You have been asked to handle the governance files in a developing country, and one of the files includes the NHRI capacity building project. The NHRI in the country has been in operation for almost seven years, and has a broad mandate to protect human rights, including civil and political rights.

The country has a history of serious and well documented problems regarding human rights violations in the area of rule of law generally and on the issues of torture and arbitrary detention more specifically. There are regular complaints about the lack of follow up on complaints of forced disappearances, which are especially severe in a part of the country occupied by a national minority.

When you review the file and request statistics, you discover that the majority of cases at the NHRI are not complaints about these “core” issues at all! Rather, about 80% are from public sector employees about discrimination related to their salaries, promotions or dismissals.

There is a possibility that the accreditation of the NHRI will be downgraded, following complaints from NGOs about failure to follow up on complaints of forced disappearances and torture.

You are asked for concrete suggestions to help the NHRI get back on track and enhance the confidence of the citizens in its capacity to address core protection cases.