National institutions for the promotion and protection of human rights.

34. RESOLUTIONS ADOPTED ON THE REPORTS OF THE THIRD COMMITTEE
49. National institutions for the promotion and protection of human rights

The General Assembly, Recalling its resolutions 32/123 of 16 December 1977 and 33/46 of 14 December 1978, as well as Commission on Human Rights resolutions 23 (XXXIV) of 8 March 1978[1] and 24 (XXXV) of 14 March 1979,[2] concerning national institutions for the promotion and protection of human rights, Recalling also that, in its resolution 34/46 of 23 November 1979, it emphasized the need to create conditions at the national and international levels for the full promotion and protection of the human rights of individuals and peoples, Mindful of the guidelines on the structure and functioning of national and local institutions for the promotion and protection of human rights adopted by the Seminar on National and Local Institutions for the Promotion and Protection of Human Rights, held at Geneva from 18 to 29 September 1978[3] and endorsed by the General Assembly in its resolution 33/46, Mindful also of the conclusions of the Seminar on Recourse Procedures Available to Victims of Racial Discrimination and Activities to be Undertaken at the Regional Level, held at Geneva from 9 to 20 July 1979[4]4,

1. Invites all Member States to take appropriate steps for the establishment of national institutions for the promotion and protection of human rights, bearing in mind the guidelines referred to above;

2. Emphasizes the importance of the integrity and independence of such national institutions, in accordance with national legislation;

3. Draws attention to the constructive role which national non-governmental organizations can play in the work of national institutions;

4. Requests the Secretary-General, in submitting to the General Assembly at its thirty-sixth session the report requested in paragraph 6 of Commission on Human Rights resolution 24 (XXXV), to draw also upon other relevant sources, such as the reports and documents of the Seminar on National and Local Institutions for the Promotion and Protection of Human Rights and the Seminar on Recourse Procedures Available to Victims of Racial Discrimination and Activities to be Undertaken at the Regional Level, and, in presenting his report to the Assembly, to describe the various existing types of national institutions for the promotion and protection of human rights reflected in the documentation received by him and in the above-mentioned sources;

5. Decides to include in the provisional agenda of its thirty-sixth session a subitem entitled "National institutions for the promotion and protection of human rights";

6. Recommends that Member States should associate representatives of their national institutions with the contents of the debate on the above-mentioned subitem.

76th plenary meeting
23 November 1979

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[1] Ibid., 1978, Supplement No. 4 (E/ 1978/34), chap. XXVI, sect. A. [2] Ibid., 1979, Supplement No. 6 (E/1979/36), chap. XXIV, sect. A. [3] See ST/HR/SER.A/2 and Add. 1. [4] See ST/HR/SER.A/ 3.