A/HRC/21/46 8. Since his appointment, the Special Rapporteur has engaged in consultations with a great number of experts and civil society organizations exchanging views about priorities and strategies for fulfilling the mandate. Among others, he has consulted with Amnesty International, the International Court of Justice, the Fédération internationale des droits de l’homme (FIDH), Center for Legal and Social Studies (CELS), the International Crisis Group, Center for Studies of Law, Justice and Society (DeJusticia) and the Redress Trust. He also had a consultation with the President of the Assembly of State Parties of the International Criminal Court. At the United Nations level, he has held meetings with OHCHR, UN Women, and various participants in the ongoing discussions at the General Assembly regarding the High-level Segment on the rule of law to take place on 24 September 2012 during its next session. With the support of OHCHR, he has started the process of organizing regional consultations on the mandate, the first two of which are being planned for the second semester of 2012. 9. The Special Rapporteur thanks the Government of Uruguay for having extended an invitation to visit the country. During the reporting period, he sent requests for country visits to Guatemala, Guinea, Nepal and Spain. He also sent a letter, jointly with the Special Rapporteur on torture and other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment, to the Government of Brazil, in relation to the National Truth Commission, offering support and cooperation, including through the provision of technical assistance or advisory services. III. A. 1. Foundations of the mandate Scope of the mandate Human Rights Council resolution 18/7 10. Human Rights Council resolution 18/7, adopted by consensus and with the support of almost 80 Member States, established the mandate of a Special Rapporteur to “deal with situations in which there have been gross violations of human rights and serious violations of international humanitarian law”. Thematically, the mandate concentrates on measures intended to promote “truth, justice, reparations, and guarantees of non-recurrence”. Specifically, the resolution mentions “individual prosecutions, reparations, truth-seeking, institutional reform, vetting of public employees and officials, or an appropriately conceived combination thereof”. The resolution tasks the mandate holder to identify potential additional elements with a view to recommend ways and means to improve and strengthen the promotion of the four elements of the mandate. 11. The resolution assigns twelve tasks to the Special Rapporteur, among them: providing, upon request, technical advice on issues pertaining to the mandate; gathering information on national situations; identifying good practices; conducting country visits; and making recommendations concerning judicial and non-judicial measures when designing and implementing strategies, policies and measures for addressing gross violations of human rights and serious violations of international humanitarian law. Operationally, the resolution specifies that the Special Rapporteur should carry out these tasks in regular dialogue and close coordination with Governments, international and regional organizations, national human rights institutions and non-governmental organizations, as well as relevant United Nations bodies and mechanisms, integrating a gender perspective and applying a victim-centred approach. 12. In the resolution, the Human Rights Council expresses its expectation that the implementation of a comprehensive approach to the four elements should help “ensure accountability, serve justice, provide remedies to victims, promote healing and 4