International Coordinating Committee of National Human Rights Institutes (ICC): Mandates and Structure 1

2 United Nations Human Rights Council (HRC) UN Security Council UNSC Economic and Social Council ECOSOC Human Rights Council UNHRC/OHCHR

Human Rights Council 3.1 Tools - Charter-based - Treaty-based 3.2 Organisations - OHCHR based in Geneva - National independent institutions - Non-government institutions 3

Charter-based

Structural levels -United Nations Human Rights Council -Regional Human Rights Commissions -National Human Rights Institutes -Civil Society Organizations

Regional Composition of Human Rights Council Total 47 members Africa 13 Asia-Pacific 13 Europe 13 The Americas 8

Charter-based mechanism Regular and special meeting sessions Special procedure (special rapporteur, independent expert, working groups) Complaint procedures Universal periodic review (UPR) state-led process with peer reviews

Regional Commissions Inter-American Commission on Human Rights African Commission on Human and People’s Rights European Commission on Human Rights/ European Court of Human Rights ASEAN Inter-governmental Commission on Human Rights (AICHR)

Court mechanism African Court on Human and People’s Rights European Court of Human Rights Inter-American Court of Human Rights International Criminal Court (ICC) International Court of Justice (ICJ)

Treaty-based

Treaty Bodies 1.Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR) 2. International Covenant on Civil, and Political Rights (ICCPR) 3. International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (ICESCR) 4. Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC) 5. Convention on the Elimination of all Forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW) 6. International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination (CERD)

Treaty Bodies 7. Convention against Torture and Other Cruel Inhuman or Degrading treatment or Punishment (CAT) 8. Convention on the Rights of Person with Disabilities (CRPD) 9. International Convention for the Protection of All Persons from Enforced Disappearance (CED) 10. International Convention on the Protection of the Right of All Migrant Workers (ICRMW)

Universal Declaration of Human Rights International Covenant on Civil, and Political Rights (ICCPR) International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (ICESCR) CERDCEDAW CAT CRPD CRC 13 CEDICRMW

National Independent Human Rights Institutes

Concepts of human rights (in the Declaration of Human Rights) 1.Protect : Human Dignity 2.Universality 3.Non-tranferable 4.Respect : Freedom, non-discriminatory and equality 5.Fulfill : Realisation of rights(Civil, Political, Economic Social Culture) 6.Government mechanism to protect and respect rights (accountability) 15

Important dates and events 1945UN Charter 1948Universal Declaration on Human Rights (UDHR) 1966International Covenant on - Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR) - Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (ICESCR) 1976Ratification of ICCPR and ICESCR 1972 UN recognized role of NGOs in International Conference on Human Environment in Stockholm 1993Vienna Declaration on Human Rights and Action Plans 1993General Assembly adopted Paris Principles on NHRIs

Paris Principles and NHRIs 1. Actual meeting in UN General Assembly adopted in Modal of NHRI Established by national legislation Independent from government administration Function to promote and protect human rights Commissioners represent diverse groups Separate permanent office Separate autonomous budget

Four regional groupings of ICC Follow the 4 regions of the Human Rights Council Network of African NHRIs (NANHRI) Network of NIs in Americas European Group of NHRIs Asia Pacific Forum of NHRIs ICC Working Group on Business and Human Rights

Structure of ICC 1. ICC Bureau (4 members from each region—Jordan, Thailand, Malaysia, India) 2. Sub-committee on accreditation (1 member from each region—Qatar) 3. Sub-committee on Finanace (1 member from each region—Australia) Secretariate support provided by the National Institutes and Regional Mechanism (NIRM) Unit of OHCHR

Accreditation 1. Peer review process for initial accreditation. 2. Re-accreditation every 5 years 3. December 2011: Total 99 A status69 B status 20 C status 10

Thank you 21