UN Working Group on Arbitrary Detention briefs the Government and Stakeholders on the findings of their visit
Foreign Secretary, His Excellency Abdul Ghafoor Mohamed today chaired the debriefing session held by the UN Working Group on Arbitrary Detention. The Working Group is currently undertaking a country visit to the Maldives from 29 November to 9 December 2021.
During the session held this morning at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Foreign Secretary thanked the Working Group for accepting the Government’s Standing Invitation and visiting the Maldives. The Chair-Rapporteur of the Working Group, Ms. Elina Steinerte expressed gratitude to the Government of Maldives for the invitation to undertake this visit and for the cooperation provided to the team. In today’s debriefing, the Working Group gave a brief overview of the preliminary findings of their visit. The Working Group will present its final report on this visit to the UN Human Rights Council in September 2022.
The briefing session was attended by senior officials from Government ministries and relevant stakeholders.
The Working Group on Arbitrary Detention is a Special Procedures mandate-holder of the UN Human Rights Council, established by the former Commission on Human Rights in 1991 to investigate instances of alleged arbitrary deprivation of liberty. The mandate of the Working Group has been extended by the Commission to cover the issue of administrative custody of asylum-seekers and immigrants.