Guide to International Human Rights Mechanisms - Brookings

Foreword by the Representative
of the UN Secretary-General on
the Human Rights of IDPs
of every region of the world, internally displaced persons are vic-
In countries tims of violations of human rights. These span the whole range
of civil, political, economic, social and cultural rights. At the same time, the internally displaced
are also a group particularly vulnerable to violations of their rights, both during and after displacement.
They face discrimination on account of their status as displaced persons, as well as exposure
to discrimination on racial, ethnic and gender grounds. For internally displaced persons, this kind
of “double discrimination” can prove devastating.
In legal terms, however, internally displaced persons do have rights – the very same rights as other
persons in their country. They are protected not only by the human rights treaties in effect for the
country where they reside, but also by basic norms of customary international law that bind all
states – standards such as the prohibition of torture, of racial discrimination, and of slavery.
What often has been missing has been any means for internally displaced persons to enforce these
rights. Countries often fail to discharge their responsibility to protect and promote the human
rights of displaced persons, and these persons find it difficult to access practical remedies. Even less
do the internally displaced have awareness of the procedures available for the realization of their
rights at the international level, when the national authorities fall short of their obligations.
This Guide to International Human Rights Mechanisms for Internally Displaced Persons and their
Advocates is an important step towards overcoming these barriers. A step-by-step reference guide
for internally displaced persons and those acting on their behalf, the Guide sets out in accessible format
the legal rights that internally displaced persons enjoy, as well as the international mechanisms
that have been established to protect these rights. These include regional institutions which have
procedures attuned to the particular contexts of those parts of the world, as well as United Nations
mechanisms.
What makes this Guide particularly valuable is that, grouped according to the three phases of
displacement, it carefully sets out the themes that are particularly relevant to internally displaced
persons and illustrates the sources of law for these rights. This sets the groundwork for the Guide’s
examination of the processes and practical details for engaging the various mechanisms. Even for
experts, the variations in procedures and processes utilised can prove daunting, making all the more
valuable the Guide’s clear illustrations of the key stepping stones of each. Human rights mechanisms
are designed for the layperson and seek to avoid undue complexity; however, where legal advice
is available to a person bringing a complaint, assistance of this kind can markedly improve the
chances of pursuing a complaint to a successful conclusion. To this end, this Guide is aimed equally