Guide to International Human Rights Mechanisms - Brookings

How to Use this Guide
While reading from cover to cover can provide a useful overview, this guide is primarily designed as a
sort of encyclopedia of human rights mechanisms for IDPs. It is formatted to direct the reader to the
information and the mechanisms most relevant to his or her particular situation at any given time.
BackgrounD maTerial anD DomesTic mechanisms
Section I will be useful to those new to human rights law, human rights mechanisms and the rights
of IDPs.
Section II discusses domestic alternatives to the use of international human rights mechanisms.
General Procedural Information
It is strongly recommended that all readers using this guide for the first time carefully review
Section III, which contains general procedural information relevant to all the mechanisms and
explains commonly used terms.
ThemaTic roaDmaP To The mechanisms
The “Thematic Roadmap” in Section IV and the Table of Contents are the keys to this guide. In
most cases, more than one human rights mechanism will be available to address a particular
violation of an IDP’s rights. The Thematic Roadmap lists the rights violations IDPs commonly
experience and suggests the mechanisms that may be most appropriate to address them. The
mechanisms themselves are described in Section V.
Readers are encouraged to:
(1) locate the particular rights issue(s) most relevant to their situation in the Table of Contents,
(2) read the pertinent portion(s) of Section IV, and then
(3) refer to the descriptions of the mechanisms available to address situations of these types in
Section V.
DescriPTions of The mechanisms
Section V describes the mechanisms and the requirements for their use and provides a brief
evaluation of their particular utility for IDPs. It also reproduces any suggested forms or guidelines
issued by the mechanisms themselves.