From Responsibility to Response: Assessing National - Brookings

Benchmark 8 Support NHRIs to Integrate Internal Displacement into Their Work
support come from international donors and agencies. 54
The capacity development project of NHRC, funded by
the UNDP and bilateral partners, has been influential
in increasing the commission’s capacity through the
provision of technical assistance, in-kind contributions
and expert advisory services. 55 Walter Kälin, the RSG on
IDPs, who met with several of the NHRC commissioners
in Kathmandu as well as with the staff of the NHRC
regional office in Biratnagar during his 2005 mission to
the country, noted in his mission report that the NHRC
“has considerable potential to provide a response to
human rights concerns in the context of displacement,
including through prevention of displacement, protection
during displacement and monitoring of return or
resettlement after displacement.” However, he also drew
attention to the fact that several human rights NGOs had
“questioned the Commission’s capacity in the present
political context to fully implement its mandate,” and he
expressed his hope that the commission would be able
to function as an independent human rights institution
able to promote and protect the rights of IDPs. 56
The Afghanistan Independent Human Rights
Commission (AIHRC) monitors and reports on the
situation of vulnerable groups, including IDPs, refugees
and returnees. 57 In fact, IDPs constituted a significant
segment of the population used in human rights field
monitoring research for the commission’s 2008–09
annual report on economic and social rights, which indicated
that the majority of IDPs living in urban slums
and informal settlements lacked adequate food, water,
health care, and education. 58 The report also revealed
54 NHRC, “About Us” (http://nhrcnepal.org/about_us.php).
55 NHRC, “Capacity Development of the National Human
Rights Commission of Nepal” (www.nhrcnepal.org/
project1.php?ProjNo=1).
56 UN Commission on Human Rights, Report of the
Representative of the Secretary-General on the Human
Rights of Internally Displaced Persons, Walter Kälin—
Addendum: Mission to Nepal, E/CN.4/2006/71/Add.2, 7
January 2006, para. 29 (http://ap.ohchr.org/documents/
dpage_e.aspx?m=71).
57 See further the Afghanistan case study in chapter 2 of this
volume.
58 Afghanistan Independent Human Rights Commission
107
that the majority of IDPs were unable to return to their
homes and communities due to insecurity, lack of housing,
and disputes over land and property. In addition
to monitoring and reporting on the situation of IDPs,
the commission has engaged municipal authorities on
behalf of IDPs in matters related to the issuance of national
identity cards (tazkera), registration of displaced
children in schools, access to water, and disputes over
land and property. The AIHRC has also worked with the
National Task Force on IDPs, but largely on an ad hoc
basis and only on specific cases. The commission has
stated that one of its main institutional challenges—as
in the case in other national human rights institutions—
has been the “lack of State funding towards AIHRC’s
overall budget [and that] this lack of sustainable funding
and our ongoing dependency on donor contributions
continues to undermine the future stability of the
AIHRC.” 59
Among the other countries surveyed that have NHRIs,
several seem to also have been active on IDP issues—at
least at different points in time—but there is insufficient
information on the effectiveness of their efforts or of
any ongoing work with IDPs.
While Pakistan does not have a national human
rights institution, an NGO called the Human Rights
Commission of Pakistan (HRCP) reports that it draws
attention to the issue of internal displacement through
its fact-finding missions, monitoring of IDP returns, and
statements and reports on IDP issues with recommendations
to the government. The HRCP, an independent
and nongovernmental body, has publicized the human
rights violations of armed forces that have caused the
death and displacement of civilians. 60
(AIHRC), Report on the Situation of Economic and Society
Rights in Afghanistan–IV (2008/9), November-December
2009, p. 21 (www.aihrc.org).
59 AIHRC, Strategic Action Plan 2010–2013, March 2010
(www.aihrc.org).
60 “HRCP Stands” (www.hrcp-web.org/showprel.asp);
Asma Jahangir, A Tragedy of Errors and Cover-ups:
The IDPs and Outcome of Military Actions in FATA and
Malakand Division, HRCP, June 2009 (www.hrcp-web.