Joint Meeting with the Ninth Meeting of Special Rapporteurs/Representatives, Experts and Chairpersons of Working Groups of the Special Procedures of the Commission on Human Rights : . 24/05/2002.

Convention Abbreviation: JOINT MEETING WITH THE NINTH MEETING OF SPECIAL RAPPORTEURS/REPRESENTATIVES,
EXPERTS AND CHAIRPERSONS OF WORKING GROUPS OF THE SPECIAL
PROCEDURES OF THE COMMISSION ON HUMAN RIGHTS

Implementation of recommendations of the third joint meeting of
the chairpersons and special mandate-holders

Note by the Secretariat

1. The chairpersons and special procedures mandate-holders held their third joint meeting on 21 June 2001. The meeting had before it a note prepared by the secretariat on the implementation of recommendations of the second joint meeting (HRI/MC/2001/Misc.3), as well as an informal background note on treaty bodies and follow-up (HRI/MC/2001/Misc.4). The meeting exchanged views with the Deputy High Commissioner with regard to resource and staff constraints. The contributions made by treaty bodies and special procedures mechanisms to the World Conference against Racism, Racial Discrimination, Xenophobia and Related Intolerance were welcomed by the High Commissioner. Discussions with the High Commissioner furthermore examined the issues of improved collaboration between and among treaty bodies and special procedures, as well as adequate administrative and substantive support to the work of the human rights mechanisms.

2. Participants at the joint meeting made many useful suggestions regarding the need to systematize efforts to ensure collaboration and the exchange of information and requested the Office of the High Commissioner to make every effort to ensure their implementation through systematic institutionalized mechanisms, particularly the following:

(a) As recommended by the second joint meeting, urgent efforts should be made to ensure the periodic distribution to all members of treaty bodies and special procedures mandate-holders of a list of planned country visits of special procedures mandate-holders and the schedule of the consideration of reports of States parties to the major human rights treaties;

(b) All treaty bodies and special procedures mandate-holders, as well as Sub-Commission rapporteurs, should draw up a list of other mechanisms with which they are working and of those they would like to work more closely with;

(c) Checklists should be drawn up for each treaty body and special procedure of all the sources of information that should be taken into account in assisting each treaty body and special procedure;

(d) Any documents drawn up to detail collaboration arrangements among different mechanisms should be circulated to all treaty bodies and special procedures mandate-holders;

(e) All information emanating from any of the treaty bodies and special procedures should be automatically and systematically drawn to the attention of all members of treaty bodies and special procedures mandate-holders. Use of a mechanism such as a "list server" for those experts using e-mail could be explored in this regard;

(f) All information received by a treaty body for the examination of a report should be available to staff working for special procedures;

(g) Efforts should be made to disseminate more widely the expertise accumulated in the jurisprudence and other work of the treaty bodies and special procedures mandate-holders. An example would be the preparation of a thematic compilation of the opinions of the Working Group on Arbitrary Detention;

(h) Increased emphasis should be placed on organizing meetings between special procedures mandate-holders and the treaty bodies. At a minimum, advantage should be taken of the presence of special procedures mandate-holders in Geneva during a treaty body session (E/CN.4/2002/14, annex, appendix V).

3. The participants agreed that the fourth joint meeting in June 2002 should be dedicated in part to a joint discussion on the role of the human rights mechanisms in the follow-up to the World Conference against Racism, Racial Discrimination, Xenophobia and Related Intolerance. An informal background note on steps taken by the various mechanisms has been prepared by the secretariat.

Factors influencing the extent of cooperation between treaty bodies and special procedures

4. As specified in previous notes, significant cooperation between the various mechanisms already exists. The current note focuses primarily on new initiatives taken over the past year. The factors in the past year which played a significant role in determining the amount and extent of information exchanged largely remain the same, although the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) was able to further enhance cooperation and support of the work of treaty bodies and special procedures through new initiatives or the refinement of those initiated during past years.

5. Some of the elements influencing cooperation were elaborated in last year's note (HRI/MC/2001/Misc.3), including confidentiality concerns, the relevance of the work of the respective mandates to the work of the treaty bodies and vice versa, differences in working methods, as well as resource constraints. With regard to the issue of working methods, the first inter-committee meeting, to be held from 26 to 28 June, presents an important opportunity to discuss working methods between the six treaty bodies. Based on the results of that meeting, suggestions for a further strengthening of cooperation, both between committees, but also with special procedures mandate-holders, may be proposed.

