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NGO Guide to
the UN Human Rights Committee
The Lawyers Committee for Human Rights has published this NGO Guide to the
Human Rights Committee to provide non-governmental organizations (NGOs) with
a basic and practical understanding of the work of the Human Rights Committee,
the United Nations' (UN) body which monitors the observance of civil and
political rights worldwide. Unlike most UN bodies, the Human Rights Committee operates outside the
political structure of the United Nations. Composed of independent human rights
experts, the Human Rights Committee works on the basis of an international human
rights treaty, the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights. This
legal focus offers great advantages for human rights advocacy on both the
international and national level. Recently the Human Rights Committee has
significantly expanded the role of the NGOs as providers of information and
expertise. As one of the members put it, "NGOs are the eyes and ears" of the
Committee. However, there is still considerable room for greater NGO
involvement, especially by national and local NGOs which remain largely
under-represented in discussions on their countries. This is often caused by a
lack of basic and practical information on how NGOs can cooperate with the Human
Rights Committee. The NGO Guide to the Human Rights Committee provides NGOs with a step
by step explanation on how the Human Rights Committee operates and how NGOs can
work with the Committee. The NGO Guide can be used in conjunction with the
'Human Rights Committee Video' which was produced by the Lawyers Committee in
1996, providing NGOs with a visual introduction to the Human Rights Committee
and the role of NGOs. The NGO Guide on the Human Rights Committee was
written by Mireille Hector, the Lawyers Committee's UN Program
Officer, and edited by Stefanie Grant and George Black. The web site
version of this guide was developed by our Communications
Department Within the United Nations system, the Human Rights Committee is the body
mandated to monitor compliance of states within the International Covenant on
Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR).
ICCPR
The International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights is a UN treaty which
includes important civil and political rights such as the right to life, freedom
from torture, the right to a fair trial, freedom of opinion and expresssion,
right to privacy, freedom of association and the rights of minorities.
Functions
The Human Rights Committee has three main function: 1) the review of state
reports, 2) the consideration of individual complaints, 3) the drafting of
general comments.
Members
The Human Rights Committee is composed of 18 "independent experts" who serve
in their individual capacity and not, as in many other UN bodies, as
representatives of governments. Experts are nominated by their state and
subsequently elected by a meeting of all state's parties to the covenant.
Many members are lawyers, law professors or (retired) judges. In our view, it
is desirable that they not be government officials, in order to best preserve
their independence. Members come from a wide variety of geographic, legal,
social and cultural backgrounds. After a four-year term, experts can be
reelected. There is no limit to the length of time an individual may remain a
member of the committee.
Current Members:
Mr. Abdelfattah Amor Mr. Nisuke Ando Mr. Prafullachnadra Natwarial Bhagwati Ms. Christine Chanet Lord Colville of Culross Ms. Elizabeth Evatt Ms. Pilar Gaitan de Pombo Mr. Louis Henkin Mr. Eckart Klein Mr. David Kretzmer Mr. Rajsoomer Lallah Ms. Cecilia Medina Quiroga Mr. Fausto Pocar Mr. Martin Scheinin Mr. Hipólito Solari Yrigoyen Mr. Roman Wieruszewski Mr. Maxwell Yalden Mr. Abdallah Zakhia Sessions The committee meets three times a year, for three weeks each session. The
March- April session takes place in New York and the other two sessions, in July
and October-November, in Geneva, Switzerland. In general, meetings of the Human
Rights Committee are open to the public, and written transcripts ("summary
records") are available. The committee may decide to meet behind closed doors,
which is usually the case when it discusses internal matters, individual
communications or its draft concluding observations. To see latest meeting
schedule of the Human Rights Committee. Role of NGOs NGOs play a vital role in putting pressure on a state to ratify the ICCPR,
and to do so without entering (impermissible) reservations. In case of upcoming
elections or other vacancies for membership of the Human Rights Committee, NGOs
can lobby states parties to nominate suitable candidates who fulfill both the
requirements of high moral character, recognized competence in the field of
human rights, independence from government and legal expertise. For more on the
Role of NGOs | |||||||||
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