III-g. United Nations Charter Bodies
Several bodies within the United Nations have major responsibilities relating to human rights: the General Assembly, the Economic and Social Council, the Commission on Human Rights, the Commission on the Status of Women, the Centre for Human Rights, and the High Commissioner for Human Rights.
Security Council
The Security Council has played a role in relation to human rights since 1991 in places like Bosnia, Cambodia, Iraq, and Somalia. However, to some observers, it has played only a reluctant and indirect role. As Philip Alston sees it, "the Council has a long history of refusing to consider itself as an organ for the promotion of respect for human rights, except in so far as a given situation constitutes a threat to international peace and security."
General Assembly
The General Assembly is especially important because it is the most representative decision-making body in the United Nations, with all members having the right to vote. Thus it has served as a major forum for discussion, and also served as the site for preparation and adoption of numerous major international human rights agreements. Most human rights issues are referred to the assembly’s Third Committee, which is responsible for social, humanitarian, and cultural matters. The General Assembly has several subsidiary bodies concerned with human rights, including:
- the Special Committee with Regard to the Implementation of the Declaration on the Granting of Independence to Colonial Countries and Peoples (known as the Special Committee on Decolonization);
- the United Nations Council for Namibia;
- the Special Committee Against Apartheid;
- the Special Committee to Investigate Israeli Practices Affecting the Human Rights of the Population of the Occupied Territories;
- the Committee on the Exercise of the Inalienable Rights of the Palestinian People.
Economic and Social Council
In its first decades, the United Nations’ concern for human rights was focused in the Third Committee. However, because of frequent political stalemates in that committee, some human rights action shifted to the Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC) and its subsidiary organs. ECOSOC members are elected by the General Assembly.
Under article 62 of the Charter of the United Nations, ECOSOC may make recommendations with regard to international economic, social, cultural, educational, health, and related matters to the General Assembly, to the members of the United Nations, and to the specialized agencies, and in particular, according to paragraph 2, "It may make recommendations for the purpose of promoting respect for , and observance of, human rights and fundamental freedoms for all." It may draft conventions on these issues for submission to the General Assembly, and, under article 68, it may "set up commissions . . . for the promotion of human rights . . ." To help it deal with human rights issues, ECOSOC established the Commission on Human Rights and the Commission on the Status of Women. The Commission on Human Rights, in turn, established the Sub-Commission on Prevention of Discrimination and the Protection of Minorities. These subsidiary bodies of ECOSOC are described in the following three parts.
Commission on Human Rights
The Commission on Human Rights, established by ECOSOC in 1946, has become the hub of United Nations activity with regard to human rights. The commission reports through ECOSOC to the General Assembly. The commission has established a number of subsidiary bodies including the Sub-Commission on Prevention of Discrimination and Protection of Minorities, and Working Groups and Special Rapporteurs focused on particular human rights issues. The Commission on Human Rights should not be confused with the Human Rights Committee, the treaty body for the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights.
An important factor in the commission’s work has been ECOSOC’s Resolution 1503, passed in 1970, which allows suborgans of ECOSOC to deal with "communications" (petitions, complaints) alleging violations of human rights from private individuals and non-governmental organizations. Complaints must suggest "a consistent pattern of gross and reliably attested violations of human rights and fundamental freedoms." This means the commission cannot deal with isolated violations of human rights, and offers no redress to individual victims. Complaints generally have been passed to the commission, which in turn passed them on to the Sub-Commission for possible action.
The 1503 procedure is confidential, which means that those charged are protected from adverse publicity during the investigation. However, each year the commission chair does announce the names of the countries that had been considered under the 1503 procedure. The commission may release its evidence and its views on the allegations when investigations are completed, but so far it has not done so.
Sub-Commission
When the Sub-Commission on Prevention of Discrimination and Protection of Minorities was established by the Commision on Human Rights in 1947, its main mission was to recommend standards to be adopted for the prevention of discrimination and protection of minorities. However, its mission has expanded considerably since then, partly because it has been able to function quite independently. The Sub-Commission now has twenty-six "independent experts" as members, elected by the Commission. Current members are listed at www.unhchr.ch/html/menu2/2/subcmem.htm
The Sub-Commission has created three subsidiary bodies:
- the Working Group on Communications;
- the Working Group on Slavery; and
- the Working Group on Indigenous Populations.
The Working Group on Communications examines communications that are received alleging violations of human rights. These communications may come not only from individuals but also from nongovernmental organizations. If they appear to reveal consistent patterns of gross violations, they are brought to the attention of the Sub-Commission, which in turn can bring them to the Human Rights Commission. The process is widely regarded as ineffective.
To reflect the broad agenda of the Sub-Commission, on July 27, 1999 the UN's Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC) changed its name to the Sub-Commission on the Promotion and Protection of Human Rights.
Commission on the Status of Women
The Commission on the Status of Women was established by ECOSOC in 1946 to prepare reports and recommendations on women’s rights. This commission is different from the Committee on All Forms of Discrimination Against Women.
High Commissioner for Human Rights
In 1982 Ireland sponsored a resolution in the Third Committee of the General Assembly which authorized a study to consider creation of a high commissioner for human rights. It was not until December 1993 that the General Assembly agreed to create the post. The first appointee, Jose Ayala Lasso of Ecuador, took up the post in 1994. Mary Robinson, the former president of Ireland was appointed in 1997.
Others
There are many different bodies within the United Nations that have human rights on their agenda, and there is a web of complex interrelationships among them. It is easy to suggest that human rights activities in the United Nations should be tidied up, with clearer missions and better organization. But the arrangements cannot be compared with that of, say, a corporation in which the directors can simply redesign the operations under their command. These United Nations bodies have accumulated over half a century in response to a broad array of different and often conflicting forces. United Nations operations in human rights are not yet based on a singular well defined mission under a singular authoritative command structure.
Continue to III-h. United Nations Treaty Bodies
Subsecton III-g last updated September 27, 1999