6. As was noted in the previous note, an indispensable element in enhancing cooperation is ensuring full knowledge and understanding of the mandates and working methods of the relevant mechanisms, both on the part of experts as well as relevant staff. To that end, several initiatives have been taken and systematized by OHCHR, such as an induction training course for newly elected treaty body experts which continued during the reporting period. For the first time this year, an "information kit" will be provided to special rapporteurs at their annual meeting, containing general information on the United Nations and OHCHR, the Commission on Human Rights and its special procedures, as well as the treaty monitoring system and its functioning. The induction course for new staff members has been institutionalized and further improved.

7. Resources available for staff support as well as travel are additional important factors in determining the extent to which cooperation arrangements can be explored and developed. A positive factor has been the OHCHR Annual Appeal, which provided significant extrabudgetary resources to hire a significant number of additional staff both to strengthen support to treaty bodies and to provide increased assistance to special procedures mandate-holders.

8. Moreover, at the level of management, several new initiatives have been taken by the various branches, for instance the establishment of inter-branch focal points and task forces, including to support regional advisers in the case of treaty body and Commission support staff. Participation by the latter in the review of technical cooperation projects is aimed at ensuring the systematic inclusion of the work of treaty bodies in those projects, which may improve collaboration and coordination between the various mechanisms, particularly country-specific special procedures. The establishment of regional focal points in the team servicing thematic special procedures mandate-holders should further reinforce this trend and improve country- and region-specific cooperation between different mechanisms.

Establishment of a mailing list server

9. During the reporting period, the secretariat was able to introduce, as requested by the third joint meeting, a system for the automatic exchange of information among all treaty body experts and all special procedures mandate-holders. The first message was sent on 18 March 2002, and has since been repeated once. Information sent included:

(a) "2002 TB sessions", a pdf file of the treaty body sessions in 2002, listing all countries to be examined and the anticipated dates of examination, including a link to the electronically available documents;

(b) "Full list of TB members", a Word file of all experts serving on the treaty bodies;

(c) "All SR mandates", a Word file of all experts serving on special procedures mandates, thematic and country-specific;

(d) "Ratifications", a pdf file of the worldwide status of ratifications of the treaties;

(e) "Missions 2002", a Word file of planned missions by special procedures mandate-holders;

(f) "List of SR reports to CHR", a Word file of the list of reports submitted by special procedures mandate-holders to the fifty-eighth session of the Commission on Human Rights;

(g) Pertinent information from the fifty-eighth session of the Commission on Human Rights.

10. In order for the information exchange to achieve its highest potential, it may be considered timely to discuss the usefulness of the information sent thus far, as well as technical problems that may have arisen. Moreover, it would be valuable if the participants were to provide guidance to OHCHR for the further development of this mechanism.

Cooperation between treaty bodies and special procedures

11. The following section is intended merely as an indication of the types of cooperation which exist informally between the secretariats servicing the respective treaty bodies and special procedures mandates, as well as formally between experts.

References to the special procedures mandates in the work of treaty bodies

12. Treaty bodies routinely integrate the work of special procedures in their work, particularly in the reporting procedure. For instance, written and oral briefings of committee experts by OHCHR staff prior to the consideration of reports of particular countries have become an increasingly established feature of cooperation, and are not limited to staff servicing country-specific special rapporteurs but equally include staff assisting thematic special procedures and staff working on particular themes, such as torture, extreme poverty, adequate housing, the right to education and HIV/AIDS.

13. Written and oral briefings include the provision of country information by a desk officer, or by the staff servicing a country-specific or thematic special procedure. In all instances, such collaboration has proven to be very fruitful. For instance, briefings by country desk officers to members of the pre-sessional working group of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights is provided whenever relevant. This has occurred, for example, in the cases of Uzbekistan, Afghanistan, Croatia and others. The Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights has been briefed on the Sudan by the staff servicing the Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in that country. Copies of concluding observations of the treaty bodies are transmitted to country desk and thematic officers wherever relevant, and concluding observations are systematically included in the preparatory files for country missions undertaken by special procedures mandate-holders.

