. The database is publicly available at www.unwgaddatabase.org in English, French and Spanish. 6. On 22 November 2011, the Working Group held informal consultations in Geneva with representatives of Governments and civil society in the context of elaborating its Deliberation No. 9 on the definition and scope of arbitrary deprivation of liberty in customary international law. In this connection, by note verbale dated 31 October 2011, the Working Group requested the Governments to provide written comments on the following questions: “(1) is the prohibition of arbitrary deprivation of liberty expressly contained in your country’s legislation? If so please refer to the specific legislation; (2) what elements 4