Special Rapporteur

Special Rapporteur is a title given to individuals working on behalf of various regional and international organizations who bear specific mandates to investigate, monitor and recommend solutions to specific human rights problems.

There currently exist:

List of Special Rapporteurs

United Nations

United Nations Special Rapporteurs under the Human Rights Council and (previously) the Commission on Human Rights ("special procedures"):

Thematic mandates

Special Rapporteur on the promotion of truth, justice, reparation and guarantees of non-recurrence (2012–)
Independent Expert on the promotion of a democratic and equitable international order (2012–)
Special Rapporteur on the human rights to water and sanitation (2008–)
Special Rapporteur on adequate housing as a component of the right to an adequate standard of living (2000–)
Special Rapporteur on the sale of children, child prostitution and child pornography (1990–)
Special Rapporteur on the right to education (1998–)
Special Rapporteur on extrajudicial, summary or arbitrary executions (1982–) (Official site)
Independent Expert on the question of human rights and extreme poverty (1998–)
Special Rapporteur on the Right to Food (2000–)
Special Rapporteur on the promotion and protection of the right to freedom of opinion and expression (1993–)
Special Rapporteur on freedom of religion or belief (1986–)
Special Rapporteur on the right of everyone to the enjoyment of the highest attainable standard of physical and mental health (2002–)
Special Representative of the Secretary-General on the situation of human rights defenders (2000–)
Special Rapporteur on the independence of judges and lawyers (1994–)
Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights and fundamental freedoms of indigenous people (2001–)
Representative of the Secretary-General on the human rights of internally displaced persons (2004–)
Special Rapporteur on the human rights of migrants (1999–)
Independent Expert on minority issues (2005–)
Special Rapporteur on contemporary forms of racism, racial discrimination, xenophobia and related intolerance (1993–)
Independent Expert on human rights and international solidarity (2005–)
Independent expert on the effects of economic reform policies and foreign debt on the full enjoyment of human rights, particularly economic, social and cultural rights (2000–)
Special Rapporteur on the promotion and protection of human rights while countering terrorism (2005–)
Special Rappouteur on human rights defenders (2008–)
Special Rapporteur on torture and other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment (1995–)
Special Rapporteur on the adverse effects of the illicit movement and dumping of toxic and dangerous products and wastes on the enjoyment of human rights (1995–)
Special Rapporteur on trafficking in persons, especially in women and children (2004–)
Special Representative of the SG on human rights and transnational corporations and other business enterprises (2005–)
Special Rapporteur on violence against women, its causes and consequences (1994–)
Special Rapporteur on the rights to freedom of peaceful assembly and of association (2011–)

Country mandates

Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in Eritrea (2012–)
Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in Belarus (2004–2007, extended for 3 years 2013–)
Independent Expert on the situation of human rights in Burundi (2004–)
Special Representative of the Secretary-General for human rights in Cambodia (1993–)
Personal Representative of the High Commissioner for Human Rights on the situation of human rights in Cuba (2002–2007)
Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (2004–)
Independent Expert on the situation of human rights in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (2004, discontinued)
Independent Expert appointed by the Secretary-General on the situation of human rights in Haiti (1995-)
Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in the Islamic Republic of Iran (1980–)
Independent Expert on the situation of human rights in Liberia (2003, discontinued)
Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in Myanmar (1992–)
Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in the Palestinian territories occupied since 1967 (1993–)
Independent Expert appointed by the Secretary-General on the situation of human rights in Somalia (1993–)
Special Rapporteur on the situation on human rights in the Sudan (2005–)
Independent Expert on the situation of human rights in Uzbekistan (2005, discontinued)

African Union

African Union Special Rapporteurs of the African Commission on Human and Peoples' Rights:

Special Rapporteur on Extra-Judicial, Arbitrary, Summary and Arbitrary Executions
Special Rapporteur on Freedom of Expression in Africa
Special Rapporteur on the Situation of Human Rights Defenders
Special Rapporteur on Prisons and Conditions of Detention in Africa
Special Rapporteur on Refugees, Asylum Seekers and Internally Displaced Persons in Africa
Special Rapporteur on the Rights of Women in Africa

Organization of American States

Organization of American States Special Rapporteurs under the aegis of the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights:

Special Rapporteur for Freedom of Expression
Special Rapporteur on Migrant Workers and their Families
Special Rapporteur on the Rights of Women