14. The exchange of information between staff servicing the various mechanisms has become increasingly institutionalized and material concerning special procedures mandates is included on a regular basis in country analyses and files, as appropriate. For instance, annual reports or mission reports of special rapporteurs and working groups of the Commission are made available to members of the Human Rights Committee, in particular the members of its pre-sessional working group, whenever relevant. Cooperation is consistently maintained with the thematic procedures, for instance in the event of missions. For example, the Committee against Torture (CAT) assisted the Special Rapporteur on the independence of the judiciary with his visit to Belarus, the Special Rapporteur on torture with his visit to Brazil and members of the Working Group on Arbitrary Detention with their visit to Indonesia; the Human Rights Committee provided input to the mission to Azerbaijan by the Special Rapporteur on torture, and the Committee on the Rights of the Child cooperated with the Special Rapporteur on freedom of opinion and expression in planning his mission to Tunisia. Information from the annual reports of the thematic special rapporteurs relating to individual cases is systematically included in country analyses and/or background notes relating to inquiries. Information-sharing and consultations between treaty body secretariats and staff supporting the mandates of extreme poverty, adequate housing, the right to food, the right to education and others are also a matter of routine, particularly with regard to the Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights and the Committee on the Rights of the Child. As the above examples demonstrate, much of the cooperation takes place according to the relevance of the work to the respective treaty bodies or special procedures. Undoubtedly, additional avenues of cooperation between the mechanisms could be developed.

15. On limited occasions (e.g. in respect of the Syrian Arab Republic in 2001), the Human Rights Committee will question a State party delegation about what the State party has done to give effect to recommendations of a special procedures mechanism. Similarly, in its concluding observations relating to Brazil (A/56/44, para. 120 (i)) CAT requested that the next report of the State party contain "information concerning measures taken by the public authorities to implement, throughout the country, the recommendations of the Committee, and those of the Special Rapporteur on torture to which the State party delegation referred during the dialogue with the Committee". On the other hand, treaty bodies have, on occasion, made reference to special procedures mechanisms; in the case of Indonesia, CAT expressed concern at the lack of responses to communications from and the failure to extend an invitation to the Special Rapporteur on torture, recommending that such an invitation be extended (see CAT/C/XXVII/Concl.3, paras. 9 (h) and 10 (l)). It is hoped that such recommendations will be included in future concluding observations, in cases where a country has consistently refused cooperation with special procedures.

16. A protocol of cooperation between the Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW) and the Special Rapporteur on violence against women was agreed (see CEDAW/C/1999/II/4, para. 30). A liaison person has been nominated from amongst the Committee members and the Special Rapporteur is consistently invited to provide information, although it has been noted that the response could be improved. The Special Rapporteur has attended two sessions of the Committee since assuming her mandate. Liaison persons have also been nominated with regard to the work of the Special Rapporteur on adequate housing as a component of the right to an adequate standard of living, the Special Rapporteur on the human rights of migrants, and the Special Rapporteur on structural adjustment. A letter is sent out requesting input for sessions. Further cooperation, e.g. with regard to participation in treaty body sessions, is envisaged, which is expected to be facilitated by the continuous updating of lists of missions.

17. With regard to individual complaints procedures of treaty bodies, specifically, the Human Rights Committee, CAT and the Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination (CERD), cooperation has been established with special procedures mechanisms by transferring complaints between the relevant special procedures mechanisms and the Petitions Team servicing the treaty bodies, in order to address the complaints in the best possible manner. Nevertheless, it has been noted that such cooperation may be improved further by increasing the exchange of experience/dialogue between staff servicing treaty bodies and special procedures mandate-holders so as to increase knowledge about the respective mandates and procedures.

References to treaty body material and jurisprudence in the work of the thematic mandates

18. The work of the treaty bodies is widely used and referred to by special procedures mandate-holders: the concluding observations of treaty bodies are expected to be included in the preparatory files for special rapporteurs' country missions and treaty bodies' jurisprudence and general comments are routinely brought to the attention of relevant mandate-holders. It is increasingly the case that concluding observations and general comments of treaty bodies are explicitly referred to in special rapporteurs'/representatives' reports to the Commission on Human Rights and the General Assembly.

19. An example of such cross-referencing was the compilation and analysis of legal norms prepared in the context of the mandate of the Representative of the Secretary-General on internally displaced persons (E/CN.4/1996/52/Add.2 and E/CN.4/1998/53/Add.1), which drew quite extensively on general comments of the Human Rights Committee and the Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, general recommendations of CERD and CEDAW, as well as on the jurisprudence of the Human Rights Committee. On the basis of this compilation, the Guiding Principles on Internal Displacement were elaborated (E/CN.4/1998/53/Add.2) and the treaty bodies are among the increasing number of actors who use the Guiding Principles in their work: CERD has urged the Sudan to consider giving effect to the provisions of the Guiding Principles (see A/54/18, para. 21 (5)); the Committee on the Rights of the Child recommended to Colombia that it give the highest priority to the protection of the rights of internally displaced children, take into consideration in this regard the reports of the Representative of the Secretary-General on the situation in Colombia, and take into consideration the Guiding Principles in its legislation and policies on internally displaced persons (see CRC/C/15/Add.137, paras. 60 and 61). The Committee on the Rights of the Child has also referred to the Guiding Principles in its concluding observations on the Congo (CRC/15/Add.153) and Turkey (CRC/15/Add.152). Finally, in its general comment No. 29 on states of emergency (of 24 July 2001), the Human Rights Committee makes reference to the Guiding Principles as part of developments in international law regarding human rights standards applicable in emergency situations.

