3.6.2 Special Procedures of the Human Rights Council

“Special procedures” are the mechanisms established by the then Commission on Human Rights and assumed by the Human Rights Council to address either specific country situations or thematic issues that transcend national borders. “Special procedures” mandates usually call on a noted expert (“mandate holders”) to examine, monitor, advise and publicly report on human rights situations in specific countries or territories, known as country mandates, or on major phenomena of human rights violations worldwide, known as thematic mandates. Currently, there are 31 thematic and 8 country mandates. The Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights provides these mechanisms with legal, policy and research support as well as with administrative and logistical assistance in the discharge of their mandates.

Various activities can be undertaken by special procedures, including sending communications to Governments, seeking clarification of allegations of human rights violations, conducting fact-finding visits, conducting studies, reporting to the HRC and General Assembly, issuing public statements, providing advice on technical cooperation at the country level, and engaging in general promotional activities.

Source: OHCHR. Special Procedures of the Human Rights Council.

National human rights institutions are a key partner for special procedures and the OHCHR in their quest to close protection gaps that exist at the national level. There has been long-standing collaboration between the Special Procedures and NHRIs at the international, regional and national levels as their work is mutually reinforcing. Special procedures work to support the establishment of NHRIs in compliance with the Paris Principles, the strengthening of those that exist, and also make reference in their reports and other outputs to recommendations made or activities carried out by NHRIs.

For their part, independent national human rights institutions are usually ideally placed to interact with, and facilitate, the work of mandate-holders, as well as to contribute to the implementation of, and other types of follow-up to, their recommendations. National human rights institutions have frequently been part of the discussions which have led to the creation of mandates. NHRIs may play an instrumental role regarding:

• Nomination: NHRIs may suggest candidates as special procedures mandate-holders;
• Information: NHRIs can provide information on human rights issues to mandate holders, which may then result in sending communications or requesting country visits;
• Human Rights Council: NHRIs may attend the presentation of Special Procedures reports at HRC sessions and take the floor in the dialogue that follows;
• Country visits: standing invitations and visit requests: NHRIs can encourage the Government to extend a standing invitation to all thematic Special Procedures. NHRI can bring specific human rights developments to the attention of the relevant Special Procedures, and when warranted encourage them to request a country visit to the Government;
• Preparation of a country visit: NHRIs are encouraged to propose reliable and relevant interlocutors, as well as provide Special Procedures with relevant background information/materials, including relevant annual or thematic human rights reports;
• During a country visit: Special Procedures are encouraged to routinely include in their schedule a meeting with the NHRI. NHRIs might be requested to assist in the organization of the “unofficial” part of the agenda;
• Recommendations after a country visit: Special Procedures are encouraged when feasible to involve NHRIs in the process of formulating the recommendations, so as to sharpen their focus and specificity. Special Procedures could include in their recommendations that an NHRI in full compliance with the Paris Principles be set up, that an existing NHRI be strengthened so that it fully complies with the Paris Principles, that adequate resources be provided to NHRIs, that an NHRI seeks accreditation through the ICC, etc. If an Special Procedure mandate holder issues a press release or public statement after the country visit, NHRIs are encouraged to widely publicize the statement at the national level;
• Follow-up: Special Procedures are encouraged to approach NHRIs to widely disseminate and translate the country visit report to their national contact network, including selected Government officials, Members of Parliament or NGOs and civil society groups. Special Procedures might wish to recommend in their country visits report that NHRIs actively monitor the follow-up of SP recommendations. Special Procedures are encouraged to actively request information from the NHRI in order to assess the status of implementation of the recommendations made following a country visit, for example through a questionnaire. NHRIs are also encouraged to regularly provide information to mandate-holders on the implementation of their recommendations (or lack thereof). NHRIs are encouraged to take relevant Special Procedures’ recommendations into account when submitting opinions, recommendations, proposals and reports to the Government, Parliament or other public body. NHRIs could organize follow-up seminars, either at the request of Special Procedures or at their own initiative, including all the human rights stakeholders as well as the Special Procedures mandate holder. NHRIs are encouraged to take relevant Special Procedures’ recommendations into account when preparing their work-plan and when assisting in the formulation of National Human Rights Action Plans and in other human rights related programming activities;
• Communications: The Special Procedure can make use of an NHRI as (1) a reliable and available source of information; (2) a potentially good partner to verify the accurateness of information obtained from other sources; and (3) an effective intermediary to obtain information from third parties. In case of an anticipated or ongoing human rights violation, NHRIs can act as an important link for early warning and may bring such situations to the attention of the Special Procedure for their action. Because of their mandate regarding existing or draft legislation, NHRIs are optimally placed to flag relevant (draft) laws to the Special Procedure, who may act upon this information;
• Protection capacity: Whenever an NHRI is under threat, relevant Special Procedures could act to protect it through communications or other measures. Special Procedures could make effective use of regional networks of NHRIs to mobilise public opinion to address particular human rights issues;
• Thematic studies: NHRIs could bring a specific situation to the attention of the relevant Special Procedure and suggest specific issues be the subject of, or be included in a thematic study. NHRIs can also be approached with a further request for information or the dissemination of a questionnaire among the national contacts of the NHRI for the preparation of thematic studies. NHRIs can organize thematic conferences or seminars and invite the relevant Special Procedure mandate holders to attend. Thematic studies should be more systematically shared with NHRIs, so that their conclusions may be taken into account by NHRIs when formulating legislative proposals; and
• International meetings: Those NHRIs which are in compliance with the Paris Principles (having received an A-status by the International Coordinating Committee of National Institutions for the Promotion and Protection of Human Rights) could attend sessions of the Human Rights Council and make an oral statement during the interactive dialogue after the presentation by the relevant Special Procedure mandate holder.