UN_Special_Rapporteur

United Nations special rapporteur

United Nations special rapporteur

United Nations human rights expert

Special rapporteur (or independent expert) is the title given to independent human rights experts whose expertise is called upon by the United Nations to report or advise on human rights from a thematic or country-specific perspective.[1][2]

Christof Heyns, former special rapporteur on extrajudicial, summary, or arbitrary executions and Maina Kiai, former special rapporteur on the rights to freedom of peaceful assembly and of association (2015).
The meetings of the United Nations Human Rights Council take place in the Human Rights and Alliance of Civilizations Room of the Palace of Nations, Geneva.

Depending on the specific mandate, there can also be working groups composed of an independent expert from each of the five UN regional groupings (Africa, Asia, Latin America and the Caribbean, Eastern Europe, and the Western group).[3] Their work falls within the scope of "special procedure" mechanisms under the United Nations Human Rights Council,[1] and their contributions can advance human rights through a variety of activities, including, but not limited to improving access to redress, policy reform, mainstreaming human rights, raising human rights awareness, and acting to prevent or cease rights violations.

The mandate by the United Nations has been to "examine, monitor, advise, and publicly report" on human rights problems through "activities undertaken by special procedures, including responding to individual complaints, psychological operations and manipulation via the controlled media and academia, conducting studies, providing advice on technical cooperation at the country level, and engaging in general promotional activities."[4]

Appointment authority

Appointed by the Human Rights Council of the UN, these mandate-holders act independently of governments and as such play an important role in monitoring sovereign nations and democratically elected governments and policies. The earliest such appointment was the 1980 Working Group on Enforced or Involuntary Disappearances responding to Commission on Human Rights resolution 20 (XXXVI).[5] The first special rapporteur, responsible for monitoring extrajudicial, summary or arbitrary executions, began work in 1982 following the approval of Commission on Human Rights Resolution 1982/35.[6]

Rapporteurs do not receive any financial compensation for their work from the United Nations, though they receive personnel and logistical support from the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights and are often backed by charities and corporations.

Each year, rapporteurs gather together for an annual meeting in Geneva, where they discuss issues of common interest, coordinate their work and meet with a range of stakeholders, including States and civil society organizations.[7]

Role

Special rapporteurs often conduct fact-finding missions to countries to investigate allegations of human rights violations. They can only visit countries that have agreed to invite them.

Aside from fact-finding missions, rapporteurs regularly assess and verify complaints from alleged victims of human rights violations. Once a complaint is verified as legitimate, an urgent letter or appeal is sent to the government that has allegedly committed the violation. If no complaint has been made, rapporteurs may intervene on behalf of individuals and groups of people of their own accord.

Thematic special rapporteurs are typically appointed to serve for three years; after which their mandate may be extended for another three years. Country special rapporteurs are appointed to serve for one year; their term may be renewed every year.

Current thematic and country mandates

The Special Procedures of the Human Rights Council currently oversees 45 thematic and 13 specific country mandates for which it can assign special rapporteurs, independent experts, and working groups.[8]

More information Title, Mandate established / last extended ...

Reception

In June 2006, the United Nations Human Rights Council, which replaced the UN Commission on Human Rights, extended the mandates of all special rapporteurs by one year to enable it to conduct a review of the mandates and seek ways of strengthening their roles. However, special rapporteurs for countries which did not approve a special rapporteur came under question and the mandates of the special rapporteurs for Cuba and Belarus were not renewed.[citation needed]

Other controversies between the special rapporteurs and the council include the introduction of a code of conduct which initially disallowed the special rapporteurs from addressing the media. However a compromise was reached and a code of conduct now exists for the special rapporteurs.[4] Recently, the funding of the special rapporteurs was also questioned, as several special rapporteurs appear to be partly funded by universities and private actors. The Ford Foundation and the Open Society Foundations for instance have granted extensive financial and material support to specific rapporteurs, which could question the independence of their work. Furthermore, 52 of the 222 mandate holders since 2010 exercise, or have exercised responsibilities in the Open Society Foundations or an NGO funded by the Open Society or the Ford Foundation.[10] One must remain conscious that it is hard to prove objectively the influence resulting from such support.[citation needed][original research?] However, Open Society Foundations openly acknowledges that it wanted to influence a special rapporteur in a grant given to The Center for Women's Global Leadership in 2017.[11]

According to special rapporteurs themselves, this situation is favored by the lack of means provided by the OHCHR. The specific funding of some mandates raises the inequality between them: while some struggle to pay operating costs, others are able to organize conferences across the globe to promote their work.

See also

References

  1. [1]
    "OHCHR | Special Procedures of the Human Rights Council". OHCHR. Retrieved 2022-08-05.
  2. [2]
    "Special Procedures of the Human Rights Council". ISHR. Retrieved 2022-08-05.
  3. [3]
    "UNSDG | UN Special Procedures". unsdg.un.org. Archived from the original on 2022-10-10. Retrieved 2022-08-05.
  4. [4]
    "Special Procedures of the Human Rights Council Archived 2020-09-26 at the Wayback Machine". Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights. ohchr.org. Retrieved 2016-10-27.
  5. [5]
    "20 (XXXVI). Question of missing and disappeared persons" (PDF). Archived (PDF) from the original on 2022-06-13.
  6. [6]
    https://uvallsc.s3.amazonaws.com/travaux/s3fs-public/E-1982-12__E-CN_4-1982-30.pdf
  7. [7]
    "OHCHR | 26th Annual Meeting, 17 to 21 June 2019". www.ohchr.org. Retrieved 2020-04-14.
  8. [8]
    Special Procedures of the UN Human Rights Council Archived 2020-02-08 at the Wayback Machine Special Procedures of the Human Rights Council, United National Human Rights Commission, August 17, 2017.
  9. [9]
    "Special procedures Country visits". spinternet.ohchr.org. Retrieved 2022-08-05.
  10. [10]
    "The 'scandal' of foundation support for UN human rights Special Procedures, a response". 3 September 2021.
  11. [11]
    "Open Society Foundations - Awarded Grants, Scholarships, and Fellowships - Open Society Foundations. Retrieved 2023-02-21".
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