SPECIAL PROCEDURES

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 1 January 2013, there are 36 thematic and 12 country mandates.²⁷⁵

2.1. FUNCTIONS OF SPECIAL PROCEDURES

Although the mandates given to the special procedures vary, there is some uniformity in their methods of work.

Most special procedures:

• Undertake studies, through which they contribute to the development of international human rights law

• Investigate situations of human rights arising under the mandate

• Conduct country visits

274 Ibid., p. 6.

275 A compiled list of the special procedures is available at www.ohchr.org/EN/HRBodies/SP/Pages/Welcomepage.aspx.

Following the Human Rights Council’s adoption of Kenya’s UPR report in 2010, the Kenya National Commission on Human Rights,²⁷⁴ together with the Kenya Stakeholder Coalition on the Universal Periodic Review (KSC-UPR), prepared an advocacy tool highlighting the recommendations that Kenya had accepted as commitments and which it should fulfil during the four-year period leading to its next UPR review in 2014.

The “Outcomes Charter” guides State and non-state actors to implement UPR recommendations and subsequent commitments made by Kenya during the UPR process. It sets out the key expectations, indicators, actions and actors whose interventions are necessary to ensure successful implementation.

The Outcomes Charter:

• Records the understandings of the Commission and the KSC-UPR on the commitments which the State made before the Human Rights Council

• Proposes a four-year roadmap on how the UPR recommendations accepted by Kenya can be turned into actions to improve the human rights situation in Kenya

• Converts Kenya’s UPR recommendations and commitments into indicator-driven actions that the Government and other actors in the country should undertake during the current UPR cycle (2010–2014)

• Establishes a framework for the Commission and the KSC-UPR to use to monitor implementation of Kenya’s UPR commitments.

This advocacy tool was used in March 2011 to guide government departments while they were preparing their UPR plan of action.

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• Receive and consider complaints from victims of human rights violations and intervene with States on their behalf through urgent appeals and letters of allegation

• Report to the Human Rights Council and to other intergovernmental bodies, such as the General Assembly, on their findings, conclusions and recommendations.

2.2. SPECIAL PROCEDURES AND INDIGENOUS PEOPLES

Most of the thematic special procedure mandate holders have examined the situation of indigenous peoples with regards to the promotion and protection of their human rights. For example, to cite but a few, Special Rapporteurs have reported on the situation of indigenous peoples in connection with their mandates on adequate housing, education, food and the disposal of hazardous substances and wastes.

Highlighting the unique nature of indigenous peoples’ human rights, the Commission on Human Rights established a Special Rapporteur on the rights of indigenous peoples in 2001 (see Chapter 13 for detailed discussion).

2.3. CONTRIBUTION OF NHRIs TO SPECIAL PROCEDURES

NHRIs can contribute to each facet of a special procedure’s mandate. In particular, NHRIs can draw attention to indigenous peoples’ human rights issues as they relate to the mandates of the different special procedures.

Cooperative engagement can enhance the functioning of NHRIs and the special procedures in undertaking their mutually reinforcing roles. Deep cooperation is beneficial to protecting and promoting the realization of human rights at the national level.²⁷⁶

2.4. COUNTRY VISITS²⁷⁷

Conducing country visits is one of the most important functions of the special procedures. Country visits cannot be undertaken without the approval of the relevant State.

The terms of reference for country visits, adopted in 1998, provide that the special procedures and the staff assisting them should have:

• Freedom of movement in the whole country, in particular to restricted areas

• Freedom of inquiry, in particular as regards:

– Access to all prisons, detention centres and places of interrogation – Contacts with central and local authorities of all branches of government – Contacts with representatives of NGOs, other private institutions and the media

– Confidential and unsupervised contact with witnesses and other private persons, including persons deprived of their liberty

– Full access to all relevant documentary material

• Assurance by the Government that persons who have been in contact with the special procedures will not be penalized or suffer retribution of any kind

• Appropriate security arrangements without, however, restricting the special procedures’ freedom of movement and inquiry.²⁷⁸

276 APF, Position Paper: Engagement of National Human Rights Institutions with Special Procedures (2007), para. 24.

277 APF, International Human Rights and the International Human Rights System: A Manual for National Human Rights Institutions (2012), p. 52.

278 E/CN.4/1998/45.

During a country visit, the special procedure will meet with government officials, the NHRI, local NGOs and local experts, including victims and others affected most by the situation, to hear their views on the issue. Where relevant, the special procedure should meet with indigenous peoples’ organizations to seek their views and input.

A country visit by a special procedure is one of the most effective means of bringing a human rights situation to international attention. It can therefore be an important means by which the NHRI can build international support for its work and, in this way, increase its effectiveness. A special procedure making a country visit generally has limited knowledge of the country and needs access to local expertise. The NHRI can provide its knowledge and experience to support and advise the special procedure.

After the visit, the special procedure finalizes and releases the report of the visit and participates in an interactive dialogue during a regular session of the Human Rights Council. The “A status” NHRI of the country visited can address, in person or by video, the Human Rights Council immediately after the State concerned when the report is presented.²⁷⁹

NHRIs have an important role in following up on the report issued by the special procedure. They should widely disseminate the report, particularly to indigenous peoples. In addition, they can monitor the steps taken by the State to implement the recommendations from the report. NHRIs could also organize follow-up seminars or roundtable discussions on the report and its recommendations with key indigenous peoples’ organizations and public officials.

The report is an authoritative source of information that NHRIs can draw on in their role to make recommendations to the Government and others on the human rights situation of indigenous peoples.

It can also provide significant guidance to inform the work plans of NHRIs, as well as the development of national action plans on human rights.

279 Human Rights Council resolution 16/21, part II.B, para. 28.

An indigenous leader from the Western Amazon in Brazil, delivers an invocation to mark World Interfaith Harmony Week. UN Photo/Devra Berkowitz.

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Finally, NHRIs can regularly communicate with the special procedure and provide information on progress that has occurred in the implementation of the report’s recommendations.²⁸⁰

3. HUMAN RIGHTS COUNCIL COMPLAINTS