A/HRC/20/24 I. Activities of the Special Rapporteur A. Country visits 1. During the period under review, the Special Rapporteur undertook one country visit, to Albania, from 5 to 13 December 2011. 2. In 2012 and 2013, the Special Rapporteur will focus on the European-Mediterranean region and specifically on the management of the external borders of the European Union. During the year, he plans to undertake country visits to Greece, Italy, Tunisia and Turkey. B. Communications with States 3. Since he took up his mandate on 1 August 2011, the Special Rapporteur has sent 12 communications. He thanks all the Governments that responded to his communications for their collaboration and reminds Governments that have not yet responded to do so and address all the concerns raised in each communication. C. Other activities 4. During the reporting period, the Special Rapporteur attended various international events. He gave an oral statement to the General Assembly in New York on 21 October 2011. From 8 to 10 November 2011, he participated in an Expert Meeting on Refugees and Asylum-Seekers in Distress at Sea in Djibouti, organized by the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR). From 29 November to 2 December 2011, he attended the Global Forum on Migration and Development in Geneva and its side events on its margins. He attended the Tenth Coordination Meeting on International Migration and Development in New York on 9 and 10 February 2012. On 22 and 23 March 2012, he participated in an expert consultation on human rights at international borders, organized in Geneva by the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR). II. Detention of migrants in an irregular situation A. 1. The international and regional human rights legal framework The right to liberty and security of person 5. The Universal Declaration of Human Rights guarantees to “everyone”, including migrants in an irregular situation, the right to life, liberty and the security of person (art. 3) and provides that “no one” shall be subjected to arbitrary arrest, detention or exile (art. 9). Article 9, paragraph 1, of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights provides that everyone has the right to liberty and security of person, no one shall be subjected to arbitrary arrest or detention and no one shall be deprived of his liberty except on such grounds and in accordance with such procedure as are established by law. The Human Rights Committee, which monitors the implementation of the Covenant, in its general comment No. 8 (1982) on right to liberty and security of persons stated that this provision is applicable to all deprivations of liberty, including immigration control. The International Convention on the Protection of the Rights of All Migrant Workers and Members of Their Families also protects the right to liberty and security of person and provides all migrant 3