OHCHR Informal Consultation: On the State of the UN Human Rights Treaty Body System

Passing along a call for informal consultation that may be of interest.

Non-governmental organisations, national human rights institutions and all other relevant stakeholders:

The Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights would like to inform non-governmental organisations, national human rights institutions and all other relevant stakeholders that the informal consultation by the co-facilitators appointed by the President of the General Assembly on the process of the consideration of the state of the UN human rights treaty body system will take place on 28 August 2020 from 3 to 6 pm, as per attached letter from co-facilitators.

All representatives wishing to participate in the informal consultation either in person in room XX, Palais des Nations or, on-line on webex are requested to register their participation with the Secretariat through INDICO at the following registration page: https://indico.un.org/event/34768/by 25 August 2020, close of business.

Please indicate if you wish to take the floor on INDICO.

Due to COVID-19 physical distancing restrictions in room XX participation in person will be limited to one person per organisation. Further detailed information is contained in the attached information note.

The UN describes its human rights treaty bodies as "committees of independent experts that monitor implementation of the core international human rights treaties. Each State party to a treaty has an obligation to take steps to ensure that everyone in the State can enjoy the rights set out in the treaty."

Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination (CERD) monitors implementation of the International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination (4 January 1969);
Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (CESCR) monitors implementation of the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (3 January 1976);
Human Rights Committee (CCPR) monitors implementation of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (23 March 1976) and its optional protocols;
Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW) monitors implementation of the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women (1979) and its optional protocol (3 September 1981);
Committee against Torture (CAT) monitors implementation of the Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment (26 June 1987);
Committee on the Rights of the Child (CRC) monitors implementation of the Convention on the Rights of the Child (2 September 1990) and its optional protocols (12 February 2002);
Committee on Migrant Workers (CMW) monitors implementation of the International Convention on the Protection of the Rights of All Migrant Workers and Members of Their Families (1 July 2003);
The Subcommittee on Prevention of Torture and other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment (SPT) established pursuant to the Optional Protocol of the Convention against Torture (OPCAT) (22 June 2006) visits places of detention in order to prevent torture and other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment;
Committee on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD) monitors implementation of the International Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (3 May 2008);
Committee on Enforced Disappearances (CED) monitors implementation of the International Convention for the Protection of All Persons from Enforced Disappearance (23 December 2010); and
The treaty bodies meet in Geneva, Switzerland. All the treaty bodies receive support from the Human Rights Treaties Division of OHCHR in Geneva.

While these bodies have little authority, they sometimes can exercise considerable influence.  Those who care about these areas, and especially those interested in the protection or reform of the narratives through which each of these instruments is understood and applied--as well as students of institutional operations, might strongly consider submitting.  I would be happy to post those to this website as well.

The letter from the co-facilitators, the Swiss Confederation and the Kingdom of Morocco--follows below, along with the Information Note: Informal consultations by the co-facilitators of the process of the consideration of the state of the UN human rights treaty body system on 28 August 2020.

Letter addressed to the civil society, National Human Rights Institutions and all other relevant stakeholders regarding the process of the consideration of the state of the
UN human rights treaty body system

Dear Madam, Dear Sir,

In our capacity as co-facilitators of the process of the consideration of the state of the UN human rights treaty body system, we are pleased to share with you further details on the modalities of the informal consultation with representatives of the civil society, National Human Rights Institutions and all other relevant stakeholders, scheduled on Friday, 28 August 2020, from 03:00 p.m. to 06:00 p.m., in Room XX in the Palais des Nations.

All representatives wishing to participate in the informal consultation either in person in room XX, Palais des Nations, or on-line on webex, are requested to register their participation with the Secretariat through INDICO. Please note that due to COVID-19 physical distancing restrictions in place at UNOG, the capacity of room XX is limited to 101 participants at desks with microphones. Therefore, participation will be limited to one person per organization. If you wish to observe the consultation, i.e. not to take the floor, the meeting will be on webcast and accessible to the public on UN Web TV.

During the meeting, the co-facilitators will make a brief presentation based on the written contributions received after which the floor will be opened for statements. Statements should not exceed 3 minutes. Please note that interpretation in all six UN languages will be provided in room XX, however due to technical reasons interpretation is not possible on webex. Therefore, representatives wishing to speak in another UN language than English are kindly requested to participate in person in room XX. Otherwise, please indicate in advance in which UN language you wish to deliver the statement.

The Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights will soon circulate a detailed information note in this regard.

Yours sincerely,

_________

 

Information Note: Informal consultations by the co-facilitators of the process of the consideration of the state of the UN human rights treaty body system on 28 August 2020

The informal consultations by the co-facilitators of the process of the consideration of the state of the UN human rights treaty body system will take place on 28 August 2020

·      10 am to 1 pm for Member States (States); and

·      3 pm to 6 pm for non-governmental organisations (NGOs), national human rights institutions (NIs) and all other relevant stakeholders

Obligatory registration through INDICO to participate

The representatives of delegations or organisations who wish to participate either in person in room XX, Palais des Nations or on-line through webex are kindly requested to pre-inscribe on INDICO at the following link:https://indico.un.org/event/34768/

All delegates wishing to participate in the informal consultation either in person in room XX, Palais des Nations, or on-line on webex, are requested to register their participation with the Secretariat through INDICO.

Please note that due to COVID-19 physical distancing restrictions in place at UNOG, the capacity of room XX is limited to 101 participants at desks with microphones. Therefore, participation will be limited to one person per delegation or organization.

The maximum number of remote participants on webex is 1,000, so participation may be limited to up to 3 participants per State delegations or 2 participants per NGO organization.

Observing the consultation

If you wish to observe the consultation, i.e. not to take the floor, the meeting will be on webcast and accessible to the public on UN Web TV.

Interpretation

Please note that interpretation in all six UN languages will be provided in room XX, however due to technical reasons interpretation is not possible on webex. Therefore, delegates wishing to speak in another UN language than English are kindly requested to participate in person in room XX. Otherwise, please indicate in advance in which UN language you wish to deliver the statements.

Request to take the floor

·      How to request the floor for States

The list of speakers will be drawn up for each of the different discussion items indicated by the co-facilitators. The list of speakers will be drawn on a first-come first served basis on the basis of requests received through participants in person in room XX (by raising the flag) and on the basis of requests received through participants on-line (by indicating your desire to speak in the chat box).

·      How to request the floor for NGOs, NIs and all other relevant stakeholders

The list of speakers will be on all discussion items indicated by the co-facilitators. The list of speakers will be drawn in advance on a first-come first served basis on the basis of requests received through the pre-registration system, INDICO.

Please note that due to COVID-19 physical distancing restrictions in place at UNOG, the capacity of room XX is limited to 101 participants at desks with microphones.

Accreditation

On INDICO, participants are required to upload their credentials:

·      For States: UN ground badge or Note Verbale from Permanent Representative or Mission.

·      NGOs, NIs and all other relevant stakeholders: UN ground badge or letter from the designated representative of the organisation authorizing the participant to represent the organisation.

UN ground badge

If you are planning to attend in person in room XX, and you do not have a UN ground badge, after your INDICO registration is approved, you need to enter Palais des Nations through the Pregny Gate and collect a badge at UN security. Please make sure that you bring a valid passport or identity card with you. If you have a UN ground badge you will be able to access the Palais des Nations after your INDICO registration is approved.

Additional information

For any questions, please do not hesitate to contact the Secretariat at the following email: tbs@ohchr.org