Human rights and thematic procedures.

Human rights and thematic procedures

Commission on Human Rights resolution 1995/87

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, Reaffirming that all human rights are universal, indivisible, interdependent and interrelated, and that the international community must treat human rights globally in a fair and equal manner, on the same footing, and with the same emphasis, Noting with satisfaction than 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, 1993/47 of 9 March 1993 and 1994/53 of 4 March 1994, 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 part II, paragraph 88 of the Vienna Declaration and Programme of Action in which the World Conference on Human Rights recommended that the States parties to international human rights instruments, the General Assembly and the Economic and Social Council should consider studying the existing human rights treaty bodies and the various thematic mechanisms and procedures with a view to promoting greater efficiency and effectiveness through better coordination of the various bodies, mechanisms and procedures, taking into account the need to avoid unnecessary duplication and overlapping of their mandates and tasks, Recalling also 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, Recalling further the meeting of the special rapporteurs, representatives, experts and chairpersons of working groups of the special procedures of the Commission on Human Rights and of the advisory services programme with the High Commissioner for Human Rights, held from 30 May to 1 June 1994, 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, Recalling General Assembly resolution 49/181 of 23 December 1994 on strengthening of United Nations action in the human rights field through the promotion of international cooperation and the importance of non-selectivity, impartiality and objectivity,

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 thematic procedures, so that the procedures may carry out their mandates effectively;

4. Also encourages all Governments to cooperate more closely with the Commission through the pertinent thematic procedures and, where appropriate, 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. Invites the non-governmental organizations to continue their cooperation with thematic procedures, and to ascertain that the material provided falls under the mandates of these procedures and contains the required elements;

8. Notes the recommendations of the meeting of the special rapporteurs, representatives, experts and chairpersons of working groups of the special procedures of the Commission on Human Rights and of the advisory services programme with the High Commissioner for Human Rights, held from 30 May to 1 June 1994 (E/CN.4/1995/5, annex, para. 26);

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

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

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

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

13. 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 ensure the effective protection of their human rights;

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

15. 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;

16. Requests the Secretary-General to consider the possibility of convening further 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;

17. 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;

18. Further requests the Secretary-General to present a list of all persons currently constituting the thematic and country procedures, including their country of origin, in an annex to the annotations to the provisional agenda of the fifty-second session of the Commission on Human Rights.

62nd meeting, 8 March 1995 [Adopted without a vote]