Human Rights Bodies

The Organization's work in human rights is carried out by a number of bodies. When
researching human rights issues, a distinction must be made between Charter-based and treatybased human rights bodies.
The Charter based bodies are bodies that derive their establishment from provisions
contained in the Charter of the United Nations, they encompass a broad spectrum of human
rights mandates, address an unlimited audience, and take action based on majority voting. The
current Charter-based bodies are the Human Rights Council and its subsidiaries, including the
Universal Periodic Review Working Group and the Advisory Committee. 1
The Treaty based bodies which derive their existence from provisions contained in a specific
legal instrument, they also hold more narrow mandates which are the codified issues in the legal
instruments, they only address a specific audience, and that they base their decision making via
consensus.2

The Charter Based Bodies

The Human Rights Council
The Human Rights Council is an inter-governmental body within the United Nations
system responsible for strengthening the promotion and protection of human rights around the
globe and for addressing situations of human rights violations and make recommendations on
them. It has the ability to discuss all thematic human rights issues and situations that require its
attention throughout the year. It meets at the UN Office at Geneva. The Council is made up of 47
United Nations Member States which are elected by the UN General Assembly. The Human
Rights Council replaced the former United Nations Commission on Human Rights. 3
The Universal Periodic Review (UPR)
The Universal Periodic Review (UPR) is a unique process which involves a review of the
human rights records of all UN Member States. The UPR is a State-driven process, under the
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auspices of the Human Rights Council, which provides the opportunity for each State to declare
what actions they have taken to improve the human rights situations in their countries and to
fulfil their human rights obligations. As one of the main features of the Council, the UPR is
designed to ensure equal treatment for every country when their human rights situations are
assessed. It is a cooperative process which, by October 2011, has reviewed the human rights
records of all 193 UN Member States. Currently, no other universal mechanism of this kind
exists. The UPR is one of the key elements of the Council which reminds States of their
responsibility to fully respect and implement all human rights and fundamental freedoms. The
ultimate aim of this mechanism is to improve the human rights situation in all countries and
address human rights violations wherever they occur.4
The United Nations Commission on Human Rights
The United Nations Commission on Human Rights was established in 1946 to weave the
international legal fabric that protects our fundamental rights and freedoms. Composed of 53
States members, its brief expanded over time to allow it to respond to the whole range of human
rights problems and it set standards to govern the conduct of States. It also acted as a forum
where countries large and small, non-governmental groups and human rights defenders from
around the world voiced their concerns.
During its regular annual session in Geneva, for which over 3,000 delegates from
member and observer States and from non-governmental organizations participated, the
Commission adopted about a hundred resolutions, decisions and Chairperson's statements on
matters of relevance to individuals in all regions and circumstances.
Special Procedures of the Human Rights Council
The Special Procedures of the Human Rights Council are independent human rights
experts with mandates to report and advise on human rights from a thematic or country-specific
perspective. The system of Special Procedures is a central element of the United Nations human
rights machinery and covers all human rights: civil, cultural, economic, political, and social. As
of 27 March 2015 there are 41 thematic and 14 country mandates.
This report, covering the period from 1 January to 31 December 2014, provides
information on the system of special procedures as a whole and its achievements, including facts
and figures. It gives a comprehensive picture of what special procedures have done in 2014
individually and as a system, inter alia in terms of country visits, communications, thematic
reports, follow-up activities, joint actions, development of international standards and advocacy.
The report also reflects the work of the Coordination Committee. It also covers the main points
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raised at the twenty-first annual meeting of special procedures of the Human Rights Council,
held in Geneva from 29 September to 3 October 2014.5

Human Rights Council Complaint Procedure

On 18 June 2007, the Human Rights Council adopted resolution 5/1 entitled InstitutionBuilding of the United Nations Human Rights Council by which a new complaint procedure
was established to address consistent patterns of gross and reliably attested violations of all
human rights and all fundamental freedoms occurring in any part of the world and under any
circumstances.
The complaint procedure addresses communications submitted by individuals, groups, or
non-governmental organizations that claim to be victims of human rights violations or that have
direct, reliable knowledge of such violations.
Like the former 1503 procedure, it is confidential, with a view to enhance cooperation
with the State concerned. The new complaint procedure has been improved, where necessary, to
ensure that the procedure be impartial, objective, efficient, victims-oriented and conducted in a
timely manner.6

