A Backgrounder on UN Human Rights Machinery

Human rights machinery is a fancy name for the massive collection of commissions, committees, working groups and other bodies that promote and protect international human rights. The large collection of bodies that exist at the international level to oversee compliance with human rights norms can be as complicated and confusing as a murder mystery. Don’t worry! Once you learn the vocabulary and get a handle on a few key concepts, the puzzle pieces will fall into place. This post will help you “crack” the Case of Human Rights Bodies within the United Nations.

The UN Human Rights Council
In 2006, the 47 nation Human Rights Council replaced the UN Human Rights Commission. The member states of the Council are divided into five regions: Africa (13), Latin America & the Caribbean (8), Asia (13), Eastern Europe (6) and Western Europe & Other States (7). The Human Rights Council reviews the human rights situation in countries all over the world through the Universal Periodic Review Process. Unlike the members of treaty bodies and special procedures, described below, the members of the Council are states and not individual experts. Thus, the political nature of the Council’s composition directly affects its work.

Universal Periodic Review
The UPR mechanism, is an innovation under which the Human Rights Council reviews and produces a record on each of the UN member states’ human rights situation every four years. The first round of reviews began in April 2008. In January 2009, the UPR began its fourth session. By 2011, the process should cover each of the 192 UN Member States. “Currently, no other universal mechanism of this kind exists,” reports the UN.

A Planning Committee has been established to help guide the process. Reviews are carried out by a working group, a body composed of five members, one from each of the Council’s five regions. Working groups are facilitated by groups of three appointed representatives from the state members of the HRC which will act as “troikas.” Together the working groups and troikas are to meet three times per year for two weeks to create their review.

The reviews are based a given State’s national reports, and two types of summaries prepared by the Office of High Commissioner for Human Rights (for more information on the documents and review method see here). In 2010, the U.S. is scheduled to be reviewed for the first time.

Special Procedures
In addition to the UPR process, the Human Rights Council monitors human rights through what are known as Special Procedures. These are the collective of leading experts (Special Rapporteurs) and Working Groups appointed by the Council to monitor and report on human rights violations in specific countries (country mandates) or on particular human rights issues (thematic mandates). Currently there are 30 thematic and 8 country mandates.

Independence is critical to the success of the Special Rapporteurs but, alas, is not always achieved in the process of selection. Rapporteurs are not paid and serve for a maximum of six years. The Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights provides staff and support for each mandate. A list of currently approved special procedures can be found here.

The activities of special procedural mechanisms vary. They include conducting individual studies, sending communications to related governments (in 2008, a total of 911 communications), making specific country visits and writing press releases.

UN High Commissioner for Human Rights
The UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, established in 1993 by the UN General Assembly in wake of the World Conference on Human Rights, is responsible for coordinating the action on human rights throughout the United Nations system and generally promoting respect for human rights around the world.

Information on the current High Commissioner South African Navanethem Pillay and her four predecessors can be found here.

UN Human Rights Treaties
Over the past six decades, the UN has created eight core human rights treaties that describe the duties of member nations to protect various human rights and vulnerable groups. Once a nation ratifies a treaty, convention, or covenant, it is bound by the international law contained within.

First, there are two covenants, which divide the rights in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights into two categories: civil and political, and economic, social and cultural rights. That division is the result of a cold war battle between the US-led bloc and the Soviet Union-led-bloc. The decision to split these rights into two covenants has long been the subject of debate and conflict among human rights advocates and member nations. Six subsequent treaties, called conventions, address specific rights violations (such as torture) or specific rights holders (children, women, racial/ethnic minorities, migrant workers, disabled persons) in greater depth.

UN Human Rights Treaties require each state party to submit periodic reports detailing the extent to which it has complied with that treaty’s obligations since its last report. Civil society groups, whether international giants like Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch or domestic organizations in the country under review, may submit parallel or shadow reports. The Committees review these reports, question state representatives and produce conclusions and recommendations.

In addition to the periodic review of country reports, some of the treaties have been strengthened by optional protocols, which add provisions or allow individual claims to be submitted. There are eight core treaties that cover the bulk of the UN's history over the past six decades.

International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights: The International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR) was adopted by the UN in December 16, 1966 and entered into force on March 23, 1976. The Covenant is enforced by the Human Rights Committee, a body of 18 independent experts, and covers rights like freedom of speech and movement, voting, and right to life. There are two additional, Optional Protocols to the ICCPR that member nations may ratify: the First Optional Protocol establishes a mechanism for individual complaints about human rights abuses to the Human Rights Committee, the Second Optional Protocol abolishes the death penalty.

International Covenant on Economic, Social, and Cultural Rights: The International Covenant on Economic, Social, and Cultural Rights (ICESCR) was adopted on December 16, 1966 and entered into force on January 3, 1976. It commits member nations ensure the economic, social, and cultural rights of their peoples, including labor rights, education, health care, and the right to an adequate standard of living. Implementation of the Covenant is monitored by the CESCR, an independent body of experts. On September 24, 2009, 29 nations signed on to an optional protocol that allows victims of human rights violations to seek justice on an international level through an individual complaints mechanism.

Convention on the Rights of the Child: The Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC) was adopted on November 20, 1989 in recognition of the need to extend special safeguards to children. The CRC entered into force on September 2, 1990. Implementation of the CRC is overseen by the Committee on the Rights of the Child.

International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination: The International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination, was adopted on December 21, 1965 and entered into force on January 4, 1969. The Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination (CERD) is a group of independent experts who monitor member nations as they seek to implement the Convention. Article 14 of the Convention allows for individual petitions to the CERD Committee.

Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women: The Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW) was adopted on December 18, 1979 and entered into force on September 3, 1981. The Convention serves as an international bill of rights for women. The United States is the only developed nation that has not ratified CEDAW. The Optional Protocol to CEDAW allows individual complaints against member nations. The Optional Protocol also allows the Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW) to respond to the needs of member nations in the context of particular problems and circumstances.

Convention Against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman, or Degrading Treatment or Punishment: The Convention Against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman, or Degrading Treatment or Punishment, was adopted on December 10, 1984 and entered into force on June 26, 1987. The Committee Against Torture (CAT) is a body of ten independent experts that enforces the implementation of this Convention. According to the Convention, states must take measures to prevent and punish torture within their borders and may not return individuals to their home country if they might be tortured there. This element of CAT is particularly important in assessing the illegality of rendition. Article 22 allows for individual petition to the CAT Committee. The Optional Protocol to CAT gives the UN Subcommittee on the Prevention of Torture the right to visit detention centers in member nations and examine the treatment of detainees. The protocol also obliges States to set up their own independent monitoring groups to examine the treatment of people in detention and make recommendations to the government authorities.

International Convention on the Protection of the Rights of All Migrant Workers and Members of Their Families: The International Convention on the Protection of the Rights of All Migrant Workers and Members of Their Families (perhaps better known as the Migrant Workers Convention), was adopted on December 18, 1990 and entered into force on July 1, 2003. The Convention aims to guarantee equality of treatment and working conditions between migrant workers and nationals. The Convention is enforced by the Committee on the Protection of the Rights of All Migrant Workers and Members of their Families (CMW), an independent body of experts.

Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities: The Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (DRC) is the most recent addition to the body of UN Human Rights treaties. The Committee on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities is the body of independent experts responsible for enforcing the provisions set forth in the Convention, adopted on December 13, 2006. The Convention entered into force in May 2008.

(Special props to Caitlin Connolly and Victoria Baranetsky for their research and writing with this piece.)

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