Welcome to the database of the Working Group on Arbitrary Detention.
The Working Group on Arbitrary Detention was established by resolution 1991/42 of the United Nations’ Commission on Human Rights, which extended and clarified the mandate in resolution 1997/50.
The Working Group’s mandate has been most recently extended, for a three-year period, in Human Rights Council’s resolution 42/22, of 26 September 2019.
The Working Group has the mandate to investigate cases of deprivation of liberty imposed arbitrarily or otherwise inconsistently with the relevant international standards set forth in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights or in the relevant international legal instruments accepted by the States concerned.
This includes, inter alia, to seek and receive information from Governments and intergovernmental and non-governmental organizations, and receive information from the individuals concerned, their families or their representatives.
This website allows the advanced search of opinions adopted by the Working Group on Arbitrary Detention as a result of the investigation of individual cases, as well as its annual reports to the Human Rights Council, including reports on country visits.