20. This year, the Special Rapporteur on freedom of religion or belief presented to the Commission on Human Rights a study on freedom of religion or belief and the status of women with regard to religion and traditions (E/CN.4/2002/73/Add.2). This report refers to a large number of reports as well as to several general comments of the Human Rights Committee and CEDAW.

21. The Working Group on Arbitrary Detention has strengthened its cooperation with the secretariats of the Treaty Bodies, in particular the Human Rights Committee and CAT, as well as with the Petitions Team, which provides assistance with regard to the individual complaints procedures of the relevant Geneva-based treaty bodies. On the one hand, treaty bodies' recommendations are systematically taken into consideration in the preparation of the Working Group's visits (i.e. to Bahrain, Australia and Mexico) and reports; the Working Group's findings regarding its mission to Bahrain were immediately transmitted to the secretariat of the Committee on the Rights of the Child prior to its consideration of the State party's report. The Working Group also receives copies of complaints submitted to the Human Rights Committee in cases where internal remedies have not been exhausted.

22. The Special Rapporteur on adequate housing has placed special emphasis on the importance of cooperation with the treaty bodies since the beginning of his mandate in 2000. His annual reports to the Commission have included an analysis of concluding observations adopted by the treaty bodies and reports on dialogues with them (see E/CN.4/2001/51, paras. 24-39 and E/CN.4/2002/59, paras. 78-91). The Special Rapporteur regards follow-up to concluding observations to be an important objective of his missions (E/CN.4/2002/59, para. 74). During his mission to Romania (January 2002), he addressed to the Government his concern at the long-overdue report to the Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights and expressed the hope that his mission would facilitate its early submission. For his mission to Mexico (March 2002), he met with the inter-ministerial committee that was set up by the Government to follow up on the concluding observations on Mexico, in order to assess the follow-up work done by the Government. For his proposed mission to Kenya in September 2002, his intention is to assist the Government and civil society with the preparation for and raising awareness on the forthcoming consideration of Kenya's report to CEDAW. The Special Rapporteur has furthermore indicated his wish to meet with CEDAW.

23. Since the establishment of her mandate in 1998, the Special Rapporteur on the right to education has made reference to the work of treaty bodies in both annual and mission reports, an approach she also followed this year. Her most recent annual report contains a reference to recommendations by the Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights and the Committee on the Rights of the Child in the context of debt relief and aid for education (see E/CN.4/2002/60, para. 17). One of the main concerns raised by the Special Rapporteur has been the absence of citizenship as a legal obstacle to the enjoyment of the right to education in many countries. In her latest annual report she indicated that she will carry out an in-depth study of this problem, in cooperation with the Committee on the Rights of the Child and other relevant actors.

24. In his report to the fifty-eighth session of the Commission, the Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights and fundamental freedoms of indigenous people noted the emerging jurisprudence of the treaty bodies, in particular the Human Rights Committee, the Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights and CERD, all of which have made specific recommendations relevant to indigenous peoples.

25. During the past year, the Special Rapporteur on toxic wastes addressed letters to the Human Rights Committee and the Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, calling their attention to a case involving two countries whose reports were coming up for consideration by these treaty bodies. The Special Rapporteur on structural adjustment has indicated his willingness to collaborate with CEDAW and has met with the secretariat to this effect.

Direct involvement and participation of special procedures mandate-holders in treaty body work and vice-versa

26. The participation of special procedures mandate-holders in meetings of treaty bodies has increased steadily, despite the constraints imposed by resource limitations which limit such exchanges between mechanisms to coinciding visits to Geneva. Examples of briefings provided by special procedures to treaty bodies include the briefing of the Committee on the Rights of the Child by the Special Rapporteur on the sale of children, child prostitution and child pornography as well as a brief meeting organized by the Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights with the independent expert on the draft optional protocol to the Covenant. Special rapporteurs and independent experts have been invited by the Committee to attend informal meetings on selected substantive issues and, when appropriate, to provide written input.

