The UN regime

Question 1

Who is eligible for membership in the Human Rights Council?

Answer 1

All UN member states, does not require it to be a state with a good track record for upholding human rights.

Question 2

What are the UN treaty bodies? An how can they be elected?

Answer 2

• an independant group of experts governing the implementation of human rights treaties and monitoring compliance
• they have to be a national of a state party to the treaty in question, elected by the state parties (they don’t represent them, they are independant/serve in personal capacity), be of a high moral standing and recognized to have competence in the relevant human rights field and be available to regularyl attend sessions in the Committee in question

Question 3

What are the tasks of the Treaty Bodies?

Answer 3

• State reporting
  
  • initial report - common core (same for all treaty bodies) + treaty specific
  • the treaty body gives a ‘list of issues’ and the state gets to respond to this
  • then the treaty body takes up other information, UN + shadow reports (NGOs)
  • the committee publishes ‘concluding observations’ with issues of concern and recommendations to state parties
  • implementation and periodic reports
• General comments
• Inquiries: investigative, if there are claims on systematic violations of human rights
• Complaint procedures (needs accept from state party)
  
  • interstate
  • individual

Question 4

What are the main UN bodies that deal with human rights?

Answer 4

• charter based bodies
  
  • principal institutions of the UN established by the UN charter
  • bodies (commissions or groups) established by these institutions with special tasks (art. 68 of the UN charter)
  • usually representing states, not independent experts (political bodies)
  • initiatives and drafting of new instruments
  • reaction to serious human rights violations
• treaty based bodies
  
  • committees established by each conventions to monitor its implementation in member states, through reporting system, communications, general comments, inquiries and complaint procedures
  • independent experts of high moral character and recognized competence in the field of human rights

Question 5

What is the human rights council? And how are the members elected?

Answer 5

• the main intergovernmental body within the UN responsible to for promoting and protecting human rights (subsidiary to the GA)
• all UN member states are eligible for membership, not only those with a good human rights record of high ratification rate on human rights instruments
• elected in e secret ballot, simple majority vote of the members of the GA: pledges and committment to promote and protect human rights are taken into account

Question 6

Are there any requirements to the council members ones they are elected?

Answer 6

• have to uphold the highest standards in the promotion and protection of human rights
• no formal mechanism to hold them accountable, but a member that has committed gross and systematic violations of human rights may be suspended by the GA by a 2//3 vote of the members present and voting (very rare that it happens, only really happened once)

Question 7

What does the human rights council do?

Answer 7

• universal periodic review (UPR): a periodic assessment of all the UN member states human rights obligations - puts forward a national report, a UN compilation that gathers recommendations, obsevations, and comments, and lastly a summary of stakeholders’ information
• promote universal respect for protection of human rights and fundamental freedoms for all
• responses to urgent human rights situations/emergencies
• addressing and making recommendations on situations of violations of human rights
• promoting effective coordination of and mainstreaming of human rights in the UN system
• recommendations to the GA on developing new human rights standards
• special procedures
• complaint procedure

Question 8

How is the UPR different from the state reporting to the UN treaty bodies?

Answer 8

• the UPR is a peer review (more politically) of the UN members actions to fulfil their human rights obligations while as the state reporting is only the state itself being reviewed by a group of independent experts
• the UPR looks at all the human rights obligations, but the state reporting only looks at the specific treaty that the treaty body is governing

Question 9

How often and for how long does the human rights council meet for?

Answer 9

• 3 sessions a year, for at least 10 weeks each time
• can have special sessions lasting 1 or 2 days at a time by request of a council member that has gotten at least 1/3 of the council’s support (to respond to serious human rights violations)
• often meet in intersessional activities such as panels, briefings, seminars and informal conversations with the UN high commissioner for human rights to strengthen its work

Question 10

Why did the human rights council replace the commission on human rights?

Answer 10

• an attempt to regain credibility to the UN human rights body
• the commission was critizised for politicization of its work

Question 11

What is the purpose of the special sessions of the human rights council and what is the outcome?

Answer 11

• the purpose is to respond to serious human rights situations
• the outcome may be a creation of fact-finding missions or other special procedure

Question 12

What are special procedures under the human rights council? And what do they do?

Answer 12

• experts acting in personal capacity: working group, special rapporteur, independent expert
• they conduct country visits, which must be agreed to by the state concerned (rely on cooperation)
• most mandates examine complaints from individuals, human rights defenders, or other interested persons regarding alleged human rights violations that fall within their mandate
  
  • several special procedures have adopted reasoned opinions in response to complaints
• some mandate holders develop authoritative opinions and standards, thus contributing to the progressive development of int. law
• mandate golders raise awareness of human rights concerns by giving press statements or engaging in the media
• they interact with other UN bodies

Question 13

What is the complaint procedure under the human rights council?

Answer 13

• different from judicial proceedings
• a confidential procedure
• concerned with patterns of gross violations of human rights, and on reliable knowledge on the alleged violations
• complaint can be submitted by a person or group claiming to be a victim of human rights violations, domestic remedies should be exhausted, and it cannot be dealt with in a special procedure or other UN or regional human rights mechanism
• unlike the old procedure, the author is now informed on key developments

Question 14

What are differences between the human rights council and the UN treaty bodies?

Answer 14

• the council is a political body, with members representing their state, while as the treaty bodies are independent experts
• the council promote and protect human rights, while as the treaty bodies monitor their specific human rights treaty
• the council has a broader mandate then the treaty bodies because they only focus on one human rights treaty
• they have different tasks