All major international human rights treaties, including those discussed in this chapter, require States parties to submit a report to the relevant treaty body every two to five years on how the State is fulfilling its treaty obligations. The International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights does not specify the frequency with which reports must be submitted to the Human Rights Committee, and the Committee sets the date for submission of a State’s next report in its concluding observations.
It may request that the next report be submitted within three, four or five years. Each report should contain detailed information on the efforts the State has made to realize the human rights contained in the treaty, including areas in which progress has been made and those in which the State has encountered obstacles or problems. The Manual on Human Rights Reporting58 states that a submission which refers to article 27 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, for example, should identify the minority groups that exist in the country, describe the
58 United Nations publication, Sales No. GV.E.97.0.16.
“positive measures” adopted by the State to preserve those minorities’ identities, and describe any measures taken “to provide minorities with equal economic and political opportunities”.
The respective treaty bodies review the reports with representatives of the State concerned, in two or three public sessions which generally last about three hours. After considering the State’s report, the committee adopts public “concluding observations” which evaluate the State’s performance by recognizing positive developments, highlighting areas of concern, and providing suggestions and recommendations on specific issues.
The reporting system encourages openness and constructive dialogue between the State and the committee. In practice, however, problems do arise. Many States have been extremely late in submitting their reports; not all reports are reviewed in a timely fashion; not all States give sufficient attention to the comments, suggestions and recommendations of the committees; and not enough publicity is given to the whole process. While the committees (and States) are aware of these issues and have attempted to consolidate and coordinate their activities, national NGOs have an important role to play in ensuring that this continues to be pursued at the national level.
The review process does offer an opportunity for an individual or group to help a treaty body better understand the situation of minorities in a particular country. There are various ways of making the best possible use of the reporting system, most of which are relevant to all the treaty bodies discussed above.
Encouraging the Government to draft a comprehensive and accurate report
A Government department or agency, or sometimes several of them, is responsible for preparing a State’s reports for submission to the relevant treaty body. It is important to find out which agency is responsible and when a report is being prepared. The national foreign ministry often coordinates the preparation of a State’s report and should be able to provide this information.
The reports become public United Nations documents after they are submitted to a committee, but there is no formal requirement that States discuss their reports with their own citizens or invite others to help prepare them. However, many Governments do allow or even encourage such participation and minorities are encouraged to take advantage of this, either as individuals or organizations. Whether or not it is possible to participate in drafting a report, NGOs may publicize the fact that a State report on human rights is being prepared. Once the report has been submitted to the relevant committee, minority-specific organizations or more mainstream human rights NGOs may wish to make their own submissions to the committee.
Preparing an alternative report
An alternative report is also called a parallel, NGO or shadow report. In some countries, alternative reports are coordinated by established human rights or community organizations which have a special interest in the subject that is the focus of a treaty. This enables various groups to contribute to the report and provides a more comprehensive view of the State’s performance in respect of the treaty. Minority advocates should consider how they can contribute to discussion of minority human rights issues within the context of the State report. In some cases, it might be appropriate to prepare a specific alternative report wholly devoted to minority concerns. While this is likely to attract attention to specific minority issues, it also involves a great deal of work and resources, both financial and human.
In either case, an alternative report should address specific articles of the relevant treaty and specific sections of the State report. It should be concise, factually accurate and free of unnecessary political comment. Publication and submission of an alternative report can itself draw attention to the human rights issues discussed in the State report. For example, a media
launch of an alternative report could be the first step in a continuing campaign to highlight omissions or errors in the State report and to publicize ongoing human rights issues. The report should generally be submitted after the State report, as it should take into account the information provided by the State, but well in advance of the session at which the State will be examined.
If a State report has not been submitted on time, this does not preclude NGO involvement in the reporting process. Some committees review the situation in non-reporting States in the absence of a report, precisely to encourage States to submit them. Whenever a State is scheduled for review, information from NGOs and other groups can be helpful to the committee.
Information for submission should be sent directly to the relevant committee in Geneva. The schedule for submission of reports and review sessions can be found on each committee’s web page, accessible via the OHCHR website (under Human Rights Bodies). It is important that a committee receives supplementary information well before it meets to consider a State report.
Contact OHCHR to ensure that the information provided is disseminated in time.
To allow the Committee to consider a comprehensive alternative view to the State report, rather than a large quantity of uncoordinated information, NGOs are encouraged to coordinate their submission with those of other organizations. It is best to organize the information according to the sequence in which the rights are set forth in the particular treaty. When available, reference should be made to relevant authorities and supporting material, such as statistical evidence, official reports, court decisions or materials from other bodies within the United Nations system.
