Urgent action
Where information attests to an imminence of a serious human rights viola- tion (e.g. extra-judicial execution, fear that a detained person may be subjected to torture or may die as a result of an untreated disease, for example) the Spe-

cial Rapporteur, Representative, Expert or Working Group may address a message to the authorities of the State concerned by telefax or telegramme, requesting clarifications on the case, appealing to the Government to take the necessary measures to guarantee the rights of the alleged victim. These appeals are meant to be preventive in character and do not prejudge a defini- tive conclusion.
Once an urgent action is transmitted to the Government in question, the Spe- cial Rapporteur, Representative, Expert or Working Group undertakes the following action:
• appeals to the Governments concerned to ensure effective protection of the alleged victims;
• urges the competent authorities to undertake full, independent and impar- tial investigation and to adopt all necessary measures to prevent further violations and requests to be informed of  every step taken in this regard;
• if no response is received and/or the competent authority takes no reme- dial measures, the Special Rapporteur, Representative, Expert or Working Group reminds the Government concerned of the cases periodically.
Cases not clarified are made public through the report of the particular Spe- cial Procedures to the Commission on Human Rights or to the competent United Nations bodies.
Specific requests for such urgent intervention may be addressed to: