Guide to International Human Rights Mechanisms - Brookings

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International Mechanisms | UN Bodies
following session (i.e. two years later). There is no procedure of expedited review of urgent cases in
the 1503 procedure.
language and format Communications may be in any of the official UN languages: Arabic, Chinese,
English, French, Russian, or Spanish. There is no required format, but abusive language or clearly
asserted political motives will lead to rejection. At a minimum, communications should set out the facts
of the case(s), describe how those facts were learned, explain why they reveal a consistent pattern of gross
violations, describe how domestic remedies have been exhausted (or why they have not) and submit any
supporting evidence or documentation (including any evidence of exhaustion of remedies).
confidentiality Complaints may not be anonymous but authors may request that their names and
those of the victim(s) not be revealed to the government concerned.
Procedure As operated by the Human Rights Council’s predecessor, the Commission on Human
Rights, when a communication was received, the secretariat and the Chair of the Working Group on
Communications performed an initial screening to determine if it was “manifestly ill-founded.” If not,
acknowledgement was sent to the author and the government concerned is invited to respond.
The communication was then considered at the annual meeting (usually in August) of the Working
Group on Communications, a body of the Sub-Commission on the Promotion and Protection
of Human Rights. If the Working Group on Communications deemed the communication
admissible, it was forwarded to the Working Group on Situations, a body made up of five member
state representatives (which usually met in February).
If the Working Group on Situations believed that there was a consistent pattern of gross violations
of human rights, it would forward the matter to the Commission on Human Rights, along
with a recommendation for action. The Commission would then consider the matter (with the
participation of the government in question but not of the author of the communication) during its
annual meeting. All proceedings were confidential.
Potential result After consideration of a “situation,” the Commission could decide to (1) end
consideration of the matter, (2) continue considering the matter in its next session, (3) appoint an
independent expert or special rapporteur to gather more information (to be provided in a confidential
report), or (4) shift the matter to the public portion of its agenda and thus raise the possibility of a
public resolution and creation of a monitoring mechanism with public reporting responsibility. A
public announcement would be made after the private session indicating only which countries were
under consideration. While it offered precious little information about the proceedings, this small
detail nonetheless frequently generated some press attention.
send communications to:
1503 Procedure
Treaties and Commission Branch
OHCHR-UNOG
Guide to International Human Rights Mechanisms
for Internally Displaced Persons and their Advocates