If possible, NGOs should send multiple copies of their materials to the committee, together with a written request that they be distributed to all committee members, where this is permitted.
Supplying the materials in more than one language can be effective.
Participating in committee meetings
Although it may require considerable resources, NGOs might consider travelling to Geneva or New York to provide information directly to the committee when it meets to consider the State report. This can prove useful in clarifying and expounding on the written submission of NGOs or minority representatives.
Rules covering the participation of NGO representatives vary from committee to committee. All treaty bodies welcome written information submitted by NGOs and, apart from informal, so-called lunchtime briefings, most also allow time during their formal pre-session working groups or the plenary session for NGOs to interact with committee members.
During the consideration of a State report, the committee sets aside one hour for NGOs and national human rights institutions to present information directly and orally to the Committee, in addition to the written reports submitted in advance of the session. NGOs and national human rights institutions may also submit information for adoption in the list of issues produced by the committee and in the context of follow-up to the committee’s concluding observations.
Further, NGOs may provide information for adoption in a list of issues prior to reporting. This optional reporting procedure consists of a list of issues which is transmitted to States parties before they submit their periodic reports; it is a mechanism to assist States parties to prepare and submit more focused reports. A list of issues prior to reporting thus guides the content and preparation of a State report, facilitates the reporting process and strengthens the capacity of States parties to fulfil their reporting obligation in a timely and effective manner.
Specific treaty bodies operate as follows.
• The Human Rights Committee allocates time during the morning of the first day of each session for oral NGO interventions. Members also interact with NGO representatives during informal meetings organized at lunchtime.
• The Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights allocates the afternoon of the first day of each session to hearing NGOs. NGOs may also speak during part of the Committee’s pre-session meetings. In 2000, the Committee adopted a paper on NGO participation which outlines how NGOs can best contribute to the Committee’s work.59
• The Committee on the Rights of the Child accepts written information and may invite NGOs to participate in its pre-session working group. NGOs may attend but not participate in the Committee’s formal sessions in which public discussion with State representatives occurs. An informal NGO Group for the Convention on the Rights of the Child helps coordinate NGO participation in Committee sessions and has prepared a useful guide for participants.60
• The Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women schedules an informal meeting with NGOs on the first two Mondays of each session, for the purpose of receiving country-specific information on States parties whose reports will be before the Committee at that session.61
• Although practice of its oversight Committee is not yet fully developed, the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (art. 33) states that civil society is to be involved and participate fully in the monitoring process, thus giving civil society a meaningful role in promoting the implementation of the Convention.
Even if a committee does not provide for formal participation in its meetings, NGOs can seek out individual committee members outside the formal sessions to discuss their concerns and present them with information.
It may be helpful to seek the advice of experienced Geneva-based NGOs and organizations which facilitate participation in United Nations human rights meetings. There are also a number of publications designed to help NGOs effectively navigate the United Nations system (listed at the end of this chapter).
Formal accreditation as an NGO in consultative status with the Economic and Social Council is not required in order to work with the treaty bodies, but it is helpful in gaining access to the committees. When planning to attend a committee session, NGOs should contact OHCHR well in advance, to ensure they are aware of current practices.
Publicizing the committee’s review and monitoring the Government’s response to recommendations
The work of the treaty bodies has little meaning if knowledge of it remains in Geneva. NGOs should ensure that a committee’s conclusions and recommendations are made known to the national media and general public in the country concerned, as soon as possible after they are issued at the end of each session. NGOs can obtain any committee’s conclusions regarding any country via the OHCHR website.62
Committee conclusions on a State’s performance in protecting minority rights can be used to generate media and public awareness. If domestic NGOs and media outlets have been contacted prior to the committee’s review, they will more likely be interested in the outcome. NGOs may also wish to issue a press release once the committee’s concerns and recommendations have been issued, highlighting both the positive and negative conclusions reached by the committee.
59 E/C.12/2000/6.
60 Available from www.childrightsnet.org.
61 Further information on NGO participation is available from www2.ohchr.org/english/bodies/cedaw/docs/
NGO_Participation.final.pdf (accessed 2 December 2012).
62 See www.ohchr.org/EN/Countries/Pages/HumanRightsintheWorld.aspx (accessed 2 December 2012).
Some States are responsive to the recommendations of the treaty bodies, but others may need to be encouraged by NGOs and public opinion to implement a committee’s conclusions. Although most committees now have a follow-up mechanism with respect to their recommendations, it is nonetheless useful in almost every situation to publicize the State’s report, the committee’s observations and the State’s response to the committee. The United Nations treaty-monitoring system can only work if it is actively supported by minority groups and organizations; it is they who have the greatest interest in its being effective.