@ISHR
In 2020, the United Nations will review the functioning of the ten human rights treaty bodies. OpenGlobalRights and ISHR are publishing a series of op-eds to stimulate more discussion on ways to improve the work of the treaty bodies. Eleven of these op-eds are collated in a publication.
Download the publication here.
What challenges and solutions for improving the work of UN treaty bodies?
In 2020, the United Nations will review the functioning of the ten human rights treaty bodies. While the issue has received some attention from the academic community, there has been only limited interest from States and international NGOs, and very limited consultation of national and local actors. The treaty bodies are far from perfect, but they have contributed to far-reaching changes and improvements in human rights protection. For many victims of human rights violations, they continue to constitute a last hope for justice. Their improvement and effective functioning is critical to the global human rights movement.
In advance of the UN review, OpenGlobalRights and the International Service for Human Rights want to stimulate more discussion on ways to improve the work of the treaty bodies, by launching a series of op-eds addressing the following questions:
Watch our video and read the series of op-eds listed below!
Op-ed series: “Strengthening treaty bodies, protecting human rights: Views from the ground”
No more tinkering: real reform needed to UN human rights treaty monitoring – By Navi Pillay
UN treaty bodies advance LGBTI rights – By Kseniya Kirichenko
UN human rights system needs more coherence and coordination – By Marianna A. Romero
UN inefficiencies undermine effective handling of individual petitions – By Kamelia Kemileva
How a UN Committee contributed to end a controversial mining project in French Guiana – By Alexandre Sommer-Schaechtele
Following up: The key to seeing States act on treaty body recommendations – By Marcia V. J. Kran
The Committee System: 2020 and beyond – By Olivier de Frouville
How do treaty bodies respond to situations of crisis such as Burundi? – By Armel Niyongere
Small States face big challenges in engaging UN treaty bodies – By Malene Alleyne and Felix Kirchmeier
What difference does the UN human rights treaty system make, and why? – By Christof Heyns and Frans Viljoen
Improving domestic compliance with UN treaty body decisions – By Irina Crivet
Human rights victims’ complaints to UN not treated effectively – By Alexandre Skander Galand and Başak Çalı
Putting people at the heart of the human rights treaty body system – By Ashley Bowe and Joshua Cooper
Eleven of these articles are collated in a publication, download it here.
At a time of financial strife and ongoing reform for the organisation, States have adopted a 2026 budget cutting 117 jobs at the UN’s Human Rights Office. The final budget endorses proposed cuts that disproportionately target human rights, imperilling the UN’s ability to investigate grave abuses, and advance human rights globally.
ISHR and 37 human rights organisations in Latin America issued a joint statement condemning the United States military attack against Venezuela and expressing concern about the serious human rights situation in the country. Any solution to the crisis facing the country must be democratic, peaceful and negotiated, centred on respect for human rights, and prioritising the participation and decision-making power of Venezuelan society over its future.
In a landmark ruling against Burundi, the UN Committee against Torture has set a precedent on the protection of lawyers and human rights defenders engaging with UN mechanisms, affirming that reprisals for cooperating with the UN violate the Convention Against Torture.