27. Dialogues were organized between the Special Rapporteur on adequate housing and the Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights on 11 May 2001, and with the Committee on the Rights of the Child on 22 May 2001 (see E/CN.4/2002/59, paras. 78 and 83-84) to exchange views on common areas of work. Both committees adopted statements to the special session of the General Assembly on the review of the implementation of the Habitat Agenda, calling for reaffirmation of the right to adequate housing and supporting the approach taken by the Special Rapporteur.

28. In line with his mandate, the Special Rapporteur on the right to food has participated in meetings with the Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights and the Committee on the Rights of the Child. In particular, the Special Rapporteur has encouraged treaty bodies to issue statements on the right to food for the forthcoming World Food Summit: Five Years Later, which the Special Rapporteur will attend and address.

New initiatives: cooperation involving multiple mechanisms

29. The International Consultative Conference on School Education in Relation with Freedom of Religion and Belief, Tolerance and Non-Discrimination, held in Madrid from 23 to 25 November 2001, is an excellent example of new initiatives combining the work of special procedures and treaty bodies. It was organized at the initiative of the Special Rapporteur on freedom of religion and belief and all the relevant treaty bodies except for CAT, as well as other special procedures mandate-holders, participated. Human rights mechanisms made significant substantive input to the preparations to the Conference in the light of their human rights expertise, and also benefited from heightened visibility on the international scene. Furthermore, the Special Rapporteur has engaged in discussions on follow-up, particularly with the treaty bodies. For instance, he has discussed with the Committee on the Rights of the Child and the Human Rights Committee during their most recent sessions the possibilities for follow-up activities.

30. Further to Commission resolution 2000/51, OHCHR decided to strengthen its work on disability, which included increased attention by the human rights mechanisms, both conventional and extra-conventional, as well as encouraging increased interaction of NGOs dealing with the question of disability with the human rights mechanisms. The first outcome of the project the Office designed for this purpose was the preparation and publication of a study* evaluating existing standards and mechanisms in the field of human rights and disability. In the final recommendations of the study, treaty monitoring bodies are encouraged to clarify the relevance of the various human rights standards in the context of disability and, to this effect, to consider the adoption of disability-specific general comments or recommendations. The list of issues to be addressed by States parties in their periodic reports should include disability, and reference to the latter should also be included in the concluding observations/comments and recommendations of the treaty bodies.

31. Furthermore, OHCHR and UN-Habitat recently launched a joint United Nations Housing Rights Programme. One of the main objectives of the Programme is to support the work of the Special Rapporteur and the United Nations human rights mechanisms, notably the treaty bodies. OHCHR and UN-Habitat will organize regular briefings of the treaty bodies on the status of the right to adequate housing, and consult with the committee experts in developing housing rights indicators and in other substantive areas.

32. Finally, cooperation along themes should be further explored. The request for a study on violence against children may provide a good opportunity to explore and develop such cooperation. Specifically, the Committee on the Rights of the Child has held two days of general discussion on the issue of violence against children, entitled "State violence against children" and "Violence against children in schools", in 2000 and 2001, respectively, and recommended that an in-depth international study on violence against children be conducted. The General Assembly subsequently requested the Secretary-General to conduct an in-depth study on the matter, and the Commission on Human Rights suggested that he appoint an independent expert to direct the study, in collaboration with OHCHR, UNICEF and WHO, taking into account the recommendations of the Committee on the Rights of the Child as well as the outcome of the special session of the General Assembly on children. As the issue of violence is of relevance to a large number of other treaty bodies as well as special procedures, and as the Special Rapporteur on the question of torture and a member of CAT, as well as the Special Rapporteur on the sale of children, child prostitution and child pornography, participated in days of general discussion, it has been suggested that thematic special procedures should be strongly involved in the study.

Challenges ahead

33. The effective utilization of the information received through the new list-serve appears to be one of the challenges ahead. Special rapporteurs and other related procedures can follow up on treaty bodies' recommendations which fall within their mandate in the interval between reporting cycles. Country visits carried out by the special procedures (particularly in the case of country mandates, but also for thematic mandates) could also be used more systematically to encourage increased ratification of basic human rights treaties and improved compliance with reporting obligations. Treaty bodies, on the other hand, may consider referring explicitly to special procedures mechanisms in their dialogues with States parties and making reference to them in concluding observations, as appropriate, as has been done in the past on occasion. Furthermore, special procedures mandate-holders should be actively involved in the process of preparing general comments and days of general discussion. The new list-serve mechanism should prove useful in facilitating the utilization of the valuable work of the respective human rights mechanisms and will facilitate follow-up.

_____________________

* G. Quinn and T. Degener, A Study of the Current Use and Future Potential of the United Nations Human Rights Instruments in the Context of Disability, February 2002, unpublished.


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