The Treaty Based Bodies

Nine UN human rights conventions have monitoring bodies to oversee the
implementation of the treaty provisions. The treaty bodies are composed of independent experts
and meet to consider State parties' reports as well as individual complaints or communications.
They may also publish general comments on human rights topics related to the treaties they
oversee. The treaty-based bodies tend to follow similar patterns of documentation.
All States parties are obliged to submit regular reports to the Committee on how the
rights are being implemented.
Human Rights Committee (CCPR)
The Human Rights Committee is the body of independent experts that monitors implementation
of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights by its State parties.7 Civil and
political rights which are included in the 1st generation of rights including, among other things,
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the right to life, equality before the law, freedom of speech, the right to a fair trial, freedom of
religion and voting rights.
The Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (CESCR)
The Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (CESCR) is the body of
independent experts that monitors implementation of the International Covenant on Economic,
Social and Cultural Rights by its States parties.8 The Committee may also, under certain
circumstances, undertake inquiries on grave or systematic violations of any of the economic,
social and cultural rights set forth in the Covenant, and consider inter-state complaints. The
second generation rights are fundamentally economic, social, and cultural in nature. They
guarantee different members of the citizenry equal conditions and treatment. Secondary rights
would include a right to be employed in just and favorable condition, rights to food, housing and
health care, as well as social security and unemployment benefits.
Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination (CERD)
The Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination (CERD) is the body of independent
experts that monitors implementation of the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of
Racial Discrimination by its State parties.
In addition to the reporting procedure, the Convention establishes three other mechanisms
through which the Committee performs its monitoring functions: the early-warning procedure,
the examination of inter-state complaints and the examination of individual complaints.9
The Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW)
The Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW) is the body of
independent experts that monitors implementation of the Convention on the Elimination of All
Forms of Discrimination against Women. CEDAW Committee consists of 23 experts on
womens rights from around the world.
In accordance with the Optional Protocol to the Convention, the Committee is mandated
to : (1) receive communications from individuals or groups of individuals submitting claims of
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violations of rights protected under the Convention to the Committee and (2) initiate inquiries
into situations of grave or systematic violations of womens rights. These procedures are optional
and are only available where the State concerned has accepted them.10
The Committee Against Torture (CAT)
The Committee Against Torture (CAT) is the body of 10 independent experts that monitors
implementation of the Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading
Treatment or Punishment by its State parties.
In addition to the reporting procedure, the Convention establishes three other mechanisms
through which the Committee performs its monitoring functions: the Committee may also, under
certain circumstances, consider individual complaints or communications from individuals
claiming that their rights under the Convention have been violated, undertake inquiries, and
consider inter-state complaints.
The Optional Protocol to the Convention, which entered into force in June 2006, creates
the Subcommittee on Prevention of Torture (SPT).
The SPT has a mandate to visit places where persons are deprived of their liberty in the
States parties. Under the Optional Protocol, States parties shall establish a independent national
preventive mechanisms for the prevention of torture at the domestic level which has also a
mandate to inspect places of detention.11
The Committee on the Rights of the Child (CRC)
The Committee on the Rights of the Child (CRC) is the body of 18 Independent experts
that monitors implementation of the Convention on the Rights of the Child by its State parties. It
also monitors implementation of two Optional Protocols to the Convention, on involvement of
children in armed conflict (OPAC) and on sale of children, child prostitution and child
pornography (OPSC).12

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The Committee on the Protection of the Rights of All Migrant Workers and Members of
their Families (CMW)
The Committee on the Protection of the Rights of All Migrant Workers and Members of their
Families (CMW) is the body of independent experts that monitors implementation of the
International Convention on the Protection of the Rights of All Migrant Workers and Members of
Their Families by its State parties.13
The Committee on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD)
The Committee on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD) is the body of independent
experts which monitors implementation of the Convention by the States Parties. The Committee
is a body of 18 independent experts which monitors implementation of the Convention on the
Rights of Persons with Disabilities.
The Convention adopts a broad categorization of persons with disabilities and reaffirms
that all persons with all types of disabilities must enjoy all human rights and fundamental
freedoms. It clarifies and qualifies how all categories of rights apply to persons with disabilities
and identifies areas where adaptation have to be made for persons with disabilities to effectively
exercise their rights and areas where their rights have been violated, and where protection of
rights must be reinforced.14
The Committee on Enforced Disappearances (CED)
The Committee on Enforced Disappearances (CED) is the body of independent experts which
monitors implementation of the Convention by the States Parties.15
"Enforced disappearance" is considered to be the arrest, detention, abduction or any other form
of deprivation of liberty by agents of the State or by persons or groups of persons acting with the
authorization, support or acquiescence of the State, followed by a refusal to acknowledge the
deprivation of liberty or by concealment of the fate or whereabouts of the disappeared person,
which place such a person outside the protection of the law.16
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