A/HRC/7/2 page 6 I. INTRODUCTION A. The mandate 1. The Working Group on Enforced or Involuntary Disappearances was the first United Nations human rights thematic mechanism to be established with a universal mandate. The original mandate is derived from Commission on Human Rights resolution 20 (XXXVI) of 29 February 1980. This resolution followed General Assembly resolution 33/173 of 20 December 1978, in which the Assembly expressed concern over reports from various parts of the world relating to enforced disappearances and requested the Commission on Human Rights to consider the question of missing or disappeared persons. 2. The Working Group’s mandate was elaborated in General Assembly resolution 47/133 of 18 December 1992, entitled “Declaration on the Protection of All Persons from Enforced Disappearance”. The mandate was most recently extended by Commission on Human Rights resolution 2004/40 of 19 April 2004 and Human Rights Council decision 5/101 of 18 June 2007. 3. The Working Group’s basic mandate is humanitarian. It serves as a channel of communication between family members of victims of disappearance and Governments. The primary task of the Working Group is to assist families in determining the fate or whereabouts of their family members who are reportedly disappeared. 4. In addition to its basic mandate, the Working Group has also been entrusted, according to Commission resolution 2004/40, with the task of monitoring the progress of States in fulfilling obligations derived from the Declaration. B. Methods of work 5. During the course of the year, the Working Group completed a process of reviewing its methods of work. The methods of work, as revised on 30 November 2007, are contained in annex I to the present report, and will come into effect as from the eighty-fourth session of the Working Group. C. The present report 6. The report reflects communications and cases examined by the Working Group during its three sessions in 2007, and covers the period from November 2006 to November 2007. 7. A summary of activities during the reporting period is presented in a table for each country, with a detailed text description of the areas of activity. Where there has been no correspondence or other activity during the period, only the table is provided and a reference is made to a description of cases. Due to space limitations, the section “Summary of the situation prior to the period under review” of every country was not included in this report. The summaries can be found in the 2006 annual report (A/HRC/4/41). 8. In countries where the number of newly reported cases is less than 10, the names of the persons appear in the country section. If the number of newly reported cases is greater than 10, the list of names appears in annex V.