A/HRC/13/39 criminals, suspects in police custody or accused in pretrial detention, illegal migrants and asylum-seekers in detention pending deportation, patients in psychiatric hospitals or children in closed institutions, detainees are among the most vulnerable and forgotten human beings in our societies. As soon as people are locked up, whether for justified or less justified reasons, society loses interest in their fate. One of the oldest stereotypes of modern societies is that those who are in detention must have done something wrong: an attitude which totally overlooks the fact that the criminal justice systems in most countries do not function properly, and detainees often have no effective access to any independent judicial review of their detention (habeas corpus) and similar complaints and control mechanisms. Prison walls and fences lock people up and society out. Because of punitive justice systems, detainees have very little contact with the outside world, and society has no interest in the fate of detainees. Prison conditions seem to be one of the last taboos, even in so-called “open societies”. Another challenge that accompanied the Special Rapporteur throughout his tenure was the manifold attempts by a number of States to undermine or weaken the absolute prohibition of torture with reference to the need to counter terrorism. A. Country visits 29. During the last five years, the Special Rapporteur has undertaken 15 fact-finding missions to Georgia (including Abkhazia and South Ossetia), Mongolia, Nepal, China (including the autonomous regions of Tibet and Qinjang), Jordan, Paraguay, Nigeria, Togo, Sri Lanka, Indonesia, Denmark (including Greenland), Moldova (including Transnistria), Equatorial Guinea, Uruguay and Kazakhstan. Together with other special procedures mandate holders, the Special Rapporteur has prepared studies of the situation of detainees in the United States detention centre at Guantánamo Bay, Cuba, on the human rights situation in Darfur, Sudan, and on the global phenomenon of secret detention in the fight against terrorism. He also visited a considerable number of countries to hold meetings with and advise Governments, NGOs, victims and witnesses, and give lectures and training seminars. He also met with international and regional human rights bodies of the African Union, the Organization of American States, the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe, the Council of Europe and the European Union. 30. The Special Rapporteur is grateful to States with standing invitations to special procedures and all Governments that responded positively to his requests for invitations to visit their countries. At the same time, he regrets that certain Governments have not responded to his requests or denied him access to their territories (see above, paragraph 6). Some Governments issued an invitation but refused to comply with the Special Rapporteur’s terms of reference, which meant that the mission had to be cancelled or postponed at the last minute. These include the United States of America (in respect of Guantánamo Bay) and the Russian Federation. Others, including Sri Lanka, Equatorial Guinea and Cuba, invited the Special Rapporteur and then postponed the mission. Zimbabwe postponed the mission on the day that the Special Rapporteur travelled to Johannesburg and denied him access to its territory despite the explicit wish of the Prime Minister to meet him. Postponements of visits at the last minute are a considerable waste of scarce resources. Much time and effort had been invested by the Special Rapporteur and his staff in preparing missions to the Russian Federation, Sri Lanka, Equatorial Guinea, Cuba and Zimbabwe to the best of their abilities. In the case of Zimbabwe, considerable travel expenses were even paid. Nevertheless, the visits to Sri Lanka and Equatorial Guinea actually took place in late 2007 and 2008, respectively, whereas no new dates have ever been proposed by the Russian Federation. In the case of Cuba and Zimbabwe, these visits might be undertaken in 2010, but only at the expense of other missions which the Special Rapporteur intended to conduct during his last year as mandate holder, and only if he receives convincing assurances that his terms of references will be respected. GE.10-10042 7