Human Rights Committee

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Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples UN Human Rights Council Expert Mechanism on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples UN Special Rapporteur The Universal Periodic Review (UPR)Human Rights Committee Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination 2nd UN Decade on Indigenous Peoples African Commission on Human and Peoples' Rights Arctic Council Organisation of American States Working Group on Indigenous Populations

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	Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues
	Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples
	UN Human Rights Council
	Expert Mechanism on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples
	UN Special Rapporteur
	The Universal Periodic Review (UPR)
	Human Rights Committee
	Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination
	2nd UN Decade on Indigenous Peoples
	African Commission on Human and Peoples' Rights
	Arctic Council
	Organisation of American States
	Working Group on Indigenous Populations

The Human Rights Committee In order to supervise that States fulfil the obligations they have assumed by ratifying international human rights Treaties, special bodies normally known as Committees are established. The Human Rights Committee is such a special body and it is established under article 28 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights. The Human Rights Committee is made up of 18 independent experts with recognised competencies in the field of human rights. The experts are chosen by the States parties and they serve in their personal capacity, not as representatives of their Governments. Therefore, the proceedings of the Committee should be politically impartial. Mandate: The Human Rights Committee's task is to supervise and monitor the implementation of the Covenant on Civil and Political Rights by States parties. Click here to read more about the Covenant. In carrying out its monitoring and supervisory functions, the Committee has a number of responsibilities: · To receive and examine reports from the States on how they are implementing the obligations they have assumed by ratifying the Covenant. · To receive and consider individual complaints, also known as "communications", made by individuals who claim violations of their Covenant rights by a State party. · To consider certain complaints made by a State party that another State party is not abiding by the obligations assumed under the Covenant. · To make general recommendations and comments. · To inform the General Assembly of its activities. The Committee also publishes its interpretation of the content of human rights provisions, known as general comments on thematic issues or its methods of work. Impact: The Human Rights Committee has contributed significantly to the progressive development of indigenous rights through a general interpretation of the application of the human rights conventions and in their reports and recommendations they have recognised and protected the collective rights of indigenous peoples. Similarly, in the context of the reporting process, there are a number of instances where the recommendations of the Human Rights Committee have led, directly or indirectly, to positive changes to law, policy and practice. The Committee has been used by a relatively small number of indigenous people and organisations with very favourable results in terms of recognition of their rights. Unfortunately, for the vast majority of indigenous organisations, the procedures of the Committee and other treaty bodies are not well-known. Sessions: The Human Rights Committee convenes three times a year for sessions of three weeks' duration, normally in March at United Nations headquarters in New York and in July and November at the United Nations Office in Geneva. To view past and next sessions and the different State reports, click here. At the 84th session in July 2005 the Committee considered the State report from Thailand: see IWGIA's coverage Documents: On OHCHR's website all documents, including State reports and Sessional/Annual Reports, of the Human Rights Committee are available: http://www.unhchr.ch/tbs/doc.nsf More information: The Human Rights Committee and other treaty bodies are described in the following IWGIA publications: The UN Permanent Forum on Indigenous Peoples (Lola García-Alix 2003) Human Rights and Indigenous Peoples: A Handbook on the UN System (Florencia Roulet 1999) In OHCHR's Fact Sheet No. 15: Civil and Political Rights: The Human Rights Committee (http://www.ohchr.org/english/about/publications/docs/fs15.pdf) you can find an elaborate description of the Covenant on Civil and Political Rights as well as the Human Rights Committee and how to use it. Fact Sheet No. 9: The Rights of Indigenous Peoples (http://www.ohchr.org/english/about/publications/docs/fs9.htm), Fact Sheet No. 18: Minority Rights (http://www.ohchr.org/english/about/publications/docs/fs18.htm) and Fact Sheet No. 30: The United Nations Human Rights Treaty System: An introduction to the core human rights treaties and the treaty bodies (http://www.ohchr.org/english/about/publications/docs/fs30.pdf) also describe the Human Rights Committee and its work. You can also visit OHCHR's website at: http://www.ohchr.org/english/bodies/hrc/index.htm