A Special Representative of the Secretary-General is a highly respected expert who has been appointed by the Secretary-General of the United Nations to represent her/him in meetings with heads of state on critical human rights issues. The representatives can carry out country visits to investigate allegations of human rights violations or act as negotiators on behalf of the United Nations.
Among issues it has covered are women's rights, including gender equality, violence against women, domestic violence, Hudood Ordinance, honour killing, Forced disappearance in Pakistan,[1] abolition of capital punishment, LGBT rights, restrictions on press freedom, freedom of speech, freedom of religion, freedom of movement, police brutality, and religiously-inspired violence. The commission is a member organisation of the Asian Forum for Human Rights and Development (FORUM-ASIA).[2]
As of 2017[update] the chairperson is Zohra Yusuf,[1] an activist and journalist. She joined HRCP in 1988, was elected a Council Member in 1990 then Vice Chairperson and Secretary General before becoming Chairperson in 2011.[3]
It describes its aims as: