Annex 8

Vision

•        to provide international leadership towards the better protection of human rights

•          to encourage state and government cooperation, understanding and implementation of international human rights standards

•          to educate, inform, and influence attitudes about human rights entitlements at the national and local level

•          to encourage, facilitate and link key actors (governments, international organizations and agencies, non-governmental organizations) for the advancement of human rights protection

•          to advance the understanding, interpretation and continuing applicability of international human rights standards

•          to provide remedies to victims of human rights violations

Values

•          Universal participation in the system and the globalization of the international protection of human rights

•          The interdependence of peoples and human beings

•          The inextricable link between peace, conflict resolution, and human rights protection

•          Effective implementation is key to the integrity and legitimacy of a human rights legal protection regime

•          Rights require remedies

•          Rights imply duties and responsibilities to rights-holders

•          Non-discrimination in access to the human rights treaty system to different cultures, languages, societies, gender

•          Fairness - like cases are treated alike

•          Avoiding duplication of protection mechanisms

•          Maximizing efficiency, timeliness of protection procedures

•          Maximizing productivity of protection bodies

Mission

1.         Improve respect for international human rights standards

2.         Ensure accessibility of human rights treaty bodies to victims of human rights treaty violations

3.         Encourage states to implement their human rights obligations

4.         Disseminate information about human rights standards and treaty procedures to national and local actors

5.         Operate at maximum efficiency

6.         Comprehend and disseminate accurate information about human rights conditions in states parties

7.         Reach timely and valid conclusions about allegations of treaty violations

8.         Encourage appropriate remedial action for all decisions indicating human rights violations

9.         Encourage universal application and coverage of human rights treaty obligations

10.       Contribute to the deeper understanding, development and continued applicability of human rights treaty standards

Performance Indicators

1.         Improved respect for international human rights standards can be measured by many criteria, including:

            •          increase in quality of life on the basis of agreed indicators, such as the availability of adequate food, clothing, housing, and access to employment opportunities, educational institutions and medical services

            •          decrease in numbers of refugees and internally displaced persons

            •          sufficient information flow on human rights standards and processes, media interest and dissemination of information through wide variety of information structures, languages and forms

            •          increased participation of governments in international human rights processes and mechanisms

            •          increased and meaningful dialogue among the key actors on human rights concerns, governments, international agencies and institutions, non-governmental organizations, experts, individuals and groups

            •          increased implementation of conclusions and recommendations of expert international human rights bodies

Performance Indicators cont.

2.         Successful communication or encouragement to states to implement their human rights obligations can be measured by:

            •          appropriate quality of government reports

            •          presence of government representatives in treaty body dialogue

            •          appropriate quality, expertise and authority of government delegations to treaty body meetings

            •          quality of nominations by states for treaty body membership

            •          non-interference in the individual's access to complaint procedures

            •          cooperation with follow-up processes instituted by treaty bodies

            •          provision of remedies for cases disclosing violation of the treaty

            •          non-interference, and/or encouragement of the dissemination of treaty related information concerning substance and procedures

            •          existence and maintenance of dialogue between the state and all relevant parts of civil society on the requirements and implementation of the treaties

Performance Indicators cont.

3.         Accessibility of human rights treaty bodies to victims of human rights treaty violations can be measured by:

            •          wide distribution of treaty body concluding observations

            •          adequate availability of state reports at the national level

            •          increased numbers of complaints of human rights violations

            •          increased numbers of observers of treaty body-state dialogue

            •          increased numbers of non-governmental organizations contributing to the information base of the treaty bodies, both in writing and orally

            •          greater interest at the national and local level in the production and discussion of state reports

Performance Indicators cont.

4.         Effective dissemination of information about human rights standards and treaty procedures to national and local actors can be measured by:

            •          usage of international human rights standards by judges, national institutions, legislatures, administrative tribunals, correctional officers

            •          usage of treaty body interpretations and decisions concerning treaty standards by judges, national institutions, legislatures, administrative tribunals, correctional officers

            •          national and local media coverage of treaty body processes, dialogue, concluding observations, communication decisions

            •          integration of international human rights standards and procedures into educational curricula, national legal education programs

            •          proliferation of library and computer access to international documentation concerning the human rights treaty system

            •          establishment and availability of national legal processes, lawyers or clinics to assist in the filing of complaints to treaty bodies

Performance Indicators cont.

