A/HRC/4/43 page 2 REPORT OF THE THIRTEENTH MEETING OF SPECIAL RAPPORTEURS/ REPRESENTATIVES, INDEPENDENT EXPERTS AND CHAIRPERSONS OF WORKING GROUPS OF THE SPECIAL PROCEDURES OF THE COMMISSION ON HUMAN RIGHTS AND OF THE ADVISORY SERVICES PROGRAMME (GENEVA, 19-23 JUNE 2006) Rapporteur: Gay McDougall Summary The thirteenth annual meeting of mandate-holders was held in Geneva from 19 to 23 June 2006. Participants at the meeting elected Vitit Muntarbhorn as Chairperson and Gay McDougall as Rapporteur. The Coordination Committee for 2006/07 will consist of Vitit Muntarbhorn (Chairperson of the thirteenth meeting), Gay McDougall (Rapporteur of the thirteenth meeting), Philip Alston (ex-officio member), Charlotte Abaka, Amada Benavides de Perez and Asma Jahangir. Participants participated in the opening ceremony of the first session of the Human Rights Council. During the meeting they were briefed on the activities of the Coordination Committee since the twelfth meeting and discussed the role that the Committee should play in the future. Participants had before them a revised version of the Manual of the United Nations Human Rights Special Procedures. They decided that the Manual would be posted on the website for comments from all stakeholders and then revised accordingly. The new version will be presented for approval to the fourteenth annual meeting. During the meeting, mandate-holders held meetings with representatives of non-governmental organizations (NGOs) and national institutions, and a joint meeting with participants at the eighteenth meeting of persons chairing the human rights treaty bodies. Participants had an exchange with the High Commissioner, the Deputy High Commissioner and OHCHR senior managers. Mandate-holders also had an exchange with the special rapporteur on human rights defenders of the African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights. Participants discussed at length the review of mandates to be undertaken by the Human Rights Council and the role of the special procedures system vis-à-vis the universal periodic review (UPR). There was general agreement that mandate-holders, through the Coordination Committee, should be involved in related discussions. It was stressed that special procedures represented one of the greatest achievements of the Commission on Human Rights and it was necessary to ensure that the review would strengthen the system. Participants and other stakeholders also stressed the need to ensure that UPR would be based on recommendations adopted by human rights mechanisms. The Chair of the Coordination Committee had an interaction with the Human Rights Council at its first session and read a statement which had been prepared by all mandate-holders.