HUMAN RIGHTS LAW Ahmed T. Ghandour.

CHAPTER 3. THE UNITED NATIONS & HUMAN RIGHTS II: OTHER INSTRUMENTS & PROCEDURES.

1. STANDARD SETTING.

 We noticed that, there are many other United Nations texts and procedures which concern about human rights such as:  The convention against torture  the convention on the rights of the child  The convention on the prevention punishment of the crime of genocide  The convention on the status of refugees  The convention on the political rights of women

 Also it is clear that, the United Nations is concerned with the prevention of discrimination, this concern had reflected in many agreements like:  Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination  Convention on the suppression and punishment of the crime of apartheid  Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against women Add to that, the work of the specialized agencies of the United Nations like (ILO) in the filed of employment and (UNESCO) for education. *** For that, these texts and other are a product of the standard setting function of the United Nations which states must observe in relation to human rights.

II. THE RESOLUTION 1503 PROCEDURE.

IMPORTANT TO KNOW !

THE ECONOMIC AND SOCIAL COUNCIL.  The Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC) plays a specific role in the area of human rights.  Article 68 of the UN Charter requires the Council to set up a commission to promote human rights.  On February 16, 1946, the Commission on Human Rights was founded. It is made up of 53 members who serve for three-year terms. The Economic and Social Council gave the Commission the major task of drafting international human rights treaties, including The Universal Declaration of Human Rights.

WHAT IS THE COMMISSION ON HUMAN RIGHTS.  The Commission was established to weave the international legal fabric that protects our fundamental rights and freedoms, its brief expanded over time to allow it to respond to the whole range of human rights problems and it set standards to govern the conduct of States.  It also acted as a forum where countries large and small, non- governmental groups and human rights defenders from around the world voiced their concerns..

 Initially concerned with elaborating standards (drafted UDHR, ICCPR, ICESCR)  “no power to take action in regard to any complaints concerning human rights” (ECOSOC 1947)  In response to pressure to act on racism in South Africa, ECOSOC changed its mind by adopting Res in 1967  1235 Procedure: authorized the Commission on Human Rights and its Sub-Commission to examine information relating to gross human rights violations  South Africa, Namibia, and Rhodesia were the initial States subject to the 1235 procedure

 Because of the huge number of individual communications the General Secretary of the United Nations had received annually, and the Commission on Human Rights could not reply to any of those communication because some states like the Soviet Union considered that a (domestic jurisdiction of state) according to Art. 2 (7) of the Charter.  Add to that Public nature of 1235 procedure made states nervous, so they created a new, confidential procedure called the 1503 Procedure  1235 (public debate)  1503 (confidential debate)

THE DEVELOPMENT OF THE 1503 PROCEDURE  The Commission on Human Rights developed, over the years, various procedures on communication concerning human rights violations. One of them, developed in 1970, is known as the “1503 Procedure.” The name of this procedure stemmed from the resolution number (1503/XLVIII of 27 May 1970) of the Commission on Human Rights of the UN Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC) in that year, which created this procedure. The procedure became operational in This human rights complaint procedure is the oldest procedure among any other human rights complaint procedures

 At the same time had established a sub-committee on Prevention of Discrimination of Minorities, it composed of 26 experts to assist the Commission also a Working Group had been created of one member of the five regional groups, to screen all communications for admissibility before meeting the Sub- committee.

THE PURPOSE OF THE 1503 PROCEDURE  The purpose of the 1503 Procedure is to monitor overall tendencies, not individual cases, of human rights situations in any country by examining confidential information, given by complainants, on gross violations of human rights in that country in order to identify patterns of violations. Because its purpose is to monitor tendencies as such, the purpose of this procedure is not to deal with a particular individual/personal case

THREE MAIN CRITERIA  Any complaint intended to be submitted under the 1503 Procedure should be met with the criteria of this procedure, as follows:  1) Gross Violations: “Gross violations of human rights” mean very serious violations, including torture, unlawful killings (extrajudicial executions), arbitrary or summary executions, enforced disappearances, etc.  2) Consistent Pattern: The complaint should refer to a “consistent pattern of gross violations of human rights.” It is generally considered that as few as six or seven similar cases of allegations are sufficient to prove the existence of such a consistent pattern.  3) Reliability Attested Violations: The relevant allegations of gross violations of human rights should be “supported by credible evidence.”