Human rights and thematic procedures.

1994/53. Human rights and thematic procedures

The Commission on Human Rights, Considering that, over the years, thematic procedures established by the Commission with regard to the consideration of questions related to the promotion and protection of civil and political rights have earned an important position among its human rights monitoring mechanisms, Noting with satisfaction that an increasing number of Governments, as well as non-governmental organizations, have developed a working relationship with one or more of the thematic procedures, Recalling its resolutions 1991/31 of 5 March 1991, 1992/41 of 28 February 1992 and 1993/47 of 9 March 1993, Recalling also its various resolutions in which it urged Governments to intensify their cooperation with the thematic special rapporteurs and working groups, and to provide information requested on any measures taken in pursuance of recommendations addressed to them, Recalling further recommendations contained in the Vienna Declaration and Programme of Action (A/CONF.157/23), especially in part II, paragraph 95, in which the World Conference on Human Rights underlined the importance of preserving and strengthening the system of special procedures, rapporteurs, representatives, experts and working groups of the Commission, Recalling the first meeting of the special rapporteurs, representatives, experts and members or chairmen of working groups of the Commission on Human Rights, held from 14 to 16 June 1993 on the occasion of the World Conference on Human Rights, Noting that some human rights violations are specific to or primarily directed against women, and that the identification and reporting of these violations demand specific awareness and sensitivity,

1. Commends those Governments that have invited the thematic special rapporteurs or working groups to visit their countries;

2. Recommends that Governments consider follow-up visits designed to assist them with effective implementation of recommendations by the thematic special rapporteurs and working groups;

3. Encourages Governments to respond expeditiously to requests for information made to them through the procedures, so that the thematic special rapporteurs concerned, the Working Group on Enforced or Involuntary Disappearances and the Working Group on Arbitrary Detention may carry out their mandates effectively;

4. Also encourages Governments encountering problems in the field of human rights to cooperate more closely with the Commission through the pertinent thematic procedures, in particular by inviting a thematic special rapporteur or working group to visit their countries;

5. Invites the Governments concerned to study carefully the recommendations addressed to them under thematic procedures and to keep the relevant mechanisms informed promptly on the progress made towards their implementation;

6. Invites the thematic special rapporteurs and working groups to include in their annual reports information provided by Governments on follow-up action, as well as their own observations thereon;

7. Also invites the non-governmental organizations to continue their cooperation with thematic procedures;

8. Encourages the thematic special rapporteurs and working groups to make recommendations for the avoidance of human rights violations;

9. Also encourages the thematic special rapporteurs and working groups to follow closely the progress made by Governments in their investigations carried out within their respective mandates;

10. Further encourages the thematic special rapporteurs and working groups to continue close cooperation with relevant treaty monitoring bodies and country rapporteurs;

11. Requests the thematic special rapporteurs and working groups to include in their reports comments on problems of responsiveness and the result of analyses, as appropriate, in order to exercise their mandates even more effectively, and to include also in their reports suggestions for areas where Governments might request relevant assistance through the advisory services programme administered by the Centre for Human Rights;

12. Calls on the thematic special rapporteurs and working groups to include in their reports gender-disaggregated data and to address the characteristics and practice of human rights violations under their mandates that are specifically or primarily directed against women, or to which women are particularly vulnerable, in order to assure the effective protection of their human rights;

13. Requests the Secretary-General, in close collaboration with the thematic special rapporteurs and working groups, to issue annually their conclusions and recommendations, so as to enable further discussion of their implementation at subsequent sessions of the Commission;

14. Welcomes the joint declaration (A/CONF.157/9) of the independent experts responsible for the special procedures for the protection of human rights, of 17 June 1993;

15. Requests the Secretary-General to consider the possibility of convening further periodic meetings of all the thematic special rapporteurs and the chairmen of working groups of the Commission on Human Rights in order to enable them to continue to exchange views, cooperate more closely and make recommendations;

16. Also requests the Secretary-General, in implementing the United Nations budget for the biennium 1994-1995, to ensure the availability of such resources as are necessary for the effective implementation of all thematic mandates, including any additional tasks entrusted to the thematic special rapporteurs and working groups by the Commission.

56th meeting
4 March 1994
[Adopted without a vote. See chap. XI.]