5.         Efficiency levels of treaty implementation procedures can be measured by:

            •          elimination of the backlog of state reports which have been submitted but not scheduled for dialogue in a short space of time

            •          acknowledgements sent in timely fashion to all inquiries relating to individual communications

            •          clear, accurate and timely streaming of all communications received by the UN to the appropriate treaty body procedure

            •          timely decisions of treaty bodies on individual communications

            •          effective dialogue to the maximum extent possible within the allotted time, for example, minimizing duplication of questions by treaty body members, maximizing written exchanges in advance of dialogue where appropriate, focussed oral exchanges

            •          timely preparation and dissemination of concluding observations

            •          scheduling of dialogue sufficiently in advance to permit and elicit input from UN agencies, non-governmental organizations, and where appropriate, written exchange of information with state party

            •          introduction and maintenance of follow-up procedures maximizing usage of information received subsequent to the dialogue

Performance Indicators cont.

6.         Understanding and dissemination of reliable information about human rights conditions in states parties can be measured by:

            •          appropriate usage of prior concluding observations in order to ensure contextual and historical accuracy in the application of human rights standards to a particular country

            •          ready access to all important sources of reliable and timely information on country situations, including conclusions of other treaty bodies, UN mechanisms and agencies, non-governmental organizations

            •          good, reliable assessments of country situations by staff in the preparation of country analyses for treaty bodies (where operative)

            •          good, reliable assessments of country situations by country rapporteurs for treaty bodies (where operative)

            •          preparation of lists of issues for dialogue which is reasonable in breadth while accurately focussing on the important human rights issues relating to the treaty in a particular state

            •          appropriate, considered, and informed follow-up questions during the dialogue

            •          accurate concluding observations, reliable in both content and focus

Performance Indicators cont.

7.         Ability to reach timely and valid conclusions about individual allegations of treaty violations can be measured by:

            •          timely translation of complaints received in UN languages into working languages of the treaty bodies where necessary for staff and treaty body members

            •          timely translation of complaints received in non-UN languages to the extent possible or to discern possible need for interim measures

            •          early registration of complaints where correspondence warrants

            •          accurate and effective use of interim measures procedures where warranted

            •          adequate exchange of information between author of communication, state party and secretariat in preparation of case

            •          access to all necessary documentation by treaty body members involved in the decision-making process; fact-sheets indicating documentation available

            •          timely and reliable case summary for treaty body members involved in the decision-making process

            •          timely decisions which indicate a thorough understanding of national laws and practices, and a well-developed, reasoned conclusion about the application of the treaty's standards in the case

Performance Indicators cont.

8.         Capacity to encourage appropriate remedial action for all decisions indicating human rights violations can be measured by:

            •          continued follow-up of all cases disclosing a violation of the treaty

            •          regular correspondence and dialogue with states parties until the provision of an appropriate remedy by the state party

            •          adequate dissemination of information concerning the details of follow-up actions taken by the state party in official public documents, and with the author

Performance Indicators cont.

9.         The successful encouragement of the universal application and coverage of human rights treaty obligations can be measured by:

            •          integration of treaty standards into the operations of all human rights related UN agencies

            •          continuing dialogue between treaty bodies and UN agencies, particularly with extensive field operations, and exchange of information concerning country situations and conclusions of the treaty bodies

            •          expanded and effective Memorandums of Understanding between the relevant UN agencies and the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights which link the treaty standards and the results of the treaty bodies to the work of these agencies

            •          effective exchange of information between special procedures or mechanisms of the UN concerning human rights, and the treaty bodies

            •          effective usage of treaty standards in the work of all parts of the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights, including field operations, special mechanisms, advisory services and technical cooperation

            •          continued and meaningful dialogue between the treaty bodies, the Office of the High Commissioner and national human rights institutions

Performance Indicators cont.

10.       The extent of the contribution to the deeper understanding, development and continued applicability of human rights treaty standards can be measured by:

            •          continued and well-planned dialogue and consultations with experts and groups, on the meaning of substantive treaty rights

            •          production and dissemination of high quality general comments and recommendations on the substance of treaty standards

            •          dialogue and exchange of information and jurisprudential developments with the major international and regional organizations concerned with the understanding and application of international human rights standards, such as the International Law Commission, and regional human rights bodies.