UN SPECIAL RIGHTS RAPPORTEUR

UN SPECIAL RIGHTS RAPPORTEUR

Subject : International Organisations

Context : The UN’s special rapporteur on human rights in Myanmar has warned of “mass deaths” from starvation and disease in the wake of fighting between rebel groups and junta forces in the east of the country.

Concept :

UN Special Rapporteur

• The Special Procedures of the Human Rights Council are independent human rights experts with mandates to report and advise on human rights (civil, cultural, economic, political, and social) from a thematic or country-specific perspective.
• The Human Rights Council is an inter-governmental body within the United Nations system made up of 47 States responsible for the promotion and protection of all human rights around the globe.
• Universal Periodic Review happens under the aegis of the Human Rights Council.
• Current membership of the Council includes India.
• It meets at the UN Office at Geneva (Switzerland).
• Special procedures are either an individual (called “Special Rapporteur” or “Independent Expert”) or a working group composed of five members, one from each of the five United Nations regional groupings: Africa, Asia, Latin America and the Caribbean, Eastern Europe and the Western group.
• They are not United Nations staff members and do not receive financial remuneration.
• The independent status of the Special Procedures mandate-holders is crucial for them to be able to fulfil their functions in all impartiality.
• A mandate-holder’s tenure in a given function, whether it is a thematic or country mandate, is limited to a maximum of six years.
• Most Special Procedures receive information on specific allegations of human rights violations and send communications (urgent appeals and other letters) to States, and occasionally to non-State actors, asking for clarification and action.