A/HRC/4/37 page 17 survival”2 as it is also inextricably related to the right to health (art. 12.1) and to the right to life contained in the ICCPR. CESCR provides the most detailed account of the right to water in international law in general comment No. 15. 68. Since the establishment of the mandate, the Special Representative has sent five communications concerning defenders working on the right to food or the right to water. One communication was sent to the Government of China in September 2005 concerning the arrest of a defender working to provide food and shelter to starving North Korean refugees. Another communication was sent to the Government of Colombia concerning the killing of an Embera indigenous leader who had been working to secure the right to land, food and health for indigenous communities. 6. The right to health 69. Article 12 of ICESCR stipulates the “right of everyone to the enjoyment of the highest attainable standard of physical and mental health” which is “closely related to and dependent upon the realization of other human rights, as contained in the International Bill of Rights, including the rights to food, housing, work, education, human dignity, life, non-discrimination, equality, the prohibition against torture, privacy, access to information, and the freedoms of association, assembly and movement”.3 70. Since the establishment of the mandate, the Special Representative has sent 36 communications on defenders working on the right to health. Some of these communications are also included in some of the other sections, in particular the section on the family and labour rights (see paragraphs 48-60 above). 71. Communications concerning defenders working on the right to health have been sent to countries of all regions. Ten communications were transmitted to the Government of Israel and concerned cases where personnel from the Palestinian Red Crescent Society or other Palestinian or international organizations working to promote and protect civilians right to health in the Occupied Palestinian Territory have been attacked or threatened. 72. In this context, the Special Representative recalls a case transmitted to the Government of Israel in 2003, concerning a report from 2002 indicating that the head of the Palestinian Red Crescent Society emergency medical service in the city of Jenin had been killed in an attack on his ambulance while he was attempting to rescue a 9-year-old girl. 73. Many defenders who promote the right to health are working on issues connected to combating HIV/AIDS. The Special Representative is aware of the fact that such defenders are faced with challenges in terms of having their work recognized as human rights work in addition to the stigma attached to this health issue. 2 General comment No. 15 (2002), on “The Right to Water (articles 11 and 12 of the Covenant).” 3 General comment No. 14 (2000), para. 3.