Table Of ContentHR/PUB/91/1 (Rev.1)
OF FICE OF THE UNITED NA TIONS UNITED NA TIONS
HIGH COM MIS SIONER IN STI TUTE FOR TRAINI NG STAFF COLL EGE
FOR HU MAN RIGHTS AND RE SEARCH PRO JECT
(UNI TAR)
Ge neva Tur in
MANUAL ON
HU MAN RIGHTS REP ORT ING
UN DER SIX MA JOR IN TER NA TIONAL
HU MAN RIGHTS IN STRU MENTS
UNITED NA TIONS
Gen eva, 1997
DIS CLAIMER
The desi gn at ion em ployed and the pres en ta tion of the mat er ial in this pub li ca tion do not im ply the ex pres -
sion of any opin ion whats oe ver on the part of the Secr et ari at of the United Nat ions conc ern ing the le gal
status of any count ry, terr it ory, city or area, or of its authorit ies, or conc erni ng the del imi ta tion of its front iers
or boundar ies.
Copy right © United Na tions, 1997
All rights res erved
UNITED NA TIONS PUB LI CA TION
Sales No. GV.E.97.0.16
ISBN 92- 1- 100752-6
v
TAB LE OF CONT ENTS
FORE WORD.................................................................................................. ix
AB BRE VIA TIONS........................................................................................... xiii
IN TRO DUC TION
THE IN TERN A TIONAL SYS TEM OF HU MAN RIGHTS: AN OVER VIEW
By Theo Van Boven........................................................................................ 3
(a) The scope of hu man rights............................................................... 4
(b) Cate go ries of hu man rights............................................................... 5
(c) Hu man rights in re la tion to peace and de vel op ment ........................... 7
(d) In ven tory of hum an rights in stru ments............................................... 9
(e) Su per vi sory pro ce dures.................................................................... 11
PART ONE: GEN ERAL AS PECTS
THE PUR POSES OF RE PORT ING
By Philip Al ston............................................................................................. 19
(a) The evo lu tion of re port ing pro ce dures............................................... 19
(b) Mak ing the most of re port ing ........................................................... 20
(c) The func tions served by re port ing..................................................... 21
(d) Con clud ing com ments ..................................................................... 24
THE PREPA RA TION AND DRAFT ING OF A NA TIONAL RE PORT
By Ce cil Ber nard and Pett er Wille.................................................................. 25
(a) The need for a po litic al com mit ment................................................. 25
(b) The re al ity of lim ited re sources ......................................................... 26
(c) Adeq uate org ani za tion and co- ordination........................................... 27
(d) The bur den of re port ing................................................................... 29
(e) The con tri but ion of non- governmental org aniz a tions .......................... 33
(f) The draft ing pro cess........................................................................ 35
vi
NA TIONAL RE PORTS: THEIR SUB MIS SION TO EX PERT BOD IES
AND FOLLOW- UP
By Fausto Po car, Cec il Ber nard and Pett er Wille............................................. 37
(a) Forms of pres en ta tion and ade quate repr e sen tat ion............................ 37
(b) Con sid era tion of re ports by in ter nat ional hu man rights bod ies............. 39
(c) The es sence of dia logue................................................................... 40
(d) Nec es sary follow- up ac tions.............................................................. 41
(e) The role of non-g overnmental or gani za tions...................................... 43
HU MAN RIGHTS IN FOR MA TION AND DOCU MEN TA TION
By Lau rie S. Wiseb erg.................................................................................... 45
1. The Role of In for ma tion and Docu men ta tion..................................... 45
2. Why De vote Re sources to In for ma tion Gath er ing and Analy sis?........... 46
3. Prac ti cal As pects of Col lec tion and Analy sis of Hu man Rights
In for ma tion..................................................................................... 48
4. Cre at ing an In for ma tion Man age ment Sys tem.................................... 55
5. Con clu sion...................................................................................... 57
An nex: Con soli dated Guide lines for the Ini tial Part of the Re ports
of States Par ties .......................................................................... 59
PART TWO: HU MAN RIGHTS RE PORT ING UN DER SIX MA JOR
IN TER NA TIONAL HU MAN RIGHTS IN STRU MENTS
THE IN TER NA TIONAL COVE NANT ON ECO NOMIC,
SO CIAL AND CUL TURAL RIGHTS
By Philip Al ston............................................................................................. 65
A. The re port ing pro cess...................................................................... 65
B. Con sid era tion of the re ports by the Com mit tee on Eco nomic,
So cial and Cul tural Rights................................................................. 154
C. Pe ri odic Re ports.............................................................................. 169
THE IN TERN A TIONAL COVE NANT ON CIVIL AND PO LITI CAL RIGHTS
by Fausto Po car............................................................................................. 171
A. The re port ing pro cess...................................................................... 171
B. Con sid era tion of re ports by the Hu man Rights Com mit tee.................. 260
vii
THE IN TER NA TIONAL CON VEN TION ON THE ELIMI NA TION OF
ALL FORMS OF RA CIAL DIS CRIMI NA TION
by Luis Va lenc ia Rodriguez............................................................................. 267
A. The re port ing pro cess...................................................................... 267
B. Con sid era tion of re ports by the Com mit tee on the Elimi na tion
of Ra cial Disc rimi na tion................................................................... 293
C. Pe ri odic Re ports: The Key Is sues...................................................... 303
THE CON VEN TION ON THE ELIMI NA TION OF ALL FORMS OF
DISC RIMI NAT ION AGAINST WOMEN
by Za gorka Ilic and Ivanka Corti..................................................................... 305
A. The re port ing pro cess...................................................................... 305
B. Con sid era tions of re ports by the Com mit tee on the Elimi na tion
of Dis crimi nat ion Against Women..................................................... 353
THE CON VEN TION AGAINST TOR TURE AND OTHER CRUEL,
IN HU MAN OR DE GRAD ING TREAT MENT OR PUN ISH MENT
by Jo seph Voyame and Pet er Burns................................................................ 367
A. The re port ing pro cess...................................................................... 367
B. Con sid era tion of re ports by the Com mit tee Against Tor ture ................ 386
C. The Com mit tee’s in ves ti gat ive func tion pur su ant to Ar ti cle 20
of the Con ven tion ........................................................................... 391
THE CON VEN TION ON THE RIGHTS OF THE CHILD
by Marta San tos Pais ..................................................................................... 393
A. The re port ing pro cess...................................................................... 393
B. Con sid era tion of re ports by the Com mit tee on the
Rights of the Child.......................................................................... 491
C. Pe ri odic re ports............................................................................... 503
RE LATED ART IC LES IN THE SIX MA JOR IN TER NA TIONAL
HU MAN RIGHTS IN STRU MENTS.................................................................. 505
BIB LI OG RAPHY............................................................................................ 511
NOTES ON CON TRIBU TORS........................................................................ 519
AN NEX 1: Report- writing pro ce dures within the ILO .................................. 521
ix
FOREW ORD
The main pur pose of this Man ual is to serve as a prac ti cal tool for gov ern ment of fi cials in
the prepa ra tion and sub mis sion of re ports re quired un der the United Na tions’ in ter na -
tional hu man rights treat ies.
The Man ual places the re port ing pro cess within the frame work of both do mes tic pol icy-
mak ing and a gov ern ment’s int ern a tional ac count abil ity on hu man rights is sues. It thus in -
tends to as sist States Par ties in moni tor ing and im ple ment ing in ter na tional hu man rights
stan dards.
The re quire ment to sub mit per io dic re ports to su per vi sory bod ies is a com mon fea ture of
all the ma jor hu man rights trea ties. Re port ing is at the heart of the in ter na tional su per vi -
sion of the do mest ic im ple men ta tion of treaty ob li ga tions. A cru cial ele ment for the proper
func tion ing of the pro cess is the sub mis sion of timely and com pre hen sive re ports by States
Part ies. In fa cili tat ing the prepa ra tion of such re ports, the Man ual aims to en hance the
func tion ing of the re port ing pro cess.
It is hoped that the Man ual will prove use ful not only as a guide for re port ing of fi cers in the
prepa ra tion of hu man rights re ports, but also as a means for strength en ing the re spect for
and en joy ment of hu man rights in States Par ties to in ter na tional hu man rights trea ties.
Given its pur pose, the Man ual fa mil iar izes re port ing of fi cers with re port ing un der six ma jor
in ter na tional hu man rights trea ties, namely the In ter na tional Cove nant on Eco nomic, So-
cial and Cul tural Rights, the In ter na tional Cove nant on Civil and Po liti cal Rights, the In ter -
na tional Con ven tion on the Elimin a tion of All Forms of Ra cial Dis crimi na tion, the
Con ven tion on the Elimi nat ion of All Forms of Dis crimi na tion against Women, the Con-
ven tion against Tort ure and Other Cruel, In hu man or De grad ing Treat ment or Pun ish-
ment, and the Con ven tion of the Right of the Child. Two in ter na tional in stru ments: the
In ter na tional Con ven tion on the Sup pres sion and Pun ish ment of the Crime of Apart heid
and the In ter na tional Con ven tion on the Pro tec tion of the Rights of all Mi grant Work ers
and Mem bers of their Fami lies are not dealt with in this Man ual. The op era tion of the
former Con ven tion was susp ended by the United Na tions Com mis sion on Hu man Rights
in 1995 upon the es tab lishm ent of a demo crati cally elected gov ern ment in South Af rica.
The lat ter Con ven tion was adopted by the Gen eral As sem bly reso lu tion 45/158 of 18 De -
cem ber 1990, but has not yet en tered into force.
The in tro duc tion to the Man ual pro vides an over view of the es sen tial con cepts on the cur -
rent hu man rights agenda, and the ba sis and frame work for the re port ing pro cess. The four
chap ters of Part One deal with vari ous stages and as pects of re port ing. Chap ter I, on the
pur poses of re port ing, disc usses the op por tu ni ties of fered and func tions served by re port -
x
ing. Chap ter II cov ers is sues re lated to proper plan ning and co- ordination of the pre para-
tory work, and pro vides some pract ic al sug ges tions in this re gard. Chap ter III dis cusses the
for mat and pur pose of the dia logue bet ween the ex pert bod ies and rep re sen ta tives of the
re port ing State, and nece s sary follow- up ac tivi ties. Chap ter IV on hu man rights in for ma -
tion and docu men ta tion pro vides pract i cal ideas for the iden ti fi ca tion, or gani za tion and
analy sis of sources of in for ma tion. The pos si ble role and con tri bu tion of non- governmental
groups to the re port ing pro cess is ad dressed re peat edly through out Part One of the Man-
ual.
Part Two of the Man ual con sists of six chap ters deal ing with the above- mentioned con ven-
tions. Each chap ter fol lows a simi lar struc ture. The first sec tion of each chap ter dis cusses
the re port ing pro cess and req uirem ents un der the re spec tive treaty. By pre sent ing ar ti cles
of the con ven tion, gen eral guide lines and Gen eral Com ments or Rec om men da tions, as
ap prop ri ate, adopted by the su per vi sory body, and the author’s com men tary, this sec tion
is in tended to deepen the un der stand ing of the re port ing of fi cers re gard ing the sub stan tive
pro vi sions of the con ven tion. At the same time, this sec tion should guide the re port ing of fi -
cers in as sem bling the in for ma tion re quired und er each ar ti cle. The sec ond sec tion of each
chap ter re views the pro ce dure foll owed by the treaty moni tor ing body in the con sid era tion
of re ports, and outl ines the follow- up re quired to im ple ment fur ther the con ven tion at na -
tional level. It pro vides the re port ing off ic ers with in sights into the func tions and pro ce -
dures of the su per vi sory body. The third sec tion high lights the key is sues of pe ri odic
re port ing.
When us ing the Man ual for the pur pose of pre par ing a re port un der any of the six con ven-
tions dealt with in Part Two, re port ing of fi cers should en deav our to study care fully the in-
tro duc tion and Part One of the Man ual. These chap ters ad dress is sues im por tant to the
re port ing pro cess it self. They are theref ore com ple men tary and rele vant to each of the six
chap ters of Part Two. They also pro vide prac ti cal ideas and sug ges tions on how to cope
with the task of re port ing.
The bib li og raphy an nexed to the Man ual is in tended to as sist in as sem bling a hu man rights
li brary for the pur pose of re port ing.
The authors have con trib uted to the Man ual in their per sonal ca paci ties. The edi to rial work
was car ried out by the Board of Edi tors, con sist ing of the fol low ing in di vidu als: Pro fess or
Philip Al ston; Pro fes sor Theo van Boven, Ce cil Ber nard; Hans Geiser, Enayat Housh-
mand, and Pro fes sor Fausto Po car. The tech ni cal and sub stan tive ed it ing of the Re vised
Man ual was un der taken by Enayat Housh mand, former Di rec tor of the Im ple men ta tion of
In ter na tional Ins tru ments and Pro ce dures Branch of the United Na tions’ Cen tre for Hu -
man Rights.
xi
The an nex to the Manu al ti tled “Report- writing pro ce dures within the ILO”, writ ten by
Mr. Ales san dro Chi ara bini, Pro gramme Man ager of In ter na tional La bour Stan dards and
Hu man Rights, at the In tern at ional Train ing Cen tre of the ILO, gives a gen eral over view on
the con trol syst em about the ap pli ca tion of In ter na tional La bour Stan dards and un der lines
the in ter ac tion with Hum an Rights Re port ing pro ce dures within the frame work of the
United Na tions.
The Board of Edi tors would like to ex press its grati tude to Ms. Ade lina Guas tavi, of the In -
ter na tional Train ing Cen tre of the ILO, who was re spon si ble for co or di nat ing the re vi sion
of the Man ual.
The Board of